Technology Executive & Startup Builder

AhmadouDiaw

CTO · Enterprise Architect · Startup Executive — 15+ years aligning technology with business strategy across Africa, LatAm, and Europe. I build the systems that scale, the teams that deliver, and the narratives that raise capital.

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Ahmadou Diaw
15+Years Experience
$5MSeed Supported
4Continents
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Executive Profile

The leader
you bring in
to win

Based in Dakar, I operate at the intersection of strategic leadership and deep technical execution. I've taken companies from distress to stability, from zero to investor readiness, and from national to multi-country operations.

My value is not just architecture or code — it's the ability to walk into a boardroom, a war room, or a bank negotiation and get things done.

01
Zero-to-One Startup Execution
I build engineering organisations from scratch — team hiring, SDLC guardrails, architecture choices, and investor narratives. I've supported $5M seed rounds with full due-diligence readiness.
02
Crisis Leadership & Turnarounds
When organizations are in distress, I stabilize fast. At Bizao, I restructured engineering across 3 countries, cut costs 30%, improved reliability 40%, and led negotiations with banks and tax authorities.
03
National-Scale Digital Infrastructure
From national dematerialization platforms to Digital Public Infrastructure for the Senegalese government — I architect systems that serve millions, built for modularity, composability, and long-term scale.
04
Multi-Market, Multi-Continent Reach
Operational experience across Africa, Latin America, France, and the US. Fluent in English, French, and Wolof — comfortable navigating regulatory and cultural contexts on multiple continents.
Domains & Capabilities

Where I operate
with authority

GovTech & DPI
Digital Public Infrastructure
National dematerialization platforms, digital identity, KYC systems, citizen-service integration, and interoperability frameworks. Advised ANSD, APIX, DPETV, DAFN.
Fintech
Financial Platforms & Mobile Money
Payment rails, DeFi platforms, PCI-DSS architectures, multi-tenant SaaS, and API ecosystems across Africa and LatAm. Deep experience with telco partnerships.
Architecture
Enterprise & Cloud Architecture
TOGAF-aligned enterprise architecture, AWS & GCP cloud-native design, Kubernetes (EKS), microservices, API-first platforms, and C4 Model documentation.
Startup
Startup Leadership
CTO and Head of Engineering roles at seed to growth-stage startups. Investor readiness, due diligence prep, team building, SDLC governance, and roadmap ownership.
Healthcare
Healthcare Technology
National healthcare platform design and operation. Mission-critical uptime management, regulatory constraints, and lean SDLC in sensitive environments.
Operations
SRE & Operational Excellence
SRE practices, runbooks, incident management, MTTR reduction, change failure minimization. Building engineering cultures that ship reliably and recover fast.
Stack
JavaNodeJSPythonAngularReactFlutterSpringBootQuarkusFlaskDAPRPostgreSQLMongoDBOracleMySQLDockerKubernetesJenkinsGitLab CIAWSGCPLinuxC4 ModelUML JavaNodeJSPythonAngularReactFlutterSpringBootQuarkusFlaskDAPRPostgreSQLMongoDBOracleMySQLDockerKubernetesJenkinsGitLab CIAWSGCPLinuxC4 ModelUML
Track Record

Delivered impact,
at every stage

Fundraising
Supporting $5M Seed at Caliza
Owned engineering and architecture strategy end-to-end. Prepared the technical due-diligence package that gave investors confidence — clean SDLC, security posture, and a clear roadmap. Increased delivery velocity by 30% while building and mentoring a globally distributed team.
$5M Seed Supported100% Audit Pass Rate+30% Delivery Velocity
Turnaround
Stabilizing Bizao Across 3 Countries
Joined a company in severe financial distress. Within 6 weeks, restructured engineering operations, internalized the software factory, led negotiations with banks and tax authorities, and contributed to M&A discussions with major fintech players.
−30% Costs in 6 Weeks+40% Reliability3 Countries Stabilized
GovTech
Architecting Senegal's Digital Infrastructure
Led architecture for SENUM's national digital public services — Guichet Unique, DPI initiatives, digital identity, authentication, and KYC standards. Delivered a full POC for the national dematerialization platform and produced blueprints guiding four government agencies.
4+ Agencies GuidedFull POC DeliveredDPI Standards Defined
Reliability
Operational Excellence at Scale
Consistent track record of transforming engineering operations: reduced downtime 20% at AloMedic, improved performance 15% at Gebeya, increased delivery efficiency 25% through SDLC standards, and maintained >99.9% uptime across financial-grade platforms.
>99.9% Uptime−20% Downtime+25% Delivery Efficiency
Career Timeline

