Africans In Tech

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 can expose new vulnerabilities

The risks of sharing sensitive data (PII, HIPAA) with AI tools

How government organizations are restricting AI usage

The rise of AI SOC agents and their impact on tier 1 analysts

The importance of mastering foundational cybersecurity skills

Tips for breaking into cybersecurity, from internships to log analysis

Why curiosity, documentation, and asking questions set you apart as an analyst

Justin Duru also shares his personal journey as a student and SOC analyst, his future plans in cloud security, and how he balances career growth with family responsibilities.

📌 Have questions or want to share your story?
Email us at [email protected]

👉 Don’t miss Justin’s upcoming whiteboard session episode, where he’ll break down advanced cybersecurity concepts step by step!

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 the UK

Balancing culture, career pivots, and personal passions like finance & investing

Her work helping friends and clients with personal finance, wealth building, and beginner-friendly investing

From tackling imposter syndrome to exploring M&A divestitures, Jennifer shows how adaptability, planning, and critical thinking have shaped her career. Beyond tech, she’s passionate about personal finance education—especially for women and immigrant communities. She breaks down complex investing concepts into simple, actionable steps, helping people take their first steps into stocks, ETFs, and building long-term wealth.

If you’ve ever thought about switching careers, moving countries, or taking control of your money, Jennifer’s story will give you both the blueprint and motivation.

👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more stories bridging Africa and global tech!

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 about resilience, love, and redefining what it means to succeed.

In this conversation, Joshua also shares his journey into cybersecurity — from certifications to becoming a Cloud Security Engineer. Using the simple but powerful example of a security guard, he explains why cyber defense is one of the most critical fields today, especially with AI making attacks easier than ever.

👉 What you’ll learn in this episode:

The emotional sacrifices immigrants face when leaving home

How cultural differences shape perspective and growth

The unspoken struggles of starting fresh in a new country

Breaking into tech and building a future against the odds

Why cybersecurity is the “invisible guard” every company needs

The urgent need for Africa to build its own tech infrastructure

How AI is transforming learning, education, and Africa’s growth

A vision for Africa’s future: startups, infrastructure, and homegrown innovation

If you care about resilience, immigrant stories, or the future of technology in Africa, this episode is packed with insights and inspiration.

📌 Connect with Joshua:
LinkedIn: Joshua Rotimi Samuel

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 tech and Black women in product leadership matters

The vision behind Mela Ai and the future of work & productivity, and finding balance through it all

🔥 Whether you’re chasing a career in tech, launching your own startup, or learning to manage your mental health along the way—this conversation will inspire you.

👉 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share to support the movement of Africans shaping the future of tech!

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 Cape Town, to teaching in Cabo, Mexico, every chapter shaped the vision for Vower.

She shares how her exposure to bursary economies abroad, her background in education, and her understanding of workforce development inspired a platform where job seekers can learn skills in real time before applying for entry-level roles — making hiring faster, fairer, and more accessible.

📌 Highlights:

Growing up in Grand Rapids & Clayton County

Playing sports, ROTC, and student government in high school

From a 2-year college to a full ride to Emory University

Studying abroad in South Africa & launching microenterprises in townships

Living & teaching in Cabo, Mexico — and seeing global wealth firsthand

Founding Vower & recruiting interns from Georgia Tech and Emory

How Vower’s patented process lets you learn skills before you apply for jobs

Why skills-first hiring is the future of work

🎧 Whether you’re a student, entrepreneur, or future founder, this episode will challenge you to rethink hiring, skills, and opportunity in the modern world.

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 starting at smaller companies sharpened his skills, why storytelling is a critical tool for senior designers, and how to navigate collaboration with product managers. He also opens up about his latest venture — Jello World — a platform aiming to be the “source of truth” online by scoring the credibility of social media content.

We talk about:

Making the jump from art to UX and product management

The value of starting in small companies before going enterprise

How to balance creative vision with business needs

Practical tips for getting from mid-level to lead in UX

Building Jello World and tackling misinformation online

Whether you’re a junior designer eyeing your next step or a founder building your first product team, this episode is packed with practical wisdom and candid insights.

