Guarding data and trust so both can actually be used
Griffinity helps organisations collect, protect, understand, govern and strategically use data and artificial intelligence, so trust, better experiences and sustainable growth rest on the same foundation.
Founder
Meet Peta Fernie
Peta Fernie is the founder of Griffinity, an attorney with a BComm LLB from Stellenbosch University, admitted in 1999, and the founder of Fernie Attorneys, her Pretoria-based practice running since 2002. She is a recognised name in legal costs: connected to the Law Society of South Africa, the Legal Practice Council and the Pretoria Attorneys Association, guest lecturing at the University of Pretoria, and running workshops for private law firms.
No South African university offered a dedicated course in that subject, which is what first drove practitioners to those workshops. Griffinity applies the same instinct: building the practical, teachable foundation for a newer and faster-moving field.
She holds a qualification in AI law, policy and governance from the London School of Economics and a foundation in artificial intelligence from the University of Helsinki, and was one of the lead architects of the AI Hospitality Alliance's global AI governance framework for hospitality. Her work spans privacy foundations, data governance, AI governance, audits, diagnostics, implementation, workshops, education and speaking, built to be practical rather than complicated.
The name
Vision and protection are the same job
Griffinity takes its name and its symbol from three generations of one family, not from a design brief. Peta's maiden name, Van der Grijp, comes from a part of the Netherlands mythologically associated with the griffin, and the creature sits on her family's coat of arms, in her father's business, and now in her own.
A griffin's role is to guard something valuable. That is exactly the role Griffinity plays: guarding the data and the trust organisations have already built, so both can actually be put to use rather than simply held.
Our mission
Why we exist
Data is more than information. For organisations that depend on guests, customers and clients, it is a strategic asset, and its value depends entirely on how it is collected, protected, understood, shared and used.
Privacy is the foundation. Governance provides the direction. Technology and AI unlock the opportunity sitting on top of both. Trust is what makes that growth sustainable. Griffinity exists at the point where those four meet, because in practice they are rarely handled by the same person, and almost never in the right order.
Our mission is to help organisations collect, protect, understand, govern and strategically use data and artificial intelligence safely, effectively and responsibly - in service of the things that actually matter to the business.
Our vision
Where we're going
A guest experience ecosystem where every organisation in it, whichever part it plays, understands the value of its own data and has the confidence, knowledge and governance to collect it responsibly, protect it properly, use it strategically, and apply artificial intelligence intelligently.
Our aim is to be the name this ecosystem turns to first when data and AI need to become trusted strategic advantages rather than open questions.
What we believe
Our ethics guide how we work, not simply what we advise others to do. We believe in honest, practical governance that helps organisations make better decisions without compromising people, trust, fairness or accountability.
Humans remain accountable
AI can inform, assist and automate, but responsibility for meaningful decisions stays with people and organisations. No organisation should hide behind an algorithm.
People are not merely data
Customers, guests and employees deserve to understand when AI materially affects them, and should not be subjected to deceptive, exploitative or unfair practices.
AI should serve a legitimate purpose
Just because something can be automated does not mean it should be. We support AI where it creates genuine value without disproportionate harm or unnecessary intrusion.
Fairness requires active attention
Bias is not solved by claiming technology is neutral. Organisations must consider who may be disadvantaged, and take reasonable steps to identify and address it.
Privacy is not a trade-off
Personal information should be treated with respect. Innovation should work alongside privacy, not require organisations to abandon it.
Transparency should be meaningful
People deserve practical explanations of how important AI systems affect them, not complicated notices that create the illusion of clarity.
Governance must be proportionate
Not every AI tool presents the same risk. Governance should be strong where consequences are significant, and simple where they are not.
Responsibility must be demonstrable
Good intentions are not enough. Organisations should be able to show how decisions were made, who is accountable, and what controls exist.
For organisations working in hospitality, leisure, events and the wider guest and client experience ecosystem, data can provide extraordinary insight into the people they serve, how to improve their experience, and where the real opportunities for growth actually sit. Artificial intelligence can extend that even further.
But none of it starts with AI. It starts with data - how it was collected, why, how it is protected, who can reach it, where it goes, which vendors process it, and whether the people behind that data trust the organisation holding it.
Because data is an opportunity. AI is a genuinely powerful tool. But trust is what makes either of them worth having.