INTERVIEW: Meet Stella Amarachi, the co- founder of a growing tech hub, Kedrus Academy
In the fast paced tech world, Stella Amarachi Kedrus emerges as a unique social instrument pedalling the world with tech. Here, in this interview, we look at the vision behind Stella’s drive and her passion for tech education.
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Crispng.com: Can I meet you?
My name is Stella Amarachi Justin, Co-founder of Kedrus Academy, we upskill the Nigerian workforce with data and AI skills to improve their productivity, drive innovation and improve business decisions.
Crispng.com: As the co-founder of Kedrus Academy, what inspired you to start the ventures and what are the primary goals of the academy?
As a trained social educator who got into tech immediately after graduation, I was quick to discover the massive digital skills gap in my beloved country Nigeria. At a time where the world was preparing for the future of works, the Nigerian youths were no where close with the digital skills, global awareness and requisite level of preparedness for global competitiveness.
This is much more evident with the fact that we keep churning out graduates who are not employable, and the constant need for companies to retrain their graduate trainees before full engagement.
After working for some years as a data professional, I decided to lend my voice to change through Kedrus Academy. Putting together both my education background and my digital skills (Data and AI) to create an Edtech solution where we train and empower the Nigerian workforce with Data and AI Literacy skills to improve their productivity and drive positive change in their businesses.
Crispng.com: You’ve trained over 2000 individuals globally on Data Analytics. What strategies do you employ to ensure effective knowledge transfer and skill acquisition during these training sessions?
At Kedrus Academy, we recognize that our students come from varied backgrounds and have different levels of exposure to technology before joining our classes.
We therefore apply a very high level of emotional intelligence and empathy in the way we go about our instructor-led live boot camps where we are able to interact with our students, listen to and respond to their questions in real time, and offer hours of intensive support throughout their learning period.
Through our active students and alumni communities, we are able to monitor, mentor and hold our students accountable. We follow up our students to ensure they’re getting along with the classes, completing their projects, and we offer technical support where necessary.
Our students are also able to take on-demand data and AI courses online from our website kedrusacademy.com
Crispng.com: In your opinion, what are the most significant challenges currently facing the field of data analytics, and how do you stay ahead of emerging trends and technologies to address these challenges?
The most significant challenge currently facing the field of data analytics in Nigeria is lack of awareness. A lot of people have not come to understand the immense potential available for them in this niche.
Even business owners and decision makers are yet to really grasp the importance of data analytics as the lifeblood of their businesses.
As a result, they are loosing so much money and leaving out on so many potentials for business growth because they make decisions based on their gut feelings, and not on data.
This is because organizations with data literate workforce experience up to a 5% increase in enterprise value, equating to an additional $500 milion, most companies in Nigeria and Africa at large are yet to take advantage of this huge opportunity.
To stay ahead of emerging trends is absolutely necessary in this field because Data Analytics is very fast paced, especially with the current AI revolution. It’s absolutely necessary to follow up with industry updates, and most importantly, to adopt lifelong learning skills and a growth mindset.
Crispng.com: In your experience, what are the key factors that contribute to the successful adoption and implementation of data analytics solutions within an organization, and how do you address resistance to change?
There are two key factors that contribute to the successful adoption and implementation of data analytics from my experience.
1. Openness : To what extent is an organization willing to open up their data for analysis. So many companies are afraid of data leakage, or
2. Enterprise data Literacy: what percentage of the workforce in this organization are able to read, write, interpret and communicate with data?
We’ve come to a point where every member of a given organization, irrespective of their job role should be able to make data driven decisions in line with the organization wide data strategy.
Crispng.com: How favourable is the tech space to women?
Apparently, there’s this misconception that tech is not for women, reason why we have fewer women getting into tech. Compared to men, women do not grow fast enough in their tech career ladder.
There are some other biological factors that tend to hinder the participation of women in tech. One major factor is motherhood.
According to Maven Clinic, 48% of new mothers do not return to work postpartum.
This is why at Kedrus Academy, we have taken up the responsibility to up skill mothers through the SkillUp Moms project, where we train these women in Data and AI skills, provide rebates to fund their childcare service, and match them to internships and job opportunities.
Crispng.com: Where do you see yourself and the data analytics industry in the next 5 years?
The next 5 years is full of incredible opportunities for data professionals all over the world, including me.
As AI gains more dominance, and awareness of the importance of data analysis increases over the next 5years. The data analytics industry will appreciate to a very great extent.
By 2030, Data Literacy will be the most in-demand skill for the workplace.
Crispng.com: As a leader in the tech space industry, what advice would you give to aspiring tech enthusiasts, especially those looking to venture into data analytics?
Do it right away!
There’s nothing to be scared of.
Learning Data Analysis is not as difficult or complex as it seems, especially when you learn from a very intentional academy like Kedrus Academy.
You have absolutely nothing to loose because Data Analysis is now a basic skill that everyone should have irrespective of your current job roles, career paths and industry.
Crispng.com: When you mention data analytics, people yet to easily understand what you’re talking about, how can we localise teaching and adoption of data analytics in Nigeria
Having awareness campaigns and advocacy will go a long way. Yes we should talk more about it, we should lead campaigns for it as much as we’re currently doing for basic literacy skills.
We need to create more awareness by educating people about the importance of data.
We also need to introduce it early to our children and youths, so they don’t have to get into the workforce before realizing how relevant the skill is to their own employability.
Everyone should be data literate.
And it’s our collective responsibility to make this a reality.