15 years of
consequential work

SENUMPrincipal Architect · Feb–Mar 2026
SENUMEnterprise Architect · Mar–Dec 2025
BizaoCTO & Regional Director · 2025
Orange SonatelEnterprise Architect · 2023–2024
GebeyaSenior Solution Architect · 2023
CalizaHead of Engineering · 2021–2022
AloMedicCTO · 2018–2020
Earlier RolesAtos · Catalyst · 2011–2018
Feb 2026 — Mar 2026
SENUM
Principal Solution Architect — Dématérialisation Platform
  • Designed the architecture of a national dematerialization platform for administrative processes.
  • Built a full Proof of Concept integrating workflow, document management, and API orchestration.
  • Evaluated and integrated workflow engines, ECM, and API management tools for scalability and interoperability.
  • Defined architecture patterns aligned with DPI principles: modularity, composability, API-first.
  • Delivered architecture dossier and technical recommendations for large-scale implementation.
Mar 2025 — Dec 2025
SENUM
Enterprise Architect — Digital Public Infrastructure
  • Led the architecture of national digital public services, including the Guichet Unique and DPI initiatives.
  • Defined interoperability, composability, and API-driven standards for government platforms.
  • Established reference architectures for digital identity, authentication, KYC, and citizen-service integration.
  • Produced strategic architecture blueprints guiding multi-agency implementations (ANSD, APIX, DPETV, DAFN).
  • Advised executive leadership on modernization roadmap, software factory setup, and platform scalability.
Jan 2025 — Jun 2025
Bizao
CTO & Interim Regional Director
  • Stabilized a company facing severe financial distress by restructuring technology operations and internalizing the software factory.
  • Reorganized engineering teams across three countries, modernizing the core platform to improve reliability and customer satisfaction.
  • Led high-level negotiations with banks and tax authorities to ensure business continuity.
  • Contributed to M&A discussions with major fintech players.
Nov 2023 — Jul 2024
Orange Sonatel
Enterprise & Digital Solution Architect
  • Reviewed and strengthened the central UAA authentication system, improving security and efficiency.
  • Designed the Frontend-as-a-Service (FEaaS) framework, standardizing frontend development group-wide.
  • Contributed to the IT Master Plan 2025–2027, aligning technology with strategic business priorities.
  • Architected the employee super-app and multiple mobile-money products at telco scale.
Mar 2023 — Aug 2023
Gebeya
Senior Solution Architect
  • Designed the Marketplace-as-a-Service platform in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.
  • Optimized system architecture and infrastructure, improving performance by 15%.
  • Defined SDLC best practices and architecture standards, increasing delivery efficiency by 25%.
Apr 2021 — Mar 2022
Caliza
Head of Engineering
  • Led engineering and architecture for fintech platforms serving LatAm and African markets.
  • Supported a $5M seed fundraising round through technical strategy and due-diligence preparation.
  • Built and managed a globally distributed engineering team, increasing delivery velocity by 30%.
Apr 2018 — May 2020
AloMedic
Chief Technology Officer
  • Designed, built, and operated a national healthcare platform supporting patient care management.
  • Improved platform reliability by 40% and reduced system downtime by 20%.
  • Managed IT operations and development teams supporting mission-critical services.
2011 — 2018
Earlier Roles
Atos · Catalyst Business Solutions · and others
  • Atos (2015–2017) — Designed a GIS for Senegal's tax authority (DGID), delivered a software factory for Telecom, contributed to Orange Business Services, CPF and INPI platforms in France.
  • Catalyst (2017–2018) — Led large-scale data migration for national pension and social security institutions (IPRES, CSS); improved retrieval performance by 20%.
  • 2011–2015 — Software Engineer across national information systems, HR platforms, healthcare, customs (GAINDE), and supply-chain applications.
Languages
WolofNative
FrenchFluent
EnglishFluent
ArabicBeginner
SpanishBeginner
Education & Certifications
Harvard Business School — CORe
Financial Accounting · Economics · Business Analytics
Oracle Certified Expert — Enterprise JavaBeans
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Certified Professional — Java SE 6
Oracle Corporation
Machine Learning Specialization
Stanford University — In Progress
NIIT University — Software Engineering
2008 – 2013
Let's build
something
consequential

Whether you need an advisor, a CTO, or an architect — I bring strategic clarity, technical depth, and operational experience to high-stakes environments.

Emailahmaddiaw@gmail.com Phone+221 77 527 10 62 LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/khadimul-assadu
Open For

The right
opportunity

I engage selectively with organisations where technology leadership creates genuine strategic leverage.

CTO / VP Engineering
Technology Advisor
Enterprise Architect
Startup Technical Co-Founder
Interim Leadership
Send a Message