Technology consulting is essential in modern business, helping organizations solve complex systems and optimize operations. In an era where digital transformation and risk management are crucial for business success, professionals within this sector provide vital expertise to drive innovation, efficiency, and sustainability. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain, they assist companies in adapting to rapidly evolving market demands and technological advancements. This industry continues to shape a future where businesses can operate more effectively and responsibly, particularly in the energy, finance, and engineering industries.
Oluwatobi Edun, a Risk Technology Consultant, is an expert whose career has been marked by a commitment to leadership, collaboration, and innovative problem-solving. With a strong engineering and project management foundation, he has demonstrated a keen ability to drive strategic initiatives across diverse sectors. His focus on integrating digital technologies to optimize processes and solve complex challenges has earned him recognition for his contributions to both academic and professional domains.
Currently serving as a Risk Technology Consultant, Oluwatobi applies his expertise at Deloitte, where he advises clients on digital transformation strategies, particularly within the financial services industry. His work bridges the gap between technology and business, offering transformative solutions that enable organizations to thrive in a digitally connected world. Through his role, he continues to advance initiatives that integrate sustainable solutions and risk management practices, thereby contributing to the broader goal of building a more resilient and efficient global infrastructure.
From Academic Excellence to Transformative Leadership
Oluwatobi grew up in Nigeria, where he was exposed to strong leadership values, such as discipline and academic excellence. The competitive environment, with exams and class rankings, motivated him to be meticulous in his studies and contributed to his consistent top rankings. This academic success led to peers seeking his guidance, which taught him how to collaborate and simplify complex concepts for others. His early education in Nigeria helped sharpen his analytical skills and approach to learning.
After 11 years, Oluwatobi moved to the Netherlands with his family, where he attended the International School of The Hague. Adapting to a new learning environment was challenging, but he leveraged his strengths in analytical subjects while learning the nuances of communication from his peers. During this time, he became involved in community service, volunteering at a non-profit kitchen, The Hungry Mind, which provided low-cost meals to the local community.
Upon moving to Canada, Oluwatobi pursued Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto, marking the start of his leadership journey. He participated in the Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering (Troost: ILEAD), exploring leadership through formal and informal contexts. Two key themes that resonated with him were Empathy and Strategic Thinking. He learned the importance of first understanding oneself to lead others effectively and approach projects with a strategic mindset, focusing on long-term goals. This mindset shaped his leadership style, helping him structure his personal and professional growth by identifying where he wanted to be in 5-10 years and pursuing opportunities aligned with that vision.
Driven by a Vision for Sustainable Energy and Community Impact
Growing up in the Niger Delta until the age of nine, Oluwatobi was accustomed to frequent electricity blackouts, often lasting for hours or days without explanation. This experience inspired him to find solutions to the energy issues in his country. During high school in the Netherlands, he explored converting vegetable oils into biofuels as an alternative energy source, sparking his interest in Chemical Engineering, leading to a Bachelor's and Master's degree.
Through courses and participation in case competitions hosted by the Sustainable Engineers Association and Society of Petroleum Engineers, he deepened his understanding of various alternative energy solutions for diverse environmental conditions. Oluwatobi also pursued entrepreneurship and innovation courses during his graduate studies to learn about scaling and marketing ideas, focusing on connecting technological solutions to the needs of communities.
Motivated by his humble beginnings in Nigeria, Oluwatobi is driven to provide hope for those struggling with energy inaccessibility. His leadership experiences at the University of Toronto have fueled his desire to contribute to Nigeria’s development by inspiring entrepreneurial thinking and leadership in key industries. With the knowledge he has gained and continues to seek, he aims to develop sustainable energy and infrastructure solutions to raise standards and contribute to a more sustainable world.
Leading Through Responsibility, Empathy, and Collaboration
Oluwatobi adopts a quiet, servant leadership approach to mobilizing teams and creating