Did you enjoy school?
I did and I didn’t. I enjoyed learning, especially Literature and Biology, but I was terribly bullied which led me to embrace my introversion and escape through fiction. Where I had brilliant teachers, I thrived. Where I couldn’t engage with the subjects, I struggled. In many ways, my experience at school helped shape who I am today: my interest in stories, my curiosity about why people exhibit certain behaviours, and most of all, how we learn. I learnt to embrace my introversion as a strength and to overcome what others threw at me. School wasn’t a joy, but it helped me find my joy.
What qualifications do you have?
I hold a Masters in Business Intelligence from Leeds Beckett University. I hold other qualifications and aim to eventually hold a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), but the Masters is my proudest qualification. I started the postgraduate degree because I wanted to understand how I could make folks light up when they discovered what they could do with data. Taking a year to study was a blessing. I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in academia. Receiving the Dean’s prize for the best performing postgraduate student in the School of Computing, Creative Technologies and Engineering was the crowning achievement of that year. I’m so proud of the work I put in and of my thesis “How good is health open data?”. It helped me reshape my career into data leadership. I can’t wait to continue in academia by working towards a doctorate.
Has your career path been a smooth transition, a rocky road or a combination of both?
Is anyone’s career a smooth transition? I think of careers like coastlines on a map. From far away, they can seem smooth and continuous, but as you zoom in, they look more jagged. My career has always been in data, from working as an Access 95 developer to my current role as a Principal Data Architect and Data Architecture Governance Lead. I’m fortunate to have fallen in love with an area that has rich career prospects. I joke that I’ve worked all the data “stations” much like those in a kitchen. I’ve embraced database development, thrived as a project lead for data-intensive projects, mined data warehouses as a Business Intelligence developer, built the future as a Strategic Data Architect, consulted for the World Bank, advised as part of the World Economic Forum, led a government department as Head of Data for Effective Development at the Department for International Development, then at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, influenced data strategy for the Gates Foundation, and travelled the world as a speaker, an advocate for decolonizing data, and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) representative. Through my DE&I work, I co-founded an advocacy organization, Data, Tech & Black Communities, that’s raising awareness about the need for grassroots funding of research by investing in community organizations. My talks are one way I inspire others to take action. For example, ‘White & other defaults’ focuses on the need for decolonization and diversity. In other talks, I touch on why inclusion in data and technology is necessary to shape the future of work. I’ve had an immensely rewarding career so far, and I’m looking forward to the future, as we see Al and emerging technologies continue to disrupt and enrich our lives, all built on vast swathes of data.
What is the best career advice you can give to others?
My best career advice is to lift others up. I believe in a “more is more” philosophy in life. The more I give, the more I get, and the more we give, the more we get. I have a deep-rooted appreciation for community and collaboration, stemming from my Nigerian roots, which I still value today. My name, Edafekibuebu, means “we are blessed” and I feel blessed to work on exciting problems with some of the smartest people I know. I encourage everyone to build longer tables and invite others to pull up a chair. I owe many things I’ve gained in life to the generosity of others, and by giving back, I’ve been able to help others grow and achieve their goals. For example, someone believed in me and my skill set, which led to my current role, and it was life changing. So, ask yourself, whose life can you change today?
If you had to pick one mentor, that had the biggest influence on you, who would it be?
The person who had the biggest influence on my career was my first manager and mentor. He played a pivotal role in my development by believing in me, helping me mature my thinking around management, and sharing his problem-solving philosophies. Alistair was the first person who made me realize the power of my voice and that people listened when I spoke. As a result, I’m constantly reflecting on how I use my power, which is a lesson I learned from him that I carry with me every day.
From where do you draw inspiration?
I work in technology, but I’m always impressed by the way artists work. My wife is an artist and I’m fascinated by her process. I tend to “Steal Like an Artist” (with thanks to artist and author Austin Klein for his inspirational book). I observe constantly and reflect regularly in my journal to improve my process. While in Bournemouth, I was intrigued by how a coffee shop managed the constant flow of traffic. From how they took regular orders to how they managed quirky ones. The entire operation resembled a well-coordinated dance. It inspired me to visualize the same coordination for a data problem that needed to sometimes accommodate quirks while moving data at scale. When it comes to inspiration for change, I’ve been casually indulging in neuropsychology including nudge theory and behavior analytics. It all started when I read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by neurologist Oliver Sacks. The mind and consciousness are fascinating subjects. Why do we choose to change? What are the triggers? How can we support sustainable change and prevent burnout? How do we persuade, influence, and ultimately, enhance the experience of others as they use technology? These are all questions I’m deeply interested in. Right now, I’m taking a deep dive into persuasion guided by Dr Robert Cialdini’s Seven Principles of Persuasion. I’m learning so much from researching then reflecting on my experiences in a new light.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced to date?
