Meet Abayomi Olatunji

We recently connected with Abayomi Olatunji and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Abayomi, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I would say my resilience comes first from my parents, especially my mom. She carved the path for me in so many ways. Growing up, I watched how hard she worked, how much she sacrificed, and how determined she was to make sure I had access to the kind of education and opportunities she never had. That kind of example leaves a mark on you that you can’t watch someone push through so much and not learn the value of resilience.

Then, there’s my environment. I grew up in Ikotun, Lagos, Nigeria, an ever-busy, bustling part of Nigeria where life doesn’t slow down for anyone. Being the first child in a family of five, from a humble background, I carried a sense of responsibility early on. In that kind of environment, you don’t really get the option of giving up. You learn grit, determination, and the discipline to keep going no matter what.

My home also played a big role. Coming from a disciplined household, failure was never the end, it was just a signal to try again, differently and better. That shaped my “keep going, just do it” mentality from an early stage.

And of course, there’s Nigeria itself. Living here teaches you resilience in ways that are hard to explain. The system isn’t always in your favor, but if you want to succeed, you learn how to adapt, how to push through, and how to keep moving forward even when the odds are stacked against you.

All of these experiences from my mom, my upbringing, my environment, and the realities of Nigeria has shaped me into someone who doesn’t stop at the first “no” or setback. They built the foundation that carries me in my life and career today.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m a senior software engineer, an tech entreprenuer, a co-founder, and an AIthusiast.

My journey into tech started in the most unlikely way at the age of 15 during my high school days in Lagos, Nigeria.

I grew up as the first child in a family of five, and from a very humble background. My parents didn’t have much formal education, but they invested heavily in me, and I felt a deep responsibility to make them proud and to lift my family out of poverty. That sense of responsibility drove me to always give my best in school and dream big about what my future could look like.

Long before I ever wrote my first line of code, I was fascinated by computers. My mom once paid for me to attend a local computer school, where I learned to type using Mavis Beacon on an old Pentium 4 desktop. That simple exposure lit a spark. I started asking questions like: How was Facebook built? How did apps like Eskimi and 2go work? That curiosity led me to discover PHP, HTML, and CSS.

As a teenager, I would walk long distances (about 9km) to church almost every night to learn programming because electricity was almost non-existent in my area and my church usually use generator-powered light, so it’s best to go there and learn, and those walks gave me time to dream, build and its the foundation of my journey in my career. I would sit inside the church with my old computer, learning PHP, HTML, and CSS under the mosquito net, with mosquitoes buzzing all around me. It wasn’t glamorous, but that grit and persistence fueled me. The very first website I ever built was for my church, and seeing people use something I created sparked a fire in me. That was the moment I knew I wanted to pursue a career in tech.

From there, I went on to study Computer Science, first at the polytechnic (Osun state college of technology, Esa Oke, Osun State, Nigeria), and later at the university (Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria). Education gave me the foundation and theory, but it was community and internships that really shaped my journey. Being part of learning communities and internship programs gave me not just technical skills, but also a network of people who inspired me to aim higher. All the experiences, from Andela learning community programme, to Hotels.ng, bootcamp, and hackathons shaped my journey in this tech industry.

That path led me into the professional world, where I grew from a developer to becoming a Principal Software Engineer, and eventually the CTO at Utiva. At Utiva, I worked on building products that scaled tech education across Africa, helping thousands of learners access the skills they need for today’s world of work. Later, I co-founded Entrova, where I now serve as CTO. Entrova is a platform designed to connect top talent in Nigeria and Africa with global job opportunities. The mission is deeply personal for me, because I’ve seen first-hand the brilliance of African talent, and I believe the world should have access to it.

Alongside that, I also worked with Itana as a Senior Software Engineer, where I contributed to building Africa’s first Digital Economic Zone. This project is special because it creates a pathway for local and global businesses to operate seamlessly in Nigeria and across Africa, with access to critical things like visa processing, banking infrastructure, and top-tier talent. For me, it wasn’t just about writing code; it was about laying down infrastructure that empowers economies and communities.

Today, my focus is twofold:
– Bridging the gap between African talent and global opportunities.
– Contributing to the digital economy zone that enables businesses to thrive across Africa.

I believe technology isn’t just about apps or platforms, it’s about transformation. It’s about giving people access, breaking barriers, and creating a future where someone like me, who once coded under a mosquito net, can sit at the table building products with global impact.

Beyond work, I’m a big believer in community and networking. Tech gave me a family of like-minded people, and I love paying that forward. Outside of my professional life, I enjoy traveling, reading, spending time with family and friends, hitting the gym, and trying out new food wherever I go. Exploration, whether in tech, food, or travel, keeps me grounded and inspired.

At the end of the day, my story is about resilience, opportunity, and impact. I want every young person in Africa who dreams under difficult conditions like I once did to know that their story can change and that they, too, can build solutions the world will one day use and drive impact in people’s lives.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Looking back, three things stand out as most impactful in my journey:

1. Resilience and Grit
My background taught me that success doesn’t come overnight. From walking every night to learn coding in church to building my first website for my church, resilience was the fuel that kept me going when resources were scarce. For anyone early in their journey, I’d say: don’t underestimate the power of persistence. You’ll face setbacks, but your ability to keep moving forward, even when it’s uncomfortable will set you apart.

2. Continuous Learning and Adaptability
Tech is a fast-moving field. What you know today might not be enough tomorrow. What helped me was always being hungry to learn, that’s from communities, internships, and every project I worked on. I didn’t just study Computer Science in school; I lived it by experimenting, volunteering, building, and learning from others. For beginners, my advice is to stay curious, embrace new technologies, and never be afraid to start small. That constant learning mindset will carry you far.

3. Community and Relationships
Community changed everything for me. The people I met through tech programs, internships, and professional circles not only opened doors but also gave me encouragement when things felt tough. Networking isn’t about collecting contacts, it’s about building real relationships, contributing, and growing with others. If you’re starting out, find a community, volunteer, ask questions, and share what you know. Those connections will shape your journey in ways you can’t imagine.

For me, these three thing: resilience, continuous learning, and community, have been the backbone of my career. They’re not just “nice-to-haves”; they’re essential for anyone looking to grow, whether in tech or any other field.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

One book that has had a profound impact on me is Atomic Habits by James Clear. It resonated deeply with both my career and personal life because it broke down something I had always lived by instinct into a clear framework: big results come from small, consistent actions.

For me, the most powerful lesson was the idea of compounding habits: how making a 1% improvement every day can create extraordinary results over time. That principle mirrors my own journey. I didn’t start out with the best tools or the perfect environment; I started under a mosquito net, learning to code little by little. Over time, those tiny steps added up to becoming a software engineer, then a CTO, and now building solutions that impact thousands.

Another valuable nugget was the concept of identity-based habits: focusing on who you want to become, not just what you want to achieve. That mindset shift changed how I approached challenges. Instead of saying, “I want to build this product,” I began asking, “What kind of person builds world-class products?” and then shaped my habits around that.

Lastly, the book reinforced the power of systems over goals. Goals are important, but it’s the daily systems you create that carry you there. That’s been true in my fitness journey, in my career, and even in personal relationships. Consistency beats intensity every single time.

Atomic Habits gave me language for what I had been practicing and helped me refine it. It’s a reminder that the small things, showing up, learning daily, staying consistent are not just habits; they’re the building blocks of transformation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://abayomi.framer.website/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abayomi_bayo/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abayomi-olatunji/
• Other: Dev.to – https://dev.to/abayomijohn273