Hi, my name is

Bolaji.

I free data from constraints

A passionate Analytics & Data Science Engineer. I design and operationalize data governance strategies to foster data-driven cultures, boost analytics capabilities, and deliver transformative products & solutions that drive impact.

Resume

About Me

I am a Senior Data Science Engineer with a passion for data products development. I have a background in Statistics & Probability, and I have a strong interest in the intersection of technology and problem-solving. I am currently leading Analytics & Data Science initiatives at Gozem in Sub-Saharan Africa. I am working on a project transforming the digital landscape in french-speaking Africa with a groundbreaking super app integrating transport, e-commerce, delivery, and financial services; revolutionizing access to vital services for millions. Here are a few technologies I've been working with recently:
  • Google Cloud Storage.
  • BigQuery. DataForm.
  • Vertex AI. DataFlow.
  • Looker Studio.
  • Python. R. Bash. SQL.
  • MongoDB. PostgreSQL.
  • Airflow. AWS EC2.
  • Gitlab. Docker.

Experience

Head of Data & Analytics - GOZEM
Oct 2022 - Present
  • Improved data observability and the quality of data products by establishing audits frameworks across business units and building a robust quality management system, including automated testing, to proactively identify and resolve discrepancies in collaboration with Product teams.
  • Enhanced analytics capabilities and powered a data-driven culture company-wide by crafting and maintaining a streamlined domain-oriented data governance strategy.
  • Fueled innovation and operational efficiency by partnering with Product and Business teams to integrate advanced analytics and machine learning features into mobile apps and internal platforms.
  • Scaled the Data team to 14+ across Sub-saharan Africa with well structured processes, increasing productivity and ensuring successful project delivery through mentorship and continuous learning.
  • Reduced Google Cloud bills by 42.57% in Q2 2024 by optimizing data modeling while maintaining high data integrity standards and ensuring accuracy and availability.
  • Refined business health monitoring and supported accounting statements by designing a comprehensive Group Closing Database, providing a 360° view of organizational performance.
  • Enhanced freelancer trust and operational efficiency by designing and deploying their activities log database, enabling automated fraud screening and reducing payment processing time 7x faster.
Global Data Analyst - GOZEM
Nov 2019 - Sep 2022
  • Facilitated more drivers engagement by automating a 3-days work manual incentives payment process within minutes at the end of activity days through mainly an accelerated performance fraud-screening.
  • Modernized data flow within the group by migrating the data infrastructure to Google Cloud, mainly replacing repetitive processings of limited data with BigQuery’s faster and scalable analysis power.
  • Accelerated the delivery of performance monitoring and diagnostic tools group-wide by building from scratch and leading the upscaling of a distributed analytics team of 4.
  • Automated KPI reporting and presented performance weekly actionable insights to the Management.
  • Supported Marketing by refining segmentation and cohort analysis with a users profiling database.
  • Mitigated financial risks by managing the user fraud patterns database and automating daily financing collection monitoring with critical alerts, ensuring 0 unknown default.
Data Scientist - RINTIO
Jul 2017 - May 2019
  • Implemented and maintained robust big data stack by combining Hadoop data lake, Spark cluster, and ElasticSearch to store and transform diverse data into valuable insights and intelligent features.
  • Strengthened the knowledge base to support data-driven actions by engineering agricultural (weather, crops, soil, yields…) data scraping and designing surveys to collect additional market information.
  • Enabled predictive decision-making for robust business strategies fueled by statistical crop yield forecast based on inferential analysis and multiple regression algorithms.
  • Delivered timely and accurate performance reports by translating complex analytical insights into accessible reports through interactive dashboards using Kibana and Apache Superset.
  • Empowered the management boards and supported innovative decision-making for some outsourcing clients by co-assessing their advanced analytics needs and crafting customized training materials, including demo and hands-on labs.
Statistician - INStaD
Sep 2017 - Feb 2018
  • Upskilled the agency’s agents in advanced analytics by crafting and delivering accessible training on advanced analytics tools, including hands-on R statistical analysis.
  • Enriched public research financing base in government agencies through a structured data collection campaign on surveys’ funding in Benin’s public institutions.
Statistician - Le PANTAGRUEL
Aug 2013 - Oct 2013
  • Provided valuable structured and cleaned customers feedback database by designing and conducting customer satisfaction survey through collaborative efforts with Sales team.
  • Increased Net Promoter Score by 17 and sales by 11% in one quarter by powering management policies with actionable insights from analyzed data.

Education

2015 - 2018
Master of Science in Statistics
ICMPA UNESCO CHAIR, University of Abomey-Calavi
GPA: 3.72 out of 4.0

Grade:

  • University: Distinction.
  • IEE: A-
2010 - 2013
Bachelor in Statistics and Econometrics
University of Abomey-Calavi

Other Experiences

Dec 2021 - Present
Vice-Chair of iSheero (Community)
iSheero

iSHEERO is a visionary initiative led by experts to promote data science and artificial intelligence in Benin and across Francophone Africa. Our mission is built on three powerful pillars:

  • Empower, Guide, and Inspire: We equip young Beninese talent with cutting-edge AI skills, fostering innovation and creating new opportunities in the field of artificial intelligence.
  • Build a Local Ecosystem: We are establishing a robust data science ecosystem, positioning Benin as a hub for international AI projects and innovation.
  • Champion AI in Benin: We help businesses discover and embrace the transformative power of AI to enhance their operational performance and drive growth.

To learn more about our activities, events and team, please visit our website and be part of the revolution.

2019 - 2022
Chair of Takwimu LAB (Community)
Takwimu LAB

As a passionate Junior Data Scientist, I co-founded and nurtured Takwimu LAB; a vibrant community for AI and Data Science enthusiasts, creating hands-on experiences from online learning paths that everyone could connect with. Together, we promoted research on low-resource African languages, collaborating to collect, label, and publish parallel text datasets for Neural Machine Translation like French-Fongbé and French-Ewe. These efforts resulted in impactful projects such as the prototype of an English-Fongbé Neural ML Translation app, made possible through the AI4D-Africa Network and UNESCO support.

Our work received recognition, including the Zindi Africa Award for the AI4D-African Dataset Challenge (2020). Later, we co-organized a machine translation challenge on Zindi Africa, contributing to the development of local data science talent. We published findings through the AI4D African Language Program, presented at the AfricaNLP Workshop during EACL 2021.

  • Parallel text dataset for Neural Machine Translation (French - Fongbe, and French - Ewe) was published in November 2020 on https://zenodo.org/record/4266935
  • AI4D – African Language Program, Avril 2021. Accepted et presented during AfricaNLP Workshop, EACL2021 Conference. N°: arXiv:2104.02516 [cs.CL]
Mar - Jun 2018
Big Data Bootcamp (Apprenticeship)
RINTIO Big Data Bootcamp

During my transition from Statistician to Data Scientist in this bootcamp, I gained hands-on experiences in Data Engineering and Machine Learning. Leveraging technologies like Apache Spark, Hive, Python, and SQL, I refined my skills in Data Visualization and Big Data infrastructure, tackling real-world challenges through an impactful project.

One of the key achievements of this experience was the development of Duniya Data; an app leveraging data insights to enhance agricultural practices. This project, created collaboratively with peers and mentors, highlighted the practical impact of data science and demonstrated how teamwork can address global challenges effectively.

Get in Touch

Whether you have a question or just want to say hi, I’ll try my best to get back to you! For an appointment, please visit my booking page to find a time that works best for you.
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