Every day is a school day and new challenges crop up regularly. So, I can tell you about the biggest challenges I’ve faced so far, safe in the knowledge that there’s scope for more and bigger challenges on the horizon! My perennial challenge, which isn’t directly related to my current role, remains helping busy people get better at using data. Not only are they short on time and capacity, but data may also be outside their area of expertise. I believe everyone needs basic data skills today to feel confident about using data. to scrutinize data, and to understand how to make data work for them: their impact, outcomes, outputs, activities, processes, and inputs.
What qualities do you feel make a good leader?
That’s a great question! I lead by being considerate and understanding that I’m an adult working with adults who deserve CARE (Challenge, Autonomy, Reward & Recognition, and Engagement). While there are always things I can’t share, I strive to be as open, transparent, and honest as I can, and the situation demands. I strive to communicate well and include others in my vision as thoughtfully as I can. Most importantly, I follow through on commitments and promises. It’s my opinion that a good leader inspires and motivates others by being the change they want to see. Ultimately, leadership is about creating an environment where people can discover their power to succeed.
From a work viewpoint what have the last 12 months been like?
From my perspective, which doesn’t reflect that of my employer, there’s a ton of opportunity coming from Al and Large Language Models (LLM), which are gamechangers, not only because of their potential to boost productivity but also how they refocus attention on good quality data. It’s a tough sell to get folks to care about data unless it gives them tangible benefits and tunes into their WII.FM (what’s in it for me?) While I can’t predict what’ll happen in future, I can safely say, if we want to realize the benefits of ChatGPT, Midjourney and their ilk, we must first learn to value our data and integrate its use into our workflows. As long as humans are creating, using and managing data, we’ll need to make it easy for them to do the right thing. When it comes to data, out of sight is out of mind. If we don’t use the data, no matter the state it’s in, we have little incentive to improve it. If we don’t improve it, we keep mistrusting it, meaning we don’t use it. I call this the cycle of data despair. To make data work, we need a collective mindset of continuous improvement. Put data to use in your daily routines and build sustainable feedback loops. Why is good data important? Making data work for us is crucial to enabling AI to work for us, and it may be the key to unlocking what I call “Living in the science fiction future.” A future that’s closer to human ingenuity augmented with effective AI. In other words, a more hopeful Star Trek future rather a than dystopian Star Wars one. Apologies to fans of the force!
What would you say are the biggest tech-based challenges we face today?
My personal take? The future is here but it isn’t evenly distributed. That’s true for the technology itself as well as the skills to make best use of it. There are still many areas around the world that lack access to basic technologies, and even in more “developed” countries, there are significant disparities in access to technology, digital skills and data literacy. From my perspective on decolonizing data, we’re acknowledging that the world is complex, varied and nuanced. To be truly effective and inclusive, technology will need to move away from a western-centric approach. I’m fascinated by data and technology work being done in indigenous societies and creative communities. This is far away from the corporate space and that’s a good thing! We need more than a technology monoculture to build the future. It takes a village to raise a child, and in many ways, it’ll take a global village to make emerging technologies truly work for the betterment of all humankind. I am excited to be a part of this ongoing conversation and effort.
What can be done to encourage more women into the industry?
The real question here is what the industry can do to retain women – not just how to recruit them. I encourage a two-pronged approach: encourage women to invest in a technology career and as leaders, create an environment where women can thrive in the workplace throughout their careers. I’m deeply involved with initiatives that encourage young people into technology at the point they choose their GCSE and A level subjects. Once they are there, we need to create an environment where they can thrive. This means providing them with CARE: Challenge, Autonomy, Reward & Recognition, and Engagement. We need workplaces that allow women to flourish, be recognized and rewarded for their work, and receive support through all stages of their lives. This includes providing additional support for caregivers and during menopause. And you know what? Making workplaces work for women makes them work for everyone. So, ask not how we encourage women to choose technology, ask how technology can choose to invest in women.
Give us a fact about you that most other people wouldn’t know.
A few years ago, my wife and I discovered my hidden talent: I can spot portraits of John the Baptist and the baby Jesus in any setting. I took the opportunity to showcase my skills to my now-wife while we were dating. I’d like to think that heavily influenced her decision to marry me! So, I have an enthusiastic Religious Studies teacher to thank for my party trick and perhaps my marital status. I’m also an enthusiastic cat mum, but let’s face it, that is a fact a lot of people know about me!
