# Bolaji BALOGOUN · Head of Data & AI

> I build data platforms, AI products, and the teams that ship them, so businesses run on data, not slides. Read on, or ask iBola, my AI assistant: chat.bolablg.com.

I am a data & AI executive who builds the three things companies struggle to hold together: the platform (cloud data infrastructure that is fast, governed, and cost-disciplined), the products (AI and analytics tools people actually use in their daily work), and the people (teams and cultures that keep shipping). Most recently, through July 2026, I owned the data function end to end (platform, products, team, governance, and FinOps) and co-led AI strategy at Gozem, the super app serving millions across French-speaking Africa, reporting at C-level with a data organization of 14+ professionals spanning eight analytics domains.
There I chartered the Gozem Data Hub, the group’s central data & AI workspace serving over 650 people (employees, field agents, and partners) across five countries; shipped 30+ production AI-powered tools spanning fraud detection, document intelligence, RAG support, and real-time market monitoring; set the governance bar across 250+ pipelines; and cut Google Cloud costs by 42.57% in one quarter, after building the data team from 0 to 14+.
Beyond industry, I advised 15 early-stage startups on data strategy under the UN’s International Trade Centre, delivered executive data & AI trainings, and co-founded Takwimu LAB, whose work on low-resource African-language NLP won the AI4D Africa Award (2020) and reached the AfricaNLP workshop at EACL 2021. I serve as founding Vice-Chair of iSheero, promoting data science and AI in Benin, and contributed to the review of Benin’s National AI and Big Data Strategy.
A statistician by training (MSc, Distinction) and a Google Cloud Certified Professional Data Engineer, I have personally built every stage of the data lifecycle: from survey methodology and Spark data lakes to BigQuery warehouses, ML fraud screening, and agentic AI workflows. Three principles run through my work: metrics before dashboards, architecture is the budget, and adoption is the deliverable. Depending on the org chart, my role maps to titles like Data & AI Director, Director of Data & Analytics, Head of Analytics & AI, or Senior Manager for Data Engineering, Data Platform, and Data & Analytics.

Equivalent job titles: Head of Data & AI · Data & AI Director · Director of Data & Analytics · Director of Data Engineering · Director of Data Platform · Head of Analytics & AI · Head of Data & Analytics · Head of Data Engineering · Senior Manager, Data Engineering · Senior Manager, Data Platform · Senior Manager, Data & Analytics.
Operating regions: United States · Canada · France · Sub-Saharan Africa (West, Central, East & Southern Africa).

## Impact in numbers

- 650+ · Platform users & partners
- 30+ · Production automation tools
- 250+ · Pipelines under observability
- −42% · GCP cost in one quarter


## Main pages

- [Full biography](https://www.bolablg.com/bio.md): full background, quantified achievements, working principles. Start here
- [iBola, AI assistant](https://chat.bolablg.com): interactive Q&A about Bolaji's professional background, trained on this site
- [Apps & tools](https://app.bolablg.com)
- [Home](https://www.bolablg.com/)
- [About](https://www.bolablg.com/about/): bio, tech stack, education, certifications, publications, recognition
- [Work](https://www.bolablg.com/work/): experience, use cases, consulting
- [Writing](https://www.bolablg.com/writing/): notes and essays
- [Contact](https://www.bolablg.com/contact/)

## Experience

- [Data Director](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-director/): GOZEM · Apr 2025 - Jul 2026 · Owned data platform engineering and internal data products (the Data Hub and 30+ automation tools) and co-led AI strategy across Gozem’s footprint, covering Singapore, Togo, Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, and Congo.
- [Head of Data](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-head/): GOZEM · Oct 2022 - Mar 2025 · Owned the data function for Gozem’s Sub-Saharan Africa group: governance, team scaling from 0 to 14+, FinOps, and fintech-grade analytics.
- [Global Data Analyst](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-analyst/): GOZEM · Nov 2019 - Sep 2022 · First data hire: built Gozem’s analytics function from the ground up: GCP/BigQuery migration, monitoring automation, fraud-pattern detection, and marketing segmentation.
- [Data Scientist](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/rintio/): RINTIO · Jul 2018 - May 2019 · Developed analytics and data science products for Duniya, Rintio’s smart farming MVP for Beninese farmers.
- [Statistician](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/instad/): INStaD · Sep 2017 - Feb 2018
- [Statistician](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/pantagruel/): Le PANTAGRUEL · Aug 2013 - Oct 2013


