Muhammad Ali is the founder, MD, and registered lead auditor of WWISE (World Wide Industrial & Systems Engineers), a company he established in 2009 to help businesses align with global ISO standards.
WWISE services include ISO consulting and implementation, compliance maintenance, auditing, gap analysis, software development, and enterprise development support for both public and private sector clients.
Born in Gaborone, Botswana, Ali moved to SA for his tertiary education. With the support of a scholarship, he studied engineering at Pretoria Technikon and later completed his master’s in industrial engineering at the University of Pretoria. He is now completing his PhD at the same institution.
“Candidate,” he said, “came about because the supervisor who was working with me sadly passed away and we only recently found a qualified person who could resume the role. However, I am on target to graduate by the end of 2025 or sooner.”
WWISE assists organisations in attaining ISO certification — a globally recognised framework of standards covering everything from quality management to information security and environmental controls. Ali said the company has helped nearly 800 clients across 16 countries in the past 14 years.
He is certified across multiple ISO standards, including ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 27001, and 31000, and is a registered SABS lead auditor in safety, health, environmental and quality (SHEQ). He also holds memberships with SAATCA, IRCA, SAIOSH, and IRMSA, and is ISACA-certified in several areas of risk and governance.
Before founding WWISE, Ali worked as a quality engineer on the Mercedes-Benz E-Class production line, followed by a role in the nuclear sector on the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor project. In 2008, the SA Quality Institute encouraged him to establish his own company. His first major projects were helping the Diplomatic Academy at DIRCO achieve ISO 9001:2008 certification and training engineers at ArcelorMittal.
Today, WWISE employs 30 permanent staff and works with 70 consultants globally. The company also supports SMEs through SA’s Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), assisting them in implementing ISO-based systems.
“We are pursuing growth into East Africa and the Middle East,” Ali said.
“Internationally, we’ve helped several Australian clients develop governance and standards frameworks.”
He added that ISO certification can have a measurable impact: “A good example is SA forestry, which had more than 60 governance findings. We helped bring that down to four.”
Ali believes effective leadership is rooted in example.
“Leadership is defined by results, not attributes. The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.”
Though he runs the business, WWISE is woman-owned and a Level 1 BBBEE contributor.
Chair Shabaana Ali said: “We cannot succeed if half of us are held back. As women, we need to work together as a partnership and a team to achieve great results.”
Daily Dispatch