I build technology, teams and companies, follow Jesus, and write about what I learn along the way.

I'm Olugbenga Akinduko — a software engineer and engineering leader based in the UK. I've spent more than a decade building software, from payments and media platforms to distributed travel systems, APIs and cloud infrastructure.

My career has moved from hands-on engineering into technical and organisational leadership. I've been a founding engineer, Head of Engineering and today work at Principal Engineer level. I still like being close to the technology: architecture, backend systems, reliability, developer experience and increasingly the systems being built around AI.

I've also spent a meaningful part of my career building from zero. I've joined companies as an early engineer, helped grow engineering teams, and built products outside my main roles. That experience taught me that the hardest technology decisions are rarely just about technology — they are also about customers, economics, people, timing and knowing what not to build.

I'm also a Christian, and that isn't a separate compartment from the rest. Faith shapes how I think about work, ambition, failure and the people I build with. I write about it here too — scripture, prayer and what following Jesus asks of an ordinary working life — mostly to work things out for myself, and shared in case they help someone else.

GEAK LABS is where I think and build in public. The professional writing covers engineering, AI, leadership and company building — usually through something I've built, a decision I've had to make, or something I understood differently after getting it wrong. The faith writing has its own section, so you can read one side, the other, or both.

Experience

  1. Head of Engineering → Principal Engineer · eLife / Hoppa

    Jul 2022 — Present

    United Kingdom

    Leading technical initiatives across APIs, platform infrastructure, automation and AI-enabled systems within a global travel technology business.

    • —Distributed platform architecture
    • —API and backend systems
    • —Platform reliability and observability
    • —Engineering standards
    • —AI and automation
    • —Technical leadership

  2. Founding Engineer / Head of Engineering · Tribl Inc

    Jul 2020 — May 2022

    Remote · United States

    Joined as an early engineer and built the technical foundations of a 0→1 social platform while growing the engineering organisation.

    • —Architected the original platform
    • —Built Python Node.js and GraphQL systems
    • —AWS and cloud infrastructure
    • —Scaled engineering from 1 to 10
    • —Mentored engineers
    • —Owned technical direction

  3. Software Engineer / Technical Consultant · Andela

    Sep 2019 — Jul 2020

    Remote · United States

    Built and optimised production e-commerce systems for a US technology company through an Andela client engagement.

    • —Built apps with Python TypeScript and Node.js
    • —Google cloud
    • —GraphQL architecture
    • —Third-party integrations
    • —Frontend performance
    • —Developer coaching
    • —Production delivery

  4. Software Engineer · Korapay

    Feb 2019 — Sep 2019

    Lagos, Nigeria

    Built payment products and merchant infrastructure for an early Nigerian fintech connecting businesses and customers to payment services.

    • —Payment infrastructure
    • —Merchant middleware APIs
    • —Node.js microservices
    • —React and React Native
    • —5000+ merchant users

  5. Full-stack Software Developer · Groove Platforms · uduX

    Jul 2018 — Dec 2018

    Lagos, Nigeria

    Built core systems behind uduX, an early Nigerian music streaming platform, including content operations and platform APIs.

    • —Content management platform
    • —Node.js
    • —backend services
    • —React applications
    • —Search infrastructure
    • —Firebase
    • —500+ content providers

  6. DevOps / Software Engineer · Qrios Networks

    May 2016 — Jun 2018

    Lagos, Nigeria

    Built and operated high-performance web and infrastructure systems supporting enterprise and telecom services.

    • —Node.js and Python
    • —Docker
    • —Redis and RabbitMQ
    • —CI/CD
    • —Grafana and ELK
    • —Sub-100ms application performance

  7. Software Developer · A&A Innovations

    Apr 2014 — Jun 2016

    Remote · United Kingdom

    My earliest professional engineering role, building web applications and backend services for client projects.

    • —Web development
    • —Node.js
    • —Infrastructure administration
    • —JavaScript Client delivery