In a year that has witnessed remarkable strides in digital innovation, City People Magazine has honoured one of the most promising faces in Nigeria’s global tech diaspora. Favour Ojika, a Nigerian-born AI software engineer based in the United States, is the recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Talent award under the STEM category. This recognition is in honour of her pioneering work in building intelligent systems, backend architecture, and inclusive AI education.
Hosted annually by City People Magazine, Nigeria’s foremost lifestyle and innovation publication, the Outstanding Talents Awards spotlight professionals whose contributions are redefining industries and influencing how technology serves people.
This year’s edition drew over 100,000 nominations from across Africa, Europe, and North America, and Favour Ojika emerged as a standout not just for her technical depth, but for her passion-driven impact.
Currently serving as an AI Software Engineer II at Best Buy, Favour works at the intersection of backend development and artificial intelligence. She leads initiatives that integrate machine learning, natural language processing, and cloud-native systems into key digital platforms for the global retail giant.
Her contributions include enhancing platform stability through automation, driving cross-functional projects focused on service optimisation, and advancing the use of intelligent models for workforce and operational tools.
“This award celebrates visionary technologists who are not only building intelligent systems but also shaping how technology connects to people and processes,” said Wale Lawal, Senior Editor at City People. “Favour brings both brilliance and empathy to the field of AI; she makes the complex usable and the technical accessible.”
Before becoming an AI engineer, Favour served as a Business Systems Analyst for AI software products where she applied data science methods to solve business challenges, improve adoption, and lead automation within the ServiceNow ecosystem.
By refining configuration management and driving agile transformation, she set the foundation for deeper integrations between software engineering and operations. Her focus on clarity, usability, and machine learning-driven insights positioned her as a key player in digital transformation at Best Buy.
Earlier in her journey, Favour has worked at several prestigious institutions, where she has transformed the digital landscape. She developed scalable validation frameworks, collaborated with engineers on data integrity issues, and championed documentation standards for operational efficiency.
Favour is also a growing voice in the AI community. She is the host of the “Bits and Bytes” podcast, where she demystifies complex topics like machine learning, computer vision, and NLP for non-technical audiences. Through public speaking and mentoring, she advocates for AI accessibility and inclusive technology development, especially for young Africans in tech.
Her technical arsenal includes Python, TensorFlow, FastAPI, OpenAI’s GPT technologies, Scikit-learn, and cloud platforms like AWS. With hands-on experience in React, Node.js, Docker, and GitHub Actions, she brings full-stack capabilities to her AI practice. But what distinguishes her is her ability to translate engineering into outcomes, turning data into decisions, and decisions into impact.
She also contributes to the scholarly community through her research and serves on the editorial boards of several academic journals.
Whether she is optimising APIs, refining algorithms, or teaching AI literacy to young professionals, Favour Ojika remains grounded in her mission: to build scalable systems that solve real problems for real people.
“The future of AI is human-centred,” Favour told City People. “It’s not just about what machines can do, it’s about what we, as people, enable them to do for good. My focus is building technology that amplifies human potential.”
City People Magazine proudly recognises Favour Ojika for her data-driven leadership, her advocacy for AI accessibility, and her growing impact on global innovation. With curiosity, conviction, and a builder’s heart, she represents the next frontier in responsible AI and intelligent digital transformation
