Johan Zietsman

Critic
DISC Type : C

Chief Executive Officer at Ex Mente

Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

Overview

Johan is the Chief Executive Officer of Ex Mente, where he leads a team focused on metallurgical engineering. With a Ph. D. from the University of Pretoria, his expertise lies in pyrometallurgy, computational modeling, and system design across commodities like iron, steel, and platinum group metals.

He is driven by a forward-looking philosophy, questioning how to improve the future today. Johan believes in the importance of originality and embracing the risk of being wrong to achieve success and fulfillment. He actively mentors the next generation of engineers through his work with postgraduate students.

Unique fact: Johan enjoys taking on and encouraging what he calls "slightly ridiculous" projects, pushing the boundaries of traditional engineering challenges.

Personality Overview

Information Seeker

ROI Driven

Precise

They prefer to analyze logically and value objective facts over emotions.  They like to take decisions independently and do not seek others' support often. Unless the value is proven by data, they are unlikely to value fancy features.

Topics They Care About

Pyrometallurgical Innovation
His career and recent posts focus on the dynamic and exciting future of pyrometallurgy, highlighting challenges and opportunities for 2025.
Computational Modelling
A core skill he applies in his work and a key research topic for the postgraduate students he supervises at the University of Pretoria.
Embracing Originality
He frequently shares quotes and thoughts on the creative process, believing that one must be "prepared to be wrong" to come up with anything original.

Media Appearances

Johan has no verified media appearances

Work History

10-2001
Chief Executive Officer at Ex Mente
3-2018
Member of the Advisory Board at EESTech Inc.
6-2016
Honorary Lecturer at University of Pretoria
2-2013 - 5-2016
Glencore Chair in Pyrometallurgical Modelling, Senior Lecturer at University of Pretoria
Consultant at White Peak Consulting

Education

1-2003 - 8-2004
Ph.D. from University of Pretoria
1-1994 - 12-1996
M.Eng. from University of Pretoria

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 24 Location : Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa Job Level : Leadership Designation : Chief Executive Officer at Ex Mente
URL has been copied!

Insights For Selling To Johan

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Be ready to answer many clarity-seeking questions and requests for information
  • Use phrases like ‘expect X% improvement’, ‘data clearly shows’ etc.
  • Keep some extra margin while sharing pricing, they are likely to negotiate later

DONT's

  • Don't give superficial answers, they are easily rattled by them
  • Avoid pushing them too much to involve other stakeholders unless it is critical
  • Don’t try to give too many examples of other users, they like to make their own decisions

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Johan is

  • Proof of ROI, low pricing and objective proof points are the important factors for them.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Johan

  • They do not mind saying no if they believe that it is the right decision.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Johan move?

  • Their decision-making is neither very fast nor very slow, they are somewhere in between.
  • Can Johan take some risk or not?

  • They can take risks if their analysis shows that it would be worth it.

You And Johan

Personality Compatibility


More Profiles

Discover additional public profiles from our index.

Search more profiles

Looking for someone else? Search here for anyone.

Or visit Humantic AI to know more.