Africans In Tech

What does it really take to break into the music industry — and stay there? In this episode of Africans in Tech, host Sahr Lebbie sits down with Ayo Beatz — UK-based rapper, producer, and global creative — to unpack his journey from freestyling as a teenager in New York to producing a Top 3 UK charting record. Ayo Beatz shares the real, behind-the-scenes path of building a music career from the gr...

In this powerful episode of Africans in Tech, we sit down with Leander Howard II. Father, GTM Advisor and Career Coach Leander breaks down what it really takes to win as a founder in today’s world — ignoring social media noise, blocking out unqualified opinions, and focusing on respect, execution, and results. We dive into: Why being respected matters more than being liked How social media can dis...

In this powerful episode of Africans in Tech, host Sahr Lebbie sits down with Aisha Diambou, a Georgia Tech biomedical engineering graduate, to unpack her raw and unfiltered journey through healthcare, corporate America, layoffs, discrimination, and ultimately pivoting into tech. Aisha shares what it was really like working as a clinical specialist in cardiac electrophysiology, assisting in life-o...

In this powerful and unfiltered conversation, we sit down with Blessing Douglas — entrepreneur, mental health advocate, and development leader — to unpack one of Africa’s biggest challenges: the gap between policy and enforcement. We explore how weak compliance systems, lack of accountability, and poor data practices impact mental health services, governance, privacy, and development across the co...

In this episode of Africans in Tech, we sit down with Victoria Walker, a powerhouse software engineer at JP Morgan Chase and founder of Vivify Solutions. Victoria’s journey is a masterclass in resilience—overcoming the foster care system, personal loss, and legal hurdles to build a thriving career in fintech and her own product development agency. We dive deep into: The Reality of Self-Teaching: H...

🚀 From AI Solutions Specialist to Tech Founder — Ashley Robinson is on a mission to make the world a better place through technology. In this powerful episode of Africans in Tech Podcast, Ashley shares how she went from psychology and HR to becoming a Generative AI Engineer and now the CEO & Founder of Better Boost, a wearable tech startup creating AI-powered smart glasses that translate lang...

In this inspiring episode of the Africans in Tech Podcast, host Sahr Lebbie sits down with Banke Balogun, a LA based model turned Solutions Engineer, to explore her incredible journey from the runway to the world of tech. 💻 ✨ In This Episode, You’ll Learn: 💪 Why confidence is the #1 skill to master when breaking into tech 💬 How to “fake it till you make it” — and still show up authentically 🌐...

This week on Africans in Tech, we sit down with Ayo, founder of Techsgiving, and unpack how he built one of the most influential tech conferences for Black and Brown professionals in the DMV. From a humble rooftop meetup to Nationals Park Stadium with 7,000+ attendees, his journey is a blueprint for anyone scaling community with intention, culture, and infrastructure. If you're building a sta...

In this powerful episode of Africans in Tech, host Sahr Lebbie sits down with Jarrett Albritton — tech sales veteran, speaker, and founder of Big Stage Energy — for a raw, unfiltered conversation about what it really takes to succeed in tech, business, and life. From door-to-door sales and landing an enterprise role at IBM, to speaking on stages with billionaires and building a platform rooted in...

In this powerful and thought-provoking episode, host S. Lebbie sits down with Manal Al-ansi — attorney, educator, and visionary founder of Diaspora District — to explore her remarkable journey from Ethiopia 🇪🇹 to Seattle, Washington 🇺🇸, and her mission to connect education, culture, and innovation across continents. From navigating identity in American classrooms to shaping policy at the City of S...

In this episode of Africans in Tech, we sit down with Joel Iyiegbuniwe — Nigerian-American, former Chicago Bears linebacker, and aspiring tech leader — to talk about life on and off the field. We cover: Growing up Nigerian-American in Kentucky 🎭 Early dreams of being an athlete, doctor, or actor 🏈 Excelling in college football & making it to the NFL 🧠 Cognitive challenges of learning comple...

From protecting billions of users at Snap to flying 94 times in a single year, Yasmin shares her inspiring journey of leaving Big Tech to build her own company, NoHack. 🚀 In this episode of Africans in Tech, we dive into Yasmin's story — from late nights studying at the University of Maryland, to internships at Snapchat, Google, and Meta, to becoming the first Black woman in engineering at S...

