Forbes Top 60 Women in Tech · Keynote Speaker · Author
Bold Decisions.
Real Resilience.
Benji Coetzee — Chief Strategy Officer, Forbes-recognised tech leader, and author of the empowering field guide “Daddy Says No”. Helping women navigate ambition, heartbreak, and self-discovery with unapologetic authenticity.
Forbes
Top 60 Women Tech
BCG
Alumni
WEF
Speaker
Author of
Daddy Says No
The Book
A Field Guide for Bold Women
Daddy Says No
The Discipline of Better Decisions
A bold, empowering book about rejection, resilience, and reinvention. Benji Coetzee blends psychology, wit, and lived experience to speak directly to women navigating heartbreak, ambition, and self-discovery.
Perfect for readers seeking personal growth, emotional strength, and unapologetic authenticity — this is the field guide you've been waiting for.
Rejection as Fuel
Transform every "no" into the catalyst that propels you forward. Learn how rejection is the secret ingredient most success stories leave out.
The Discipline of Decisions
Grounded in behavioral psychology and lived experience, discover a practical framework for making bolder, better choices.
Unapologetic Authenticity
A love letter to women navigating heartbreak, ambition, and self-discovery — without apology, without compromise.
Resilience & Reinvention
Blending wit, research, and raw honesty, this field guide equips you to reinvent yourself on your own terms.
“Making daring decisions for greater life satisfaction.”
— Benji Coetzee
Keynote Speaking
On Stage & On Fire
Benji Coetzee commands any stage with a rare combination of intellectual depth, personal vulnerability, and infectious energy. From global forums to intimate leadership summits, she leaves audiences challenged, inspired, and ready to act.
Bringing insights from boardrooms, start-up trenches, and the World Economic Forum, her talks bridge the gap between strategy and soul — making complex ideas viscerally human.
Book Benji to Speak“When Benji is around, there is always action.”
— Former colleague, Digital Leadership
Signature Keynote Topics
The Discipline of Better Decisions
Behavioral psychology meets real-world leadership. Benji unpacks the frameworks behind bold, purposeful decision-making in both personal and professional contexts.
Rejection, Resilience & Reinvention
A raw, honest exploration of how every "no" can be the turning point. Drawing from her entrepreneurial exits, corporate climbs, and lived experience.
Women in Technology & Leadership
As a Forbes Top 60 Women in Tech, Benji speaks candidly on breaking barriers, championing authenticity, and building cultures of true inclusion.
Strategy, Growth & The Elastic Mind
From BCG to WEF to KPN — Benji shares her elastic strategy framework for navigating complexity, compounding growth, and staying ahead.
Has Spoken At
About
Meet Benji
Benji Coetzee is a dynamic polymath — entrepreneur, strategist, investor, author, and Forbes-recognised technology leader. Driven by an unquenchable curiosity for transformational change, she has built and scaled businesses across South Africa, Switzerland, Germany, the UAE, and the Netherlands.
Her career spans BCG, the World Economic Forum (where she managed a $5.5bn infrastructure programme across East Africa), HSBC, Vodafone, and KPN — where she currently serves as Chief Strategy & Growth Officer, reporting directly to the CEO.
In 2016 she founded EmptyTrips, an award-winning AI freight platform that was acquired by Vector Logistics (RCL Foods / Remgro) and subsequently unbundled to A.P. Møller–Mærsk. In 2018 she was recognised by Forbes as one of the top 60 women technologists globally.
Now she brings all of that lived experience — the rejections, the reinventions, the boardroom battles and the personal heartbreaks — into “Daddy Says No”: a field guide for anyone who has ever been told no and refused to accept it as the final answer.
Forbes Top 60
Women in Tech Globally
BCG
Senior Consultant
WEF
$5.5bn Africa Infrastructure
KPN
Chief Strategy Officer
Stellenbosch
Bachelor of Commerce
Goethe
Master of Laws, Corporate Finance
Career Journey
Marine Risk Consultant & HSBC Corporate Finance
Hollard Insurance & HSBC London
Senior Consultant
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Project Manager, Africa Infrastructure
World Economic Forum, Geneva
Founder & CEO
EmptyTrips (exited to A.P. Møller–Mærsk)
Senior VP Digital (CDO)
VodafoneZiggo, Netherlands
Chief Strategy & Growth Officer
KPN B.V. (listed), Amsterdam
Awards & Recognition
Forbes Top 60
Women in Tech
Entrepreneur Magazine
50 Top SA Business Women
Frost & Sullivan
Innovation in Logistics
SA Innovation Summit
National Winner
Rightbrains/Deloitte
Netherlands Digital Leadership
Get in Touch
Let's Create Something Extraordinary
Whether you want to book Benji as a keynote speaker for your next event, or have a question about the book, she'd love to hear from you. Fill in the form and her team will be in touch within 48 hours.