Meet Digital Business Master Class Alum François Du Toit

In the following, François Du Toit discusses with Emmi Turunen, one of the course teachers, and shares his experiences of the Master Class summer course of 2026.

François: I have a finance and investing background. I studied investment management, financial planning, and working in the finance or financial services industry for the last 13-14 years. I was the MBA student at the Stellenbosch Business School, so that was just the annual stream at the Stellenbosch Business School second year. I'm obviously very interested in personal finance and investing as well as I think digital assets. I've spent quite a bit of time working for a fintech company that started as a startup. So it basically provides stablecoin infrastructure. They are basically about stablecoin infrastructure for businesses or enterprise customers. 

Emmi: Is it the reason you wanted to do this? 

François: Because it lies quite closely with my account. 

Emmi: Right. So this was something you have been doing quite a bit already. So then that was the reason you decided to take this course. Were there some other reasons, or is this the main one?

François: It was a big reason because it aligns with my sort of career experience. In addition, I was quite interested in the focus on platform business models. And also data intensive business and digital marketing are an area where I don't have a lot of experience, so that was something that I'd like to learn more about. And also part of the reason I think why I wanted to come to Finland is I read that it's quite a dense startup hub in Europe. So I found that quite interesting too and that's why I decided to come to Finland. 

Emmi: Great to hear. And then, why do you think the course is important for students or other professionals who enter today's digital business landscape? 

François: I think it's important because it's very relevant where the industry is moving in terms of the digital age and Internet of Things and AI and data. So, and also I found the practical component of the course very good. So you actually get to put the theory into practice with these different projects and the companies that you work with. 

Emmi: Yes, nice. And what do you think was then the best part of the course? 

François: For me, I would say the company visits and the practical part was the best part of the course. I found it very interesting, especially because I got to work with Nordea and they're one of the biggest financial services groups in the Nordics. So I would say that stood out. Getting to meet their CEO and seeing their office. And I couldn't believe that they actually had a sauna in the office, which was very surprising. 

Emmi: Yeah, that is a great detail. Very Finnish! And then, the next question is more about the challenge you worked on in a real-life business context and about partnering with the company. How did you experience the project?

François: With the project, I think it was right in the beginning, especially quite challenging to understand, like the Finnish market and also this young customer segment, and also just the cultural differences. I come from South Africa, where average savings rate was quite low, but I was quite surprised to see that it's also very low in Finland. And if you look at the average savings or average net investments, then Finland is actually quite low and below Greece, I believe. You shared an article with us, which is very interesting. But yeah, I think that made it challenging to understand the Finnish market, but also, I really enjoyed getting to know how the market works, how the companies operate, and things like maybe the Finnish people are more risk-averse than South African when it comes to investing and things like that.

Emmi: Yeah, that can be very true. I think that can be the quality of the average Finnish person. But then good to hear that despite this initial challenge, I think your solution ended up being very nice. And finally, are there three tips you could give to a student who is thinking about coming to or applying to this course? 

François: I would say that we did quite a bit of research up front on our company to understand the company and their products, but I think maybe doing a bit more research on just the country and understanding the market statements a little bit better. 

Emmi: So then next question in relating to that, this could be your second point, like what kind of details would you advise them to look if then you already did this, but later realized maybe it was not enough even, and you need to go even deeper?

François: I think obviously what helped our team a lot was being able to leverage the course facilitators. That helped us with our research, so speaking to some of the locals, I think it'll definitely help them to get a feel for the market and maybe also to understand the company and the different products and things like that. So, yeah, networking…

Emmi: Yes, so talk to the locals!

François: Yes. 

Emmi: And then any third tip?

François: Third tip for people who come here. I do think it helps if you have got a bit of an AI skill set, so you can leverage AI to help with your research and help with the project. I saw a lot of the teams actually used different AI applications quite well, like building some of these demos. 

Emmi: And then how about your impression, the first impression of Finland? How was it?

François: I was quite pleasantly surprised. I think the people are really friendly. When you get to know and speak to them, they're actually very friendly and very helpful and polite. And I also think it's a beautiful country, so I was lucky enough to go to like Nuuksio National Park and see the forests and lake there. And I mean, for me, it's completely different than South Africa and really beautiful.

Emmi: Oh, it's nice to hear your perspective. Then how about this university? How was the impression of this? 

François: Very good. I think the business school has got excellent facilities, and I was very impressed with the subject expert knowledge of all of the lecturers. They were very knowledgeable in their respective fields. And they're all very well qualified. Most of them have PhDs or are pursuing them. So I'd say I'm very impressed. As for the campus tour, it looks like a great university for young people. 

Emmi: Yeah, and then is there someone in your mind whom you could recommend the course to? 

François: I definitely think anyone who's in a field that would benefit from like a digital business masterclass course. I come from a fintech background, but there were people from all different, you know, industries, even some people who run it or manage it also has their own businesses. So, I think it could be beneficial for many kinds of backgrounds.

Emmi: Thank you so much for the chat!

François: Thanks to you.