Engineering With Empathy: A Conversation With Adekola Akano On Building Accessible Tech Across Continents

In the fast world of tech, it’s easy to forget the people on the other side of the screen. But for Adekola Akano, a mobile engineering leader from Nigeria now working in the UK, people are always the starting point.

From building a fintech app that works on low-end Android devices to co-creating a wellness tool to help people take back control of their time, Adekola’s work is shaped by empathy. His goal isn’t just to build what’s possible, it’s to build what’s helpful.

We sat down with him to talk about his journey, what really matters in product development, and why the best kind of engineering is always personal.

Let’s start from the beginning. How did you get into tech?

It started out as a hobby. I was studying Human Nutrition and Dietetics at university, but I was always curious about how things worked, especially computers. I started learning how to code on my own and began building small apps for friends and student groups. I wasn’t trying to start a career in tech. I just liked solving problems. That curiosity eventually turned into passion, and that passion turned into work.

When did you realise it could become a full-time career?

I think the turning point came when I joined Aella, a fintech company in Nigeria. They were growing fast and wanted to move from just offering loans to becoming a full digital bank. That challenge excited me. They needed someone to rebuild their mobile app, and I took the lead on that.

What made that project special for you?

We realised early on that most fintech apps in Nigeria were designed for newer phones. But when we looked at the data, a large number of people were still using older Android devices. Most apps simply didn’t work for them. So we decided to rebuild the Aella app with those users in mind.

We reduced the app size to 4MB and made sure it worked smoothly on low-end phones—even on Android 5.0. We added features like savings, bill payments, investment, insurance, even in-app face recognition and fraud detection. We also met high security standards like PCI DSS compliance.

The impact was huge. Our user base grew from 500,000 to over 3 million. But what mattered more to me was that we reached people who had been left out. That felt meaningful.

That focus on impact seems to run through all your work. Can you tell us about Applatch?

Applatch was born out of a conversation with a close friend, Samson Opaleye. He was struggling with social media addiction and wanted a simple tool to help him take breaks from certain apps. He had the idea, and I helped bring it to life.

Together with our third co-founder, Mallick Bolakale, we built Applatch, a tool that lets users lock themselves out of distracting apps for a set period. No cheating. No override button.

We launched quietly, and within three months, we had 20,000 users. Less than a year in, we hit 40,000 users and raised £50,000 in angel funding. It showed us that people are looking for digital wellness tools that are simple, honest, and actually helpful.

What was your role in building it?

I handled the technical side, backend systems, mobile development, user interface, and scalability. My focus was on making sure it worked smoothly on any phone and could grow as the user base grew. It was also important to us that user privacy was protected. We didn’t want to just build another app, we wanted to build something that respected people.

You also had success at the NIRA and IBM Hackathon. What was that about?

That was back in 2019. The theme was tourism, and we built a chatbot that worked like a virtual tour guide. It used IBM Watson to understand what users were asking and recommended places to visit, where to stay, what to eat, and how to get around, all based on user preferences and location.

It was designed to feel like you were talking to a local friend who knew the area well. We ended up winning first place. It was exciting, but more than that, it showed me how powerful tech could be when it meets people where they are.

You’ve now worked across Nigeria and the UK. What lessons have stuck with you the most?

The biggest one is this: accessibility is not optional. If your product doesn’t work for everyone, it doesn’t work. A lot of tech gets built for the top 10 percent of users, those with the latest phones, fastest internet, and perfect digital literacy. But the people who need help the most often get ignored.

Every time I work on a product, I ask: Can my aunt use this? Can a 19-year-old with a cheap phone in Ilorin use this? If not, we’re missing the point.

What do you think young engineers need to hear more often?

You don’t have to know everything to start. When I began, I wasn’t a “senior” anything. I didn’t even have a formal background in computer science. I just started small, stayed curious, and kept building. I learned from mistakes, from feedback, and from just shipping things.

Also, your value isn’t just in your code. It’s in how you think. How you solve problems. How you listen. And how you treat the people around you.

You mentioned mentoring. Why is that important to you?

Because I know how hard it can be to figure things out on your own. I’ve been there. I remember spending nights googling things and trying to understand what went wrong in my code. If I can help someone move faster or avoid a mistake I made, why wouldn’t I?

I mentor not just to give back, but because I learn too. It reminds me where I started. And it keeps me humble.

What are you most excited about next?

I’m exploring ways AI can improve mobile user experience, especially in places with limited data and infrastructure. I think there’s a way to do it that’s efficient, privacy-conscious, and actually helpful. I’m also supporting a few early-stage startups who are building solutions for underserved markets.

For me, it will always come back to impact. If what I’m building doesn’t improve someone’s life in a real, practical way, then it’s not worth doing.

What do you want your legacy to be?

I want to be remembered as someone who built with care. Who didn’t just chase trends, but built things that mattered. Things that made someone’s day easier. Gave someone access. Helped someone grow.

And if I’ve made a few people believe they can do the same, that’s enough for me.

Adekola Akano’s story is quiet but powerful. He didn’t take the loudest path. He took the most human one. From Nigeria to the UK, from solo side projects to scaling platforms with millions of users, his work proves that thoughtful, inclusive engineering can transform lives.

In a world where tech often moves fast and breaks things, Adekola builds slowly, with intention, and leaves things better than he found them.