A board game taught me to think in systems

Growing up in Nigeria, I played Oware, a traditional West African strategy game built around pattern recognition, forward planning, and anticipating your opponent's next move. I did not know it then, but the game shaped how I approach problems.

That same thinking eventually led me into computer science, then databases, then artificial intelligence. At every stage the core question has been the same: how do you take something genuinely complex, understand how the pieces connect, and turn it into something that actually works for people?

Turning ideas into working solutions

My career at Oracle included serving as a Senior Principal Product Manager on the Oracle AI Database team. I built technical demonstrations, authored hands-on workshops published on Oracle LiveLabs, and helped customers and technical teams understand how to apply AI and database technologies to real use cases. The work required both technical depth and the ability to make complex capabilities understandable.

Teaching has run alongside my technical career the entire time. I teach database systems, programming, and cybersecurity at the college level. I have found that helping a customer understand a product and helping a student understand a concept require exactly the same skills: clarity, relevant examples, and taking the audience seriously.

I also build my own products and applications, including TaleyLearn, an interactive SQL learning platform, and Oware, a traditional West African strategy game rebuilt using Oracle AI Database and Oracle APEX. Building these platforms keeps me connected to the realities of turning an idea into working software.

The human side of security

My doctoral research examined the factors that influence cybersecurity behavioral intention in higher education. The findings highlighted the importance of self-efficacy, perceived severity, and response cost in shaping whether people intend to follow recommended cybersecurity practices.

That work reinforced something I have seen throughout my career: technology is only effective when people understand it and feel confident using it.