It took me into the home of an Algerian family grieving a daughter they had just lost in an earthquake, yet who still insisted I join them at their table. It sat me beside a 17-year-old Kurdish Peshmerga fighter who had traded her schoolbooks for a rifle and her childhood for a war.
By the time conflict reaches the battlefield, the fight for hearts, minds and attention has often been raging for years.
Reporting from the world’s frontlines taught me that people rarely make decisions based on facts alone. They make them based on the stories they believe, the narratives that shape them and the people they trust.
Today, those same forces shape far more than war. They shape politics, business, leadership and public life. Leaders, governments and organisations are operating in a world where information moves faster than ever before, yet agreement about what is true is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.
Access to information is no longer the problem. Knowing what - and who - to trust is. The ability to distinguish truth from manipulation is no longer a specialist skill. It is an essential human skill.
Institutions, movements, media platforms and brands are all competing to shape how we think, how we feel and, ultimately, the decisions we make. The question is no longer whether we are being influenced. The question is whether we recognise it.
I help people understand how information and narratives shape what we believe, influence the decisions we make and determine whom we trust.
The most important battles aren't always fought on the battlefield. They're fought over what people choose to believe.
The frontlines have changed. The battle for truth has not.
The ultimate test of my expertise didn’t happen on a physical battlefield - it happened inside my own headquarters.
In 2024, my multimedia network, BRICS Global TV Network (BGTN), was systematically dismantled from within. The architect of the scheme was an executive partner who was also my husband at the time. Through an insider asset-stripping scheme, over R6 million (~$330,000 USD) was siphoned from operational pipelines, forcing immediate corporate liquidation, wiping out my life savings, and leaving our media crew with unpaid salaries.
Treating this crisis with the objective rigor of an investigative journalist, I initiated formal criminal proceedings. The case was handed to Johannesburg law enforcement and South Africa’s elite Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (The Hawks). I continue to work directly with liquidators and forensic auditors to track the siphoned funds, with the primary legal objective of the liquidation process focused on recovering assets to settle outstanding staff salaries.
Today, I channel the raw forensic data from this insider threat into an educational resource. I don’t just teach the abstract theory of information warfare - I provide global boardrooms with an unvarnished blueprint on advanced behavioural vetting, insider risk mitigation, and maintaining corporate resilience under fire.
"I don’t just teach the abstract theory of information warfare - I provide global boardrooms with an unvarnished blueprint on insider risk, behavioral vetting, and corporate resilience under fire."
Explore the Executive Education Masterclass on Insider Risk →
"For 18 years, I didn't just watch state-level narratives get built—I tracked the exact mechanics of how algorithms, psychological anchoring, and coordinated messaging alter global perception in seconds."
For nearly two decades, I served as Middle East Bureau Chief and Head of Africa for RT International. When I joined in its early years, the network operated as an ambitious global news outlet. However, as geopolitical tensions flared, the network's editorial focus shifted dramatically toward state-aligned narrative strategy and information operations.
People often ask why I stayed as that transformation took hold. As an international war correspondent, there was no more vital laboratory on earth to study the mechanics of global perception management. Over those 18 years, modern conflict shifted from physical battlefields to algorithmic ones. Managing major bureaus allowed me to document the complete evolution of asymmetric influence from the inside out. Had I left early, I would have walked away with a superficial understanding; by staying, I mapped the complete, multi-decade blueprint of how state-level information operations are constructed, scaled, and deployed.
Clients occasionally ask if I fear backlash for analyzing these operations publicly. The reality is that covert influence relies entirely on stealth and plausible deniability. By bringing these exact frameworks into the light and analyzing them as open-source tactical intelligence, we strip away their power.
Today, I channel that rare insider data to provide boardrooms, defense forums, and global leaders with the playbook needed to identify, map, and neutralize covert disinformation campaigns targeting corporate equity, market stability, and public trust.
"By the time conflict reaches the battlefield, the fight for hearts, minds, and attention has already been raging for years."
Reporting from the world’s frontlines taught me that people rarely make decisions based on facts alone. They make them based on the stories they believe, the narratives that shape them, and the people they trust.
Today, those same forces shape far more than war. They shape politics, business, leadership, and public life. Leaders, governments, and organizations are operating in a world where information moves faster than ever before, yet agreement about what is true is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.
Access to information is no longer the problem. Knowing what - and who - to trust is. The ability to distinguish truth from manipulation is no longer a specialist skill; it is an essential human skill.
Institutions, movements, media platforms, and brands are all competing to shape how we think, how we feel, and ultimately, the decisions we make. The question is no longer whether we are being influenced - the question is whether we recognize it.
I help audiences understand how information and narratives shape what we believe, influence the decisions we make, and determine whom we trust. The most important battles aren't always fought on physical battlefields; they are fought over what people choose to believe.
The frontlines have changed. The battle for truth has not.
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