| Name: | Judge Gbenga Akingbulere |
| year | 2024 |
| categories | Software Engineering & Fintech |
Dratech International is thrilled to welcome Gbenga Akingbulere, a highly accomplished Staff Software Engineer at Palo Alto Networks, to the prestigious panel of judges for the Dratech Hackathon 2024, set to take place in December.
With a decade-long footprint in the software engineering landscape across Africa and the United States, Gbenga brings to the table a rare blend of academic depth, real-world experience, and cutting-edge innovation. His career reflects a powerful commitment to using technology to address complex security challenges and promote scalable, impactful solutions across critical sectors including cybersecurity, financial technology, logistics, education, and health.
Currently based in Santa Clara, California, Gbenga plays a pivotal role at Palo Alto Networks—one of the world’s leading cybersecurity companies where he leads the design and implementation of AI-driven security tools that help organizations around the globe fortify their cloud infrastructure. His work is instrumental in automating security processes, enhancing risk detection systems, and enabling real-time monitoring and response across enterprise networks.
Before joining Palo Alto Networks, Gbenga held several key roles in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem. At Ashnelsons Partners, he engineered advanced fraud detection systems for one of Africa’s largest payment processors. During his time with Spinel Consulting, he was part of the development team behind the Sabi Logistics platform, Africa’s leading B2B trading enabler. He also spearheaded the development of “EasyLearn”, a digital reading platform that transformed the way users interact with educational content.
His experience extends into the banking sector, where he led the creation of core banking and automation systems for major institutions such as Access Bank Congo and United Bank for Africa, significantly improving operational efficiency and compliance through digital transformation.
In recognition of his work in AI-powered fraud detection, Gbenga was honored with the Tech Trailblazer Award at the 2022 Software Innovation Excellence Awards, where he was celebrated for developing machine learning systems capable of identifying financial fraud in real time. His recognition was featured in Tribune Online, underscoring his contributions to building secure digital ecosystems and advancing financial technology solutions across the continent.
Academically, Gbenga holds a Master of Science in Statistics from Oklahoma State University, where he also served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. His academic research focused on false discovery rates in high-dimensional datasets, with applications in both agriculture and cybersecurity. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics/Statistics from the University of Lagos.
Gbenga is also a published author and active researcher, with recent work exploring frontier topics such as:
- Adversarial attacks on deepfake detection systems using convolutional neural networks and GANs,
- Security implications of network slicing in 5G-enabled IoT environments,
- Predictive analytics for healthcare resource allocation in underserved communities.
His recent book, “AI-Powered Secure Software Engineering and Financial Fraud Prevention,” demonstrates his leadership in designing intelligent, fraud-resilient systems for the fintech space. The book offers practical frameworks for secure, AI-integrated software architecture and continues to influence both practitioners and enterprise teams.
He is a strong advocate for mentorship, team development, and technical excellence. At various stages in his career, he has led training initiatives, mentored software teams, conducted code reviews, and driven agile software development practices across distributed teams.
Championing Innovation and Technical Excellence
As a judge for the Dratech Hackathon 2024, Gbenga Akingbulere will be bringing his vast expertise to evaluate the creativity, technical depth, and real-world potential of solutions built by Africa’s next generation of innovators. His presence reaffirms Dratech’s mission to bridge global expertise with local talent and to empower African developers to tackle pressing challenges with forward-thinking technologies.
Gbenga’s inclusion in this year’s judging panel not only raises the bar for technical evaluation but also reinforces the core values that drive the Dratech Hackathon innovation, inclusion, impact, and execution. Participants can look forward to receiving insightful feedback and high-level scrutiny from someone who understands what it takes to transform an idea into a secure, scalable, and globally relevant solution.
We are honored to have Gbenga Akingbulere join the 2024 panel and eagerly await the groundbreaking contributions he will help identify and uplift.