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 through unpaid internships and commuting 90 minutes

Learning Linux, web design, and Splunk from scratch

Surviving whiteboard interview disasters

Getting mentored into cybersecurity and finally breaking through

🎯 Whether you're stuck in school, unsure how to enter tech, or feel behind—this conversation will light a fire in you.

🔥 Topics Covered:

Free tech training through real-world internships

Self-taught tech growth (SolarWinds, Splunk, HTML/CSS, Python, Linux)

How to prepare for technical interviews (even if you're new)

Advice on building confidence and finding mentors

Leveraging help desk roles to break into cybersecurity

Why mindset and perseverance matter more than a degree

TK’s story is a roadmap for anyone fighting self-doubt, imposter syndrome, or financial hardship while chasing a dream.

🎧 Don’t forget to:
👍 Like
🔔 Subscribe
🗣 Share with someone who needs the motivation

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 realities of being a Black woman in Agile leadership, and why embracing a consultative mindset is key in the age of AI.

She breaks down the Scrum framework in simple terms, explains the value of Toastmasters and Clubhouse for building confidence, and shares the blueprint that took her from entry-level to executive roles in tech.

🎯 Topics covered:

🧠🔁 Embracing Agile as a mindset

💼➡️🛠️ Moving from sales into Scrum and product

🎤🤝 The power of public speaking and community

💸📈 How job hopping helped her increase her income

👩🏾‍🍼🏠💻 Navigating motherhood, family, and career

👩🏾‍💼✨💻 The importance of Black women in tech leadership

🔗 Whether you’re breaking into tech or looking to level up in Agile roles, this episode is a masterclass in growth, grit, and purpose.

Get in contact with Nimi - https://linktr.ee/agilebae

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 WFM (Workforce Management), QA, and KPI systems from scratch, and helped companies move from chaos to structured scale. He also introduces his original leadership framework, "IMO" (I Momentum)—a tactical 4-phase model for driving sustainable transformation inside tech orgs.

This conversation is essential for operators, support leaders, startup builders, and execs looking to understand what it actually takes to build scalable support and customer operations in high-growth SaaS and tech environments.

🔥 Transitioning from Enterprise to Startup Tech Leadership
🧱 Standing Up Support Infrastructure: WFM, QA, KPIs, AI Tools
🌐 Remote-First Team Strategy & Async Collaboration Best Practices
📈 Navigating Pre-IPO Startup Culture (Toast)
🌍 DEI Challenges in Tech Orgs & Culturally Scaling Teams
🌱 Building in Underserved Verticals: Cannabis Tech at Dutchie
🧠 How to Implement the IMO Framework: Foundation, Build, Scale, Sustain

Connect with Sean - https://linktr.ee/Seanthespeaker?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=b98960fd-96d7-4031-b81e-5864ef443544

📌 Subscribe for more content on scaling customer operations, building tech-enabled teams, and real-life stories of leadership in SaaS, startup, and enterprise ecosystems.

What does it really take to go from making $75K to managing a tech team, running your own academy, and pulling six figures across multiple income streams?

In this episode, we sit down with a dynamic tech founder who breaks down her journey from early government contracts to launching the Techreneurship Academy — a program dedicated to helping both newcomers and seasoned pros navigate the world of tech with clarity and confidence.

We talk:
✅ Net 30 contracts and delayed checks
✅ Freelancing vs corp-to-corp
✅ Delegating labor while scaling a business
✅ What makes Techreneurship Academy different
✅ Setting yourself up for work/life freedom
✅ The future of certs, NDAs, and mentorship in tech
✅ The value of building real networks — not just followers

She doesn’t sugarcoat a thing — and that’s exactly what makes her story powerful.
🔥 Whether you’re a tech newbie, career switcher, or young Black woman in STEM—this episode is packed with real talk and valuable gems.

Follow Jai- https://beacons.ai/justicetaughtme