About

At Dcoded, we develop and facilitate an elevated calibre of strategic thinking to foster ideation, impact and innovation in Africa. We are constantly immersing ourselves, and our clients in think tanks, presentations and discussions that inspire progress and craft ideas to create new levels and leagues of value. We pride ourselves in our hybrid ability to see business and brand as one entity, and connect the dots that often get lost in the space between the two. We are obsessed with human understanding and have developed an art of injecting soul into data. Businesses no longer exist to connect, but rather, they have to connect in order to exist.

As the famous chess proverb goes, a player surprised is a player half beaten. We consistently seek out game-changing insights, wisdom and trends to expose, in order to consciously consider and weaken the element of surprise.

Our Philosophy

01.

Question Everything

If the question doesn’t matter, the answer never will. We believe in questions. We don’t just ask questions, we sit in them long enough for the answers to find us.

02.

Embrace Uncertainty

We thrive in the unknown, using it as a catalyst for growth and innovation. We practice professional-grade curiosity.

03.

Mine for Insights

We exhaust the picture of an industry, a market or a person in order to see it from all angles. We transform information into insights that inspire and inform progress.

04.

Apply a Human Lens

We look at everything through a human-first lens to ensure that we are always thinking about what is  most feasible, viable and desirable.

05.

Expose
Potential

We are always searching for potential, whether it be in ideas, markets or moments. Chasing potential creates and sustains advantage.

The Founder

Kirsten Naomi Leeuw, Founder & Managing Director of Dcoded (Pty) Ltd, RSA (Est. 2016) + Business and Executive Coach

Kirsten Leeuw’s career reflects her dedication to solving complex challenges and empowering individuals and businesses to achieve extraordinary results. Her career began in management consulting, at firms such as IQ Business and McKinsey & Company, where she honed her analytical skills and developed a deep-seated passion for growth and innovation.

Driven by her pursuit for human-led solutions, Kirsten transitioned to the world of branding and communications. As Head of Strategy at TBWA\Hunt Lascaris, she was committed to elevating and accelerating strategic thinking and creative disruption across the African continent. Today, her work at Dcoded champions the principle of ‘Impact through Insight’. Through dynamic keynotes, insights exposés and workshops that shift perspectives and instigate wisdom, Kirsten has become a facilitator of transformative growth.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, she has always been a mentor and coach at heart, encouraging others to discover the depths of their potential. Her proprietary developmental tools, refined for over a decade, have yielded significant results for both individuals and businesses. Coupling this with a formal coaching certification from the Leadership Academy SA (Accredited by both the ICF & the Harvard Institute of Coaching), Kirsten launched the Dcoded Coaching lab in 2024.

“What sits between two mountains determines the way across, is it water? is it sand? is it a gorge so dark and deep you need to climb into it to see what you are working with? Either way, you need to know, so that you can work out how to use the space between to your advantage. It can either be an abyss or a path. If you don’t know what’s happening now you can’t possibly engineer what happens next. The space between where we are and where we want to be, between the present and the future, between surviving and thriving, between yes and no… is all critical to progress. Pro-actively participating in the space between, is how the future is made.”

Kirsten Naomi Leeuw – Founder & MD OF Dcoded