PhD Researcher
KU Leuven & Utrecht University
Investigating inter-ecosystem connectivity and entrepreneurial mobility across European regions.
A decade of building bridges between research, entrepreneurship, and impact across Africa and Europe.
KU Leuven & Utrecht University
Investigating inter-ecosystem connectivity and entrepreneurial mobility across European regions.
Ignite Hub Africa
Transitioned from Founder to Strategic Advisor upon starting PhD at KU Leuven, maintaining governance oversight while enabling the team to lead operations independently. Advising on strategic partnerships, organisational direction, and alignment with the Academy's growing pan-African research community.
European Network for AI Safety (ENAIS)
Facilitated two cohorts of a 12-week intensive AI Governance program for international professionals, using the BlueDot Impact curriculum. Covered AI policy development, risk mitigation strategies, ethical deployment, and real-world policy analysis and proposal writing. 95% participant satisfaction across both cohorts.
Mobile Edge AI Lab, Carnegie Mellon University Africa
Co-designed and validated the "GenAI Inside" methodology — a six-step framework for embedding generative AI into enterprise workflows — across 4 institutional use cases with efficiency gains of 70–99%: 400 visa letters processed in under 3 hours (vs. 3–4 weeks baseline), 800 admissions emails (85% time reduction), 878 alumni records (93.1% coverage in 2 days vs. 2–3 months), and 200 faculty profiles (99% faster). Led a 4-person team completing 4 high-impact automation initiatives within 6 weeks from a pipeline of 60+ identified opportunities. Conducted comparative ecosystem analysis across 4 African markets. Built and deployed a conversational RAG system for querying national AI/ICT policy documents from Kenya, Nigeria, and Rwanda. Co-authored paper published at IEEE AIxB 2025.
Carnegie Mellon University Africa
Co-authored a methodological paper on RAG-based analysis of entrepreneurial journeys across 6 African-owned unicorns (preprint on SSRN). Co-developed a multimodal RAG pipeline ingesting YouTube transcripts, podcast episodes, and industry reports for systematic founder journey analysis. Established replicable inclusion/exclusion criteria for biographical data analysis across 8 African-owned unicorns. Independently delivered 3 lectures for CMU-Africa's core Foundations of Entrepreneurship course. Graded assignments and guided students through office hours on business model development and course exercises. Co-organised a guest masterclass with a serial founder (3x founder, ex-Google).
Africa Innovators Society
Established CMU-Africa's first entrepreneurship society, creating platforms for 300+ students across 7 universities. Secured $45k+ in event access to Norrsken Africa Week, AfriLabs Annual Gathering, and Africa Business Heroes. Launched Tartans Innovate Hackathon, Jenga Hackathon, Rapid Prototyping Bootcamp, and AI Revolution Bootcamp. Supported 5 startups and partnered with Jasiri, 250 Startups, and Industry Innovation Lab.
Ignite Hub Africa
Founded Ignite Research Academy to train 25 million students by 2032 through research capacity development. Organized 10 webinars on graduate school profiles with ~200 participants. Built a community of 284 students and researchers across Africa, providing 200+ opportunities and distributing 3,000+ resources.
Summit University Offa, Nigeria
Piloted and delivered 20+ tailored training programs for over 200 learners, boosting enrollment by 30%. Co-led virtual fundraising campaign securing ₦175.2M (~$421K) for scholarships and ICT infrastructure.
Advanced Engineering Innovation Research Group, Federal University of Technology Minna
Led multidisciplinary team on Intelligent Mining Surveillance System project. Managed Royal Academy of Engineering-funded AI for Clean Energy initiative (£155k), coordinating cross-functional teams and developing over 200 communication assets.
Vorbtech Innovative Solutions, Nigeria
Oversaw end-to-end execution of 2+ cross-functional projects, increasing team output by over 50% through agile methodologies. Built and executed HR strategies covering recruitment, onboarding, and team development.
KU Leuven
Specialization: Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, Mapping Startup Growth, Founder Mobility & Innovation Policy.
Research on connected entrepreneurial ecosystems, supervised by Prof. René Belderbos, Asst. Prof. Liudmila Alekseeva (KU Leuven), and Prof. Erik Stam (Utrecht University).
Carnegie Mellon University
Specialization: IT-Entrepreneurship, Innovation Ecosystem, Deep Technology and Research Commercialization
Valar Institute
Executive business education focusing on strategic leadership and management frameworks.
Nigerian University of Technology and Management
Selected as 1 of 29 scholars from a pool of over 5,000 applicants for the highly competitive flagship program (NSP) focusing on technology, entrepreneurship, and design.
Federal University of Technology Minna
Co-founded 8 student tech communities, establishing myself among the top 1% of campus ecosystem builders. Served as National Director of Welfare & Membership for NACOS, driving partnerships and stakeholder management. Founded Ignite Hub Africa during this tenure.
Fully funded 4-year doctoral fellowship
CMU-Africa Innovation Summit
AI4CE Symposium
AI for Clean Energy, £155,465 (Project Manager)
Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board
Carnegie Mellon University Africa
I'm open to research partnerships, co-authorship, and conversations about innovation ecosystems, generative AI, and entrepreneurship.