ABOUT
Technical leadership with a business lens
Ithrekhi is a fractional CTO practice for South African businesses that need senior technical leadership without the cost or commitment of a full-time executive hire.
Ithrekhi is led by Martin Paul Lippert, a South African and German technology leader with three decades of software experience and more than a decade in senior technical leadership roles across South Africa, the Netherlands, and the UAE.
Past roles include co-founding ventures out of Antler Amsterdam, leading the TradeChannel RegTech product at Compliance Solutions Strategies, managing engineering at HAL24K, heading development at Teach Me Now in Dubai, and architecting trading and back-office systems at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Johannesburg.
The work sits at the intersection of technical strategy, engineering leadership, due diligence, and operational clarity: roadmaps, delivery health, hiring, agencies, architecture trade-offs, and the hard conversations that surface when a company is under technical strain.
A degree in Computer Science and Economic Science from Wits, combined with a degree in Psychology from UNISA, shapes how the work is done. Technical problems are rarely only technical. Team dynamics, founder communication, and decision quality often determine whether a technology function performs well or quietly becomes a drag on the business.
Why fractional, why now
There is a real opportunity to help South African businesses with the knowledge and experience built up across three decades of software and a decade of senior technical leadership across local and international markets.
A fractional practice is the right shape for that work. It combines a love of building with the enjoyment of working alongside a variety of founders, teams, and businesses, rather than being locked into a single product or org chart.
My code is my canvas, my teams are my masterpiece.Martin Paul Lippert
Education
- Bachelor of Economic Science (Computer Science & Economic Science) - University of the Witwatersrand
- Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) - University of South Africa (UNISA)