DEV Community: Bolarinwa Ajayi

Answering your most intriguing question about my career.

Bolarinwa Ajayi — Sat, 05 Sep 2026 11:02:53 +0000

An 18-month journey of working at a unicorn tech company. Learn about my strategies, my team, my contributions, and my experiences

This writing is based on my personal experience, so cherry-pick what resonates with you, but I truly hope someone finds it useful; this is not a manual

A couple of months ago, I ended my contract as an integration engineer in the Developer Relations & Integration department at Monnify, a unicorn subsidiary company. It was conclusive on the 30th of May, 2026. While I was in the company, some developers reached out to me, asking how I got the job, partly in the form of questions for advice. Now I am answering once and for all.

In case you don't know Monnify.

Monnify is an online payment gateway and financial infrastructure built for businesses in Nigeria and beyond to accept and disburse funds easily.

During my service tenure, we had a restructuring, where we migrated from Moniepoint to its parent company, called Teamapt. The company is currently in an active phase of promoting its product to the market. Trust me, the Monnify product has gained significant ground in the Nigerian market, across Africa and beyond. International payment is now supported via Mastercard, but in USD. However, if you have an inquiry about the company’s service, kindly reach out to the onboarding, support and sales team; they are open to helping you get started.

Getting here was not an accident. Let’s get to the backstory. In 2024, I woke up announcing to the world I wanted to become a developer relations engineer, a niche in Tech Education. After racking my head for months in 2023, wondering about what tech niche fits well into my past experiences and personality, leveraging my strengths. For better context, please check my LinkedIn profile for more details about my journey.

The graph below explains how interconnected the Developer Relations role is. Every DevRel engineer's experience is not the same; some lean toward one of these areas, while some do everything.

DEVELOPER RELATION - IMG SOURCE (shubhsharma)
Building career momentum
After pursuing several life-changing international remote jobs in 2023 with little to no results, my career and self-esteem went down the drain. I discussed this with my family and friends, then a dear friend took my life matter so seriously, she sponsored my trip to Reboot Camp 2024, my church end of the year program. I ran to God for 3 days, and I met with Him. Somehow, I am a God addict and a happy student of life. I strongly believe all things work together for my good, including painful situations.

Early in 2024, I got a job as an Online Program Manager for a startup through a colleague who referred me for the role. We worked endlessly on an online campaign for the brand’s online summit. I was the brain behind it, a 7-day fully online program with different sessions of speakers and audiences. It was a success. Version 1.0 of the program pioneered the brand’s visibility in the market. We built a community of over 1,000 people. That was my first time using Luma and Instagram Live for an online program summit. With that, I regained confidence in my product/service adoption skills (publicity and go-to-market strategy). Right now, the startup is fully operational and stable in the market.

Based on my public announcement to start my career fully in DevRel, I embarked on creating content online, particularly on LinkedIn, posting about Developer Relations for 176 days of the year. I was studying and sharing, following a roadmap guide from roadmap.sh, which I completed in 2025. It was mentally and physically stretching, but it yielded massive results.

While doing my daily online posting and studying, a startup founder reached out to me to become the brand’s first Developer Advocate. So yeah, I got another job, my very first offer. I agreed to the offer, and we established a contract. For three months, the startup was trying to find its footing. I did a good job, and I was told to focus more on result-driven actions instead of activities. I believe DevRel contains plenty of that. Here are samples of my work for the startup. - Nobox-lab. Kindly check this out. I also planned and hosted a physical developer program for a product showcase and workshop.

While on this offer, I was job hunting because I knew for a fact that this contract would end. So what next? As someone who has collected countless rejection letters and received many “no’s” online from strangers who didn’t care to see my work or interview me. I set out to apply countless times, and I didn’t let rejection letters distract me because I was on a mission.

I must say a big thank you to the friends who made me smile during this season, those who bought me food, jollof rice and chicken; those who opened their homes to me so I could come and do interviews. Oh my, I had a life. Friends came to pick me up from my parents’ house and took me to tech hubs to study and attend interviews. Friends who recommended me for co-founding job opportunities, you rock my world! To people who doubted my capacity, lost hope in my becoming, and compared me with excelling colleagues across the globe, you inspired me daily.

You all made my pursuit to fulfil my life ambition a beautiful one. Without you, I wouldn’t have pulled through. Friendships are lifelines; don’t pull the plug on that friend. Try to be relational. You’ve heard the saying that the world is cold. Choose to be the warmth. At least someone will experience kindness because you were here.

