| Name: | Judge Adebayo Kalejaiye |
| year | 2024 |
| categories | cybersecurity and technology |
Adebayo Kalejaiye is a seasoned cybersecurity and technology leader with a proven record of safeguarding large-scale financial systems across Africa. His expertise lies in designing and implementing security frameworks that not only protect critical digital assets but also enhance institutional readiness against evolving cyber threats.
By 2023, Adebayo had made significant contributions to the banking sector through his role as Senior Cybersecurity Engineer at United Bank for Africa (UBA), a pan-African institution with operations in 20 countries. He led the development of a comprehensive cybersecurity policy framework that reduced the bank’s cyber-attack surface by 95 percent, protecting against over 10 million dollars in potential data breach exposure. Under his direction, teams built proactive risk protocols that secured more than 20 million dollars in digital assets. He also championed multilingual cybersecurity awareness campaigns tailored to the bank’s diverse workforce, increasing institutional cyber readiness by 80 percent.
Before joining UBA, Adebayo served as Senior Information Security Engineer at First City Monument Bank (FCMB), where he designed and deployed a real-time monitoring solution that reduced cyber intrusion incidents by 80 percent. His leadership in achieving PCI-DSS and ISO 27001 compliance directly contributed to a 60 percent growth in debit card adoption across West Africa, expanding secure digital banking access for millions of customers.
Earlier in his career at Access Bank PLC, one of Africa’s largest banks serving 52 million customers, Adebayo spearheaded enterprise-wide cybersecurity strategies. He oversaw a 10 million dollar Data Loss Prevention (DLP) program that improved data protection by 70 percent and led security communication initiatives in nine African countries, fostering customer trust and strengthening the bank’s reputation for secure digital operations.
Adebayo holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos, where he graduated in the top five percent of his class in 2016.
Why He Has Been Selected as a Judge
Adebayo’s selection as a judge for the 2023 Techquest Innovation Award, hosted by Tixafest Solutions Limited, is a recognition of his outstanding leadership in cybersecurity and his influence in shaping secure digital ecosystems across Africa. His track record in mitigating large-scale security risks, advancing compliance with global standards, and designing culturally inclusive security programs makes him uniquely qualified to assess innovation in technology and security.
His perspective combines deep technical expertise with a strategic understanding of how secure systems drive trust and enable growth, qualities that are vital for evaluating groundbreaking solutions in today’s interconnected world.