In this Africans in Tech episode, we sit down with Jonte Charles, a former collegiate athlete turned cloud engineer, to unpack the mindset, discipline, and lessons that helped him transition from the wrestling mat to mastering the cloud. We talk about: 💭 Why treating ChatGPT like a “copy-paste machine” is holding you back ⚙️ The athlete’s mindset that builds resilience in tech careers ☁️ Understa...

In this episode of Africans in Tech, we sit down with Paige Malcolm, a driven software and cloud engineer who turned classroom learning and internships into a full-time role at a Fortune 500 insurance company. Paige shares how she transitioned from studying software engineering to landing two internships — one as a functional analyst and another in cloud engineering — before negotiating her first...

🚀 From the U.S. Air Force to Cybersecurity, and now thriving in Data Science — Jerrod Douglas has done it all. In this episode of the Africans in Tech Podcast, Jerrod shares how discipline, curiosity, and mentorship shaped his success in the tech industry. 🎙 Hosted by Sahr Lebbie & Queen Duncan, this conversation dives deep into Jerrod’s transformation — from military life to tech professiona...

In this episode of Africans in Tech, host Sahr Lebbie sits down with CeDerrick Mixson, a multi-disciplinary creative turned UX and product design leader. Cedric’s career spans from high school side hustles in photography and barbering, to studying fine art and graphic design, to leading design teams at startups and major companies like ParkMobile, Carvana, and RoadSync. CeDerrick shares how starti...

In this episode of Africans in Tech, host Sahr Lebbie sits down with Rejoice Jones, founder of Vower, a skills-first hiring platform with over 10,000 users. Rejoice’s story is a global journey of curiosity, reinvention, and building solutions that change how people enter the workforce. From leading weekend volunteer programs for the homeless in Atlanta, to studying advanced South African politics...

In this episode of Africans in Tech, Lily shares her incredible journey—growing up as the child of immigrants, navigating career pivots, and battling burnout on the path to building Mela Ai, a platform redefining how people find balance and not burn out. Lily opens up about: The immigrant hustle that shaped her mindset 💪🏾 How she bounced back from burnout to find purpose Why representation in te...

Leaving home, saying goodbye to family, and chasing opportunity in America isn’t easy. This episode dives deep into the immigrant experience — from cultural shock and sacrifices to the long road of breaking into the tech industry. Hear stories of leaving behind parents, missing childhood moments, working through challenges, and finding identity in a new world. This isn’t just about careers — it’s...

In this episode of African Tech, Jennifer shares her inspiring journey from studying economics to becoming a CPA, moving across continents, and breaking into big tech. She dives into: What it’s really like managing post-merger integrations in a top tech company Her transition from oil & gas accounting to program management in tech Growing up in Nigeria, moving to Canada at 13, and living in th...

In this episode of Africans in Tech, we dive deep into the future of AI in cybersecurity, SOC environments, and the evolving role of analysts. From the risks of over-relying on tools like ChatGPT to how AI agents are already being integrated into security operations, this conversation explores the real challenges and opportunities in today’s tech landscape. We discuss: Why blindly updating systems...

In this deep-dive interview, Sean Ilenrey, Speaker, Founder, and CEO of Value-Centric, a seasoned tech operations leader, shares his multi-industry journey through enterprise and startup environments—from Comcast to Toast (pre-IPO) to Dutchie, a leading cannabis tech platform. Sean breaks down how he built and scaled technical support infrastructures, introduced AI and automation tools, stood up W...

In this powerful episode, we sit down with Nimi Bello — Nigerian-American, mom of two, and the founder & CEO of Link Empower — to unpack her inspiring journey from humble beginnings in Nigeria to becoming a Senior Consultant and Release Train Engineer at Deloitte. Nimi shares how growing up in a blended family shaped her servant leadership style, how she pivoted from sales to tech, the realiti...

What does resilience really look like? In this powerful Afric. episode, host S. Levy sits down with TK—a Nigerian-American tech professional—who shares his inspiring journey from college dropout to IT security specialist. TK opens up about: Moving from Nigeria to the U.S. at age 16 Facing discrimination and false accusations from police Dropping out of college with just 8 classes left Grinding thr...

What do you get when you mix a love-hate relationship with Java, hours of YouTube University, and late-night convos with ChatGPT? You get Clinton Olayiwola’s wild ride into tech! 🚀 In this episode, Clinton breaks down how he went from almost failing his first Java class (yeah… writing code on paper 💀) to building real-world apps and surviving tutorial hell. We get into: ⚡ How ChatGPT became his...