Strategy for getting opportunities in the 21st Century (2023- present)
I have strategically worked towards this result for an extended period, and I have a few things to share about what worked for me.

Since I’ve been active on the streets of LinkedIn*,* “the professional ghetto of fake life and polished candy showroom“, I found myself thinking, breathing, and studying LinkedIn content, job-search algorithms, and tricks about the platform.

I learnt how to spot new opportunities on the go. For my Integration Engineering role, I saw a job posting on LinkedIn that day from the big guy—Moniepoint. Before its public announcement of becoming a unicorn company, it was one of my dream companies, and after someone had pitched working here to me, during my service year (2022- 2023) in the city of Ibadan. My mind was made up. I think I had developed a thick skin from all forms rejections messages. I applied without thinking twice, and I was called for an interview.

I progressed through the interview process. Phase 1 was the technical interview, followed by Phase 2, where I met with the leadership team and had an oral interview to assess cultural fit. At the end of the process, I was told they would get back to me.

A month went by, and I hadn’t heard from the team. Rather than assume the opportunity was over, I followed up with an email. Shortly afterwards, I received a call from the team, followed by my employment offer via email. It was a dream come true. I still remember the excitement on my face, that moment, I couldn’t contain my joy.

Disclaimer - I don't know an insider , neither did i get referral from anyone internally

My mantra - It's either you chase, or you attract - choose your battle.

Attraction tips

Download LinkedIn and post. Yes, post that content—educational content, wins and progress, projects, and impact. Join the charade! By doing this, you're signalling attraction (the "pick me" contest, but in a cute way).

Benefit: It helps you attract recruiters, recommenders, and new career friends.

Create a target list of companies you want to work for. Read their latest blogs and find loopholes in their systems. For example, if it's an open-source project like Pydantic, become an open-source maintainer. Solve a problem for the company and showcase your work. Build relationships with internal staff and colleagues for visibility.

Benefit: Once a job role opens up, the team will be more likely to recommend you, and your work will speak for itself easily.

Chasing tips

Cold Mailing: Send messages to everyone and anyone at the executive level of businesses and organisations, including industry thought leaders, decision-makers, and influencers.

Benefit: They may respond and give you tips on how to position yourself for an opportunity within the company or refer you to someone who can help, such as the HR department. You can do this on LinkedIn.

Job Hunting: Search for opportunities on LinkedIn through job postings. This involves submitting your résumé, portfolio, and other required materials.

Benefit: Timely job postings with fewer candidate applications give you a higher chance of having your résumé reviewed.

On LinkedIn, here's my small secret:

Job Role + EMEA + 24 hours

"Job Role" AND "Hiring" in the last 24 hours

Hiring + Job Role

Example: "Developer Advocate" AND "Hiring"

The mind chess game (my experience)
I joined the team, completed my onboarding, and was assigned tasks. I met many great colleagues, each of whom I learnt from either in values or skills. One thing I came to understand is that about 40% of your job is technical (which you are skilled at), while 60% is about managing people and relationships.

My team was always rooting for me and encouraging me. At one point, I felt like I had won, and I was genuinely happy. Then the switch flipped, and there were moments when I felt small. Even so, I kept my head up. I enjoy working with this team. Every day, I have a reason to wake up happy: because I have a bit of direction in my life, my day is either about pitching our product to a customer, troubleshooting an issue, building something, or searching for data.

During my stay, a quote by an American Journalist kept me sane, it was boldly written on the wall of the company’s branch here in Lagos, Nigeria

Happiness is a by-product of an effort to make someone else happy- Gretta Palmer

Any Regret - In hindsight

I would say two people might have the same goals but different moral compasses. Person A might judge with fairness, while Person B might judge using a standard as a baseline, one which made my greatest asset “people,” and my greatest disappointment also “people.”

I was told to ask questions, that I’m free to ask any question at any time. Don’t ask stupid questions, and don’t ask questions that make people perceive you as inferior. Person A might be patient and calm in answering your questions often, while Person B might perceive or believe you’re a dullard and that you need to fix yourself. Perception is everything.

Remember that people define respect differently, especially those you work with. Some may say they don’t care whether you respect them, but their actions may suggest otherwise. Understand the person in context, and dance to their tune. Leave your cultural notions of respect at the company’s gate.