## Projects & use cases

- [Gozem AI Strategy knowledge base](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-director/): GOZEM. 49 validated use cases catalogued; 6 in implementation, with near-full top-management adoption of daily AI assistance.
- [Gozem Data Hub: Central data & AI workspace](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-director/): GOZEM. 650+ people (employees, field agents, and partners) across 5 countries on one governed platform; 2 onboarded engineers shipped 2 more self-service apps.
- [AI-ready metrics layer & data-warehouse MCP](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-director/): GOZEM. KPI reporting decentralized to business users, removing the data team as the reporting bottleneck; the daily manual checks once needed to confirm generated numbers have nearly disappeared, since AI now produces them grounded and hallucination-free.
- [Automated invoice data extraction](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-director/): GOZEM. ~40 hours saved per financing manager per month across thousands of invoices.
- [RAG-powered customer support chatbot](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-director/): GOZEM. Resolvable support requests handled autonomously; complex cases escalated to Zendesk with conversation summaries preserving context.
- [Real-time market monitoring system](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-director/): GOZEM. +10.2% supply rate, +7.4% request-to-completion, +5.4% coverage at the Vodun Days festival peak (~2,000 users).
- [Data team capacity expansion](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-head/): GOZEM. 12 hires onboarded end-to-end from 50+ evaluated candidates, with 30/60/90-day ramp milestones.
- [Data science use-case knowledge base](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-head/): GOZEM. 100+ use cases catalogued; top 15 adapted with Gozem-specific feasibility and impact assessments.
- [Ebanking analytics and reporting infrastructure](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-head/): GOZEM. ~150 incidents surfaced per month; flagged a 20M+ CFA fraud; fintech warehouse powering regulatory reporting.
- [Self-service no-code data exploration platform](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-head/): GOZEM. 12+ active manager users; routine query load on the central data team halved.
- [Delivery agent incentive automation](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-head/): GOZEM. Incentive-related ticket volume cut nearly in half; support disputes resolved within 24h.
- [Cloud migration to GCP & BigQuery warehouse](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-analyst/): GOZEM. 
- [Operational monitoring automation](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-analyst/): GOZEM. 
- [Incentive payment automation](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-analyst/): GOZEM. 
- [Fraud patterns database & daily monitoring](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-analyst/): GOZEM. 
- [Marketing segmentation & cohort analysis](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-analyst/): GOZEM. 
- [Business health monitoring & daily insights](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/gozem-analyst/): GOZEM. 
- [Big data platform for precision agriculture](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/rintio/): RINTIO. 
- [Crop yield forecast models](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/rintio/): RINTIO. 
- [Consolidated BI reporting](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/rintio/): RINTIO. 
- [Data & AI executive training for Société Générale Maroc](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/rintio/): RINTIO. 
- [R training programme for agency staff](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/instad/): INStaD. 
- [Survey funding data collection at public ministries](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/instad/): INStaD. 
- [Customer satisfaction survey & scoring system](https://www.bolablg.com/experience/pantagruel/): Le PANTAGRUEL. 


