Create jobs with AI, Flutterwave CEO urges UNIABUJA students

At the University of Abuja's combined convocation ceremony, Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola delivered a powerful pre-convocation lecture that challenged graduating students to rethink their approach to the future of work. His message, 'Graduating into an Artificial Intelligence-Powered Fintech World: Opportunities, Challenges and Responsibilities,' was a stark reminder that the career landscape has fundamentally shifted, demanding a proactive and innovative mindset.

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AI now cuts across nearly every sector of the banking industry. It can monitor transactions in real time, without limits. Where you might need a hundred people to do the same job, a single AI system can do it in microseconds.

Agboola's address underscored the pervasive influence of AI, particularly within the financial sector. He illustrated how AI systems can perform tasks with unprecedented speed and efficiency, potentially replacing human roles but also creating new ones. This technological revolution, he warned, is not limited to fintech; it is rapidly reshaping nearly every industry, making adaptability and continuous learning essential for survival and success.

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So what does that mean for our future, especially for you as a graduating student today? It means you can’t approach opportunities the same way I did when I graduated. The landscape has fundamentally changed.

From a Nigerian perspective, Agboola's call to action is particularly relevant. As a rapidly developing nation with a burgeoning youth population, Nigeria stands to benefit immensely from embracing AI. However, it also faces the challenge of ensuring its workforce is equipped with the necessary skills to thrive in an AI-driven economy. Agboola's emphasis on viewing AI-related challenges as opportunities—such as the emergence of roles like AI safety engineers and AI governance experts—provides a hopeful outlook. It suggests that rather than fearing job displacement, Nigerian graduates can position themselves as creators of solutions, leveraging AI tools to build businesses and address local and global problems. This entrepreneurial spirit, fostered by an understanding of emerging technologies, is crucial for driving economic growth and innovation within the country.

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But here is the interesting part: those very challenges are your opportunity. The problems we are seeing today are giving rise to new kinds of work; roles like AI safety engineers and AI governance experts. These are the careers that didn’t exist before, but are becoming essential now.