Moniepoint office
The Daily Sacrifice (My Contribution)
End-of-year merchant log (2024–2025) — I was on my laptop from December 30 to January 1, 2025.

Demo page on the old website and content management for the website throughout 2025– (Q2)2026.

Documentation content management and blog writing.

E-commerce demo application for one-time payment feature testing.

Research on plugin integrations.

Other responsibilities included in my day-to-day tasks are technical sales and onboarding calls, technical debugging calls, responding to developers’ integration requests, feature and service testing, escalating and reporting bugs, feature enhancement requests, building production integrations based on market demands and priorities, internal feature activation, and DevRel team events, including product showcases (optional).

Conclusion
There you have it, my experiences, lessons and strategy, from switching careers to pursue what I’m passionate about and building from the ground up. In less than three years, I achieved my goal of working for a global tech company.

I hope this blog post has given you some insight into my journey. Beyond the polished pictures and portfolio, remember that it was all strategy. None of this was an act of pretence. It was the result of intentional effort and hard work that cannot be faked!

If you’re in a position to choose, I advise you to pursue something you genuinely enjoy doing, because I did, and I truly enjoyed the journey it took me on. Enjoy life while you’re building. Upgrade your professional network from time to time if needed, and stay connected to peers and friends who know you, can vouch for you, and can send opportunities your way.

I deeply miss my friends and mentors at Monnify; both those who have left the company and those who are still on the team. Thank you to everyone who held my hand through some of my darkest nights, when I went to bed in tears. Thank you to those who celebrated my birthdays, encouraged me, and pushed me beyond my comfort zone. The kindness, support, and belief you showed me will never be forgotten.

I know you’re curious about what I’ll be doing next. Yes, I have already embarked on my next adventure. The road may be rocky, but I’m ready for it. I want to do good work, impact lives, become a senior engineer, maybe one day have my name inscribed on Portland stone in a London museum.

Dear reader,

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

I sincerely appreciate your time and attention. If anything in this journey resonated with you, I’d be grateful to hear your thoughts, comments, or feedback.

To everyone I met on this journey, you are priceless!

Cheers to living whole, OmoBolarinwaye.

What Role Will Africa Play in the Trillion-Dollar AI Economy II ?

Bolarinwa Ajayi — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 14:14:43 +0000

As an African who currently resides in Lagos, Nigeria, one of the most populous cities in Nigeria, filled with excellent creatives from engineering to art, we have seen first-hand the impact of technology made by Africans for Africans in the past five years.

The world projects that Africa has the largest youth population, and reports indicate this number will double to more than 800 million. This represents a potential target group of individuals who will not only use but also create with AI. With the rapid expansion of AI capabilities, Africa is presented with both a significant opportunity and an urgent call to action.

This revolutionary innovation places African talent at the center of the spotlight. In Africa, we believe in technology, but we have yet to harness its full potential. This brings to mind the pressing question that stirs my heart: How do we build better?

I began my exploration with AI, Data science and ML model as a student learner at a university in Nigeria. Through my final year project, I could comprehend the profound potential of AI, its impact across industries and its benefits for everyone.

What is the state of AI across the World, and its current Impact?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has moved from being a futuristic concept to a present-day driver of innovation across industries. From healthcare to finance, agriculture to education, AI is reshaping how businesses operate, how individuals interact with technology, and how societies prepare for the future. Nations like the United States, China, and members of the European Union have accelerated AI adoption (for adults and kids), and the UK and the USA are celebrating an AI prosperity deal.

Globally, AI is a powerhouse of productivity and economic growth. According to PwC, AI solutions have become a current source of information and content generation, and it is transforming knowledge and learning. AI could contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030and beyond.

Industry leaders like the CEO of Alphabet describe`

AI is more profound than electricity or fire said by Sundar Pichai
Companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and OpenAI are investing billions in research and infrastructure, making AI tools more accessible and integrated into everyday life. Universities across the globe have research works that hinge on AI. From ChatGPT 5 in content generation to DeepMind's Alpha Fold revolutionising protein research, AI is already altering the course of science, creativity, and commerce, reasoning and critical thinking. Its potential is clearly redefining the human way of living with significant change in the history of mankind.

Where are we?

Africa stands at a crucial crossroads. Are we going to consume products and services created with AI? Again, what will be our contribution to the current economic change globally?

Are we embracing AI as a tool for transformation, or are we at risk of being left behind?

