Our Team

Upuli de Abrew – Co-Founder and Director

As a former BI Manager, Upuli brings hands-on experience and industry insights to her role. She deeply understands clients’ challenges and motivations, empathising with their needs and concerns. At Insight Consulting, she fosters seamless partnerships between clients and consultants, ensuring solutions maximise value consistently.

Upuli started her career as a SAP business analyst, specialising in SAP business intelligence. This laid the foundation for her move into working with a number of platforms within the data space, such as Microsoft and Qlik.

Upuli holds a Master of Commerce degree in Information Systems and is currently Director of Consulting at Insight Consulting. She brings practical experience and industry knowledge to her role, enabling her to understand clients’ challenges and motivations deeply.

At Insight Consulting, Upuli strives to establish seamless partnerships between clients and consultants, ensuring that the solutions consistently provide maximum value.

Sean Taylor – Co-Founder and Director

Sean has over two decades of experience using data to guide businesses towards informed decision-making. He believes that precise and insightful data use can catalyse innovation, efficiency, and business excellence.

Sean holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Information Systems from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. As the Co-Founder and Director, Sean brings a unique combination of strategic thinking, business and analytical acumen, and a passion for leveraging data to drive organisations toward success, innovation, and efficiency. He believes that resilience is the key to overcoming and transforming obstacles into opportunities.

He is committed to creating a “Win Win Win” scenario in every endeavour, where success is measured not just by individual accomplishments but by the collective achievements of all stakeholders involved.

Charlene Smith – Sales Director

Charlene is the Sales Director at Insight Consulting. She is responsible for overseeing new business development, account management, and ensuring customer satisfaction. Charlene holds a BCom degree in Computer Science and Information Systems from Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

With over two decades of experience in IT, she has excelled in sales, business development, and client management. Charlene has a passion for people, data, and problem-solving. Her love for all things ‘data’ began during her time as a Business Intelligence Manager.

At Insight Consulting, Charlene’s collaborative approach and strategic mindset enable her to build strong client relationships. She understands their unique needs and challenges and delivers tailored solutions that drive tangible results. Charlene’s expertise lies in finance, logistics, retail, short-term insurance, and business analysis.

René McGregor – Customer Director

René is the Customer Director at Insight Consulting. She brings over 25 years of experience in the IT industry and holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in IT from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

Her journey began as a developer in the fruit export industry, moving into Systems and Business Analysis, which led to over a decade of Consulting in Business Intelligence, covering many functional areas and touching multiple industries. The last few years have been focused on executive leadership, aligning company goals to strategic structure and direction.

In her current role, she leads the Customer Pillar, which is responsible for maintaining strong relationships with existing customers, ensuring high satisfaction, and driving retention and ongoing revenue through proactive customer engagement and advisory support. A strong advocate for Data Literacy, Maturity and Strategy, René is dedicated to adding business value to companies while guiding them on their data strategy journey. Her commitment to empowering organisations through data ensures they remain competitive and innovative in today’s fast-paced digital landscape.

Lee Wearne – Operations Director

Lee is the Operations Director at Insight Consulting. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of South Africa. His academic background laid the foundation for a career focused on making data and technology work better for people. With a strong belief in purpose-driven innovation, Lee brings a human-centric approach to everything he does—helping organisations make more informed decisions and improving the way teams interact with systems and information.

At Insight Consulting, Lee leads the design and execution of data strategies and business solutions for clients. He works across Sales, Customer Success, Engineering, Resourcing, and Enablement teams to ensure integrated, effective delivery. His focus on strategic planning and process optimisation enables clients to become more adaptable, efficient, and sustainable in a fast-moving digital landscape.

Lee is passionate about creating opportunities for others. He sees leadership as a way to uplift, not control—which is why he mentors and develops future leaders in data and technology. Whether it’s guiding a team, supporting his family, or contributing to society, Lee is driven by the idea of long-term, meaningful impact. He often reflects on the Ubuntu philosophy: “I am because we are.” For him, it’s all about people empowering people.