## Writing

- [From insight to action: The rise of Data Product Engineering in scaleups](https://blog.bolablg.com/p/data-product-engineering-from-insight-to-action) · May 2026 · Substack · How operational analytics evolved into internal products at Gozem, and how AI-assisted engineering changed the economics of building them.
- [Beyond standard Google Dataform: Smart templates to save BigQuery costs & Dev time](https://blog.bolablg.com/p/beyond-standard-google-dataform-smart) · Oct 2025 · Substack · An extended all-in-one data modeling framework with Google Cloud Dataform
- [#CAF2025, Gozem x Super Apps: Shaping User Experience or Challenging Data Protection?](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bolablg_cnin-caf2025-gozem-activity-7346194799705669632-nj9z) · Jun 2025 · LinkedIn · Super Apps can drive inclusion while protecting user data when innovation and trust grow together.
- [💼 Salaire Brut vs Net au Bénin 🇧🇯 ](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bolablg_calculette-salaire-b%C3%A9nin-2025-activity-7337795641210769408-8KID) · Jun 2025 · LinkedIn · Un simulateur simple pour comprendre et négocier son salaire au Bénin, du brut au net, en toute clarté.
- [Google Sheets + Python: créer et partager automatiquement des rapports de données](https://blog.bolablg.com/p/google-sheets-python-creer-et-partager) · May 2025 · Substack · Finis les longs process manuels ! Automatise la création, l'édition et le partage de tes fichiers Google Sheets avec Python (ou R)
- [Débuter avec Google Dev: crée un service account pour automatiser tes opérations](https://blog.bolablg.com/p/google-dev-service-account) · May 2025 · Substack · Exemple: Lire automatiquement un google sheets dans un dossier google drive
- [Le parcours m'ayant conduit dans la Data Science...](https://www.facebook.com/reel/1038710197493572) · Aug 2023 · Facebook · La chance n’est souvent que la préparation qui rencontre l’opportunité.
- [Où trouver des données pour une étude nationale ?](https://blog.bolablg.com/p/source-de-donnees-etude-nationale-exemple-benin) · Nov 2021 · Substack · Des pistes de répertoires de données pour une étude à échelle nationale: exemple de la République du Bénin.


## Other experiences (consulting · community)

- [Data Management Consultant](https://www.bolablg.com/news/itc-consultant/): International Trade Centre - ITC (UN Agency) · 2023
- [Founding Vice-Chair of iSheero](https://www.bolablg.com/news/isheero/): iSheero · Dec 2021 - Present
- [Chair of Takwimu LAB](https://www.bolablg.com/news/takwimu-lab/): Takwimu LAB · 2019 - 2022
- [Big Data Bootcamp](https://www.bolablg.com/news/big-data-bootcamp/): RINTIO Big Data Bootcamp · Mar - Jun 2018


## Education

- [Master of Science in Statistics](https://www.bolablg.com/education/msc-statistics/): ICMPA UNESCO CHAIR, University of Abomey-Calavi · 2015 - 2018
- [Bachelor in Statistics and Econometrics](https://www.bolablg.com/education/bsc-statistics/): University of Abomey-Calavi · 2010 - 2013


## Certifications

- [Professional Data Engineer](https://www.bolablg.com/certifications/google-professional-data-engineer/): Google Cloud · Nov 2025 - Nov 2027
- [McKinsey.org Forward Program](https://www.bolablg.com/certifications/mckinsey-forward/): McKinsey & Company · Jul 2025
- [Apache Airflow](https://www.bolablg.com/certifications/apache-airflow-udemy/): Udemy · Feb 2024


## Publications

- [Participatory Research for Low-resourced Machine Translation](https://arxiv.org/abs/2104.02516): AfricaNLP Workshop, EACL 2021 · Apr 2021
- [Parallel Text Dataset for Neural Machine Translation (French-Fongbé, French-Ewe)](https://zenodo.org/record/4266935): Zenodo · Nov 2020


## Recognition

- [CAF2025 speaker: Super Apps & Data Protection](https://www.bolablg.com/achievements/caf2025-speaker/): On Gozem’s super-app approach to data protection · 2025
- [WakeUp Champ podcast guest](https://www.bolablg.com/achievements/wakeup-champ-podcast/): On the path from statistics to data science leadership · 2023
- [Zindi Africa Award](https://www.bolablg.com/achievements/zindi-africa-award/): AI4D African Dataset Challenge (Takwimu LAB) · 2020


## Tech stack

- AI & LLM: LLM APIs · RAG · Vector DBs · Document Intelligence · Agentic workflows · LangGraph · MCP
- Cloud & Data: Google Cloud Storage · BigQuery · Dataform · Vertex AI · Dataflow · Cloud Run · Pub/Sub
- Visualization: Looker · Metabase · Plotly · Analytics web apps
- Languages & DB: Python · R · JavaScript · Bash · SQL · MongoDB · PostgreSQL · ClickHouse
- DevOps & Tools: Airflow · Artifact Registry · AWS EC2 · Git · Docker


## Contact

- Email: hello@bolablg.com
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/bolablg
- GitHub: https://github.com/bolablg
- X / Twitter: https://x.com/bolablg
- Blog: https://blog.bolablg.com
- Based in: Little Rock, AR, US (GMT-5)

## Other languages

- Version française: https://www.bolablg.com/fr/llms.txt