Africa, with its youthful population, over 60% under the age of 25, and growing internet penetration, holds immense potential to harness AI. However, challenges such as limited infrastructure, inadequate digital literacy, and underinvestment in research place the continent at risk of widening the digital divide. Yet, there are sparks of progress.

In Nigeria, organisations like Data Science Nigeria are training thousands of young Africans in machine learning and AI. Kenya is leveraging AI in agriculture to predict crop diseases and improve food security. Rwanda has piloted AI-driven drones for medical supply delivery, saving countless lives..

With the disruption of AI in 2022 and now, many African startups have launched AI-enabled digital solutions that solve African problems. However, our reach to peak is still far-fetched. Africans have demonstrated their prowess with solid momentum, but the scale remains insufficient compared to global trends.

How Africa Can Catch Up

Individuals should own spaces, hone their skills, and represent Africa on the global table where decisions are made for our continent. More business owners showcase how they are leveraging AI solutions in their day-to-day processes, which makes the world see us as early adopters with innovative thinking.

Governments must create clear policies that encourage AI adoption while protecting citizens from misuse. Countries like Ghana and South Africa are drafting AI strategies; other African countries must follow.

Africa must invest heavily in digital literacy and AI-specific training for use and misuse. Programs that equip young people with coding, data analysis, and machine learning skills will prepare them for the future of work; the celebration of other creative talents and reasoning capacity should not be ignored.

We can catch up not just with improved network connectivity(infrastructure) and products, but through open access to training on its utilisation for creating for good, then we are unlocking opportunities and expanding the innovation capacity of young Africans. Just as the education curriculum for Nigerian schools changed.

Public-Private Partnerships: Collaboration between governments, tech giants (Google, Microsoft, Meta), and local startups can create ecosystems where AI solutions are not just imported but developed locally, promoted and utilised by citizens..

Investment in Infrastructure: High-speed internet, cloud storage, and affordable computing power are prerequisites for AI growth. Without them, innovation will remain stifled, for young and raw talent is in Africa.

Ethical and Inclusive AI: Africa must ensure that AI development reflects its diverse cultures, languages, and values. Local datasets are crucial to building AI systems that understand and serve African communities

With over 250 million Africans dependent on agriculture, AI-enabled precision farming, weather prediction, and supply chain optimisation can drastically improve yields and reduce losses. IBM's Watson and local startups are already exploring this potential

AI-driven diagnostic tools can bridge the doctor-to-patient ratio gap. For instance, AI models can detect diseases such as tuberculosis or breast cancer with accuracy rates that rival or exceed human experts. In regions where healthcare professionals are scarce, this is game-changing.

Personalised learning platforms powered by AI can address Africa’s teacher shortage by tailoring curricula to individual learning speeds. Google’s Socratic app is one such example that helps students learn interactively

Mobile banking and fintech, already a thriving sector in Africa, can be enhanced by AI for fraud detection, credit scoring, and financial inclusion. This could empower millions of unbanked Africans with access to credit and savings tools…

Governance and Public Services: AI can streamline administrative processes, improve transparency, and even predict and mitigate social issues such as disease outbreaks or traffic congestion.

AI is no longer a luxury or buzzword; it's a revolutionary asset, and the backbone of the future economy. For Africa, the opportunity is clear: harness AI to leapfrog development challenges, or risk being left further behind. Industry leaders like Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft) emphasise that AI is about empowerment:

AI is the defining technology of our time, and we must ensure it benefits everyone.
Remember, every leading company in the AI space, such as OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Microsoft, now has dedicated courses and training programs for their staff and the wider market. The big tech giants are investing in Africa. For Africa to remain competitive, our countries must create more funding channels for research and development, as well as invest in workshops and training within communities.

For Africa, ensuring inclusivity, investing in young people, and fostering collaboration are the pathways to catching up.

The time to act is now.

AI has the potential not only to transform industries but to redefine Africa’s place in the global economy.

The question remains: will we rise to the challenge?

What Role Will Africa Play in the Trillion-Dollar AI Economy?

Bolarinwa Ajayi — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:36:09 +0000

What is the state of AI across the World, and its current Impact?

Industry leaders like the CEO of Alphabet describe`

Where are we?

Africa stands at a crucial crossroads. Are we going to consume products and services created with AI? Again, what will be our contribution to the current economic change globally?

Are we embracing AI as a tool for transformation, or are we at risk of being left behind?

How Africa Can Catch Up

Governance and Public Services: AI can streamline administrative processes, improve transparency, and even predict and mitigate social issues such as disease outbreaks or traffic congestion.

For Africa, ensuring inclusivity, investing in young people, and fostering collaboration are the pathways to catching up.

The time to act is now.

AI has the potential not only to transform industries but to redefine Africa’s place in the global economy.

The question remains: will we rise to the challenge?

Why I became a Software developer, Big lessons the process taught me.

Bolarinwa Ajayi — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 09:32:00 +0000

As young lady in a west African country, Nigeria my dream is to impact the world. The desire became stronger when I join science and technology in my secondary school, then my only goal was to become a matron nurse because I don't feel good seeing people sick, not like other kids who dream were enforce on them to become a medical doctor, nurse and lawyer which was normal and the most decent profession then.
Not only I do feel empathy for people, I feel trouble when I hear people are challenged with incurable disease , I truly want to help or change the condition. While studying sciences at elementary level in senior school, I was open to learning new things. Then the Big day

The birth of a big dream

One day, a mini meetup in JET Club held in my school where corp members under the Nigeria Youth Service corp, young youth serving Nigeria, visited my school they started the program exposing us to different engineering courses in university, he mentioned programming. I got curious I have always heard of design, petroleum engineering, chemical engineering, I seems uninterested but as he started explaining programming and it career paths it sound fun, but believe me I never understand in details. He later asked if you want to be a programmer, stand up, I and a colleague Ajakaye Tolulope stood up, that day I knew their exist something more than Nursing science, though the corp member left us blank, no plan to becoming a programmer.

Graduating from secondary school, I battle with myself between studying an engineering course and nursing science course since I already develop interest in the computational part of engineering. I applied to a Technology school to studying Engineering , then I got computer science. Luckily I met Ajakaye Toluope in the same faulty studying same course, he was A year senior, I was so happy because I believed was the right place to becoming a programmer, then my vision was ignited then I rephrase my vision statement to becoming a developer for a health firm , and not until recently I discovered its Health Tech and that became my mantra.

You never ask me how my nursing dream went, I truly applied for nursing science at a public hospital, I passed the examination but I was not selected for nursing science so i decided on studying engineering.

Currently i'm software developer in startup developing web applications and website solution and I have more than two years of experience, Though I'm still at the early stage of my career the question Why I want to become a software developer? still gives me sleepless night, I ask myself repeatedly WHY.
I have come to realize that having a strong why will keep me going through challenging Phases, I can only share some for now, since I'm in the journey of discovering and building.

Big why

I concluded that I want to become a software developer because
I want to create a product that impact lives and makes living easy examples an application that help know hospitals around your location, or an application that educate you about healthy feeding habit, and feeding plans that suit your pocket (pay check).
I'm in process of building this application, One live impacting application I contributed to was zacrac learning an Elearning platform that educate people about data science and gives a guide to becoming a professional in the data space, other's product remain undisclosed.

Lessons I learnt from this process of becoming

Assumptions about the process.

I had alot of wrong assumption about the process like me becoming V.P engineering after graduating from university and living the luxury life, I never knew It long journey that will take quality time and effort to achieve, i was in hurry to become, so I pressure myself severally which was a negative kind of pressure and that resulted to anxiety, and got me weary along the line.

Patience

I learnt to patiently think, develop and wait for result, because things might not go as expected, I was faced with challenges , you too will faced with hurdles so you got to patiently make that lemon a lemonade.

Tenacity and resilience

Indeed, life tested my character, it will test yours too, what matters in the process is how you can stay with problem and see it through( overcome), that don't give up spirit will keep you going.

People skill

I learnt you need people to become, people like mentors , team mates, friends etc. you got know how to create, maintain and manage relationships with them. Some are in your life you make better version of yourself, don't take feedback personal, love their correction, cherish that fun conversation.

Conclusion

It's a journey and your process it very different from people around you and people on social media. Stick to your process, ignore the noises, master a skill and standout. The process of becoming should not hurried rather immerse yourself doing the needful and have fun because it's a journey.

Some how I ask myself, how do I give back? Like that corp member.
Though I have done somethings, I feel I have done not enough.
I plan on visiting some schools in my local environment, educating them about how create solution with technology. Incase you want to join my Team or sponsor , Kindly reach out. Location Ibadan Nigeria.

Together, we can do more!
Thank you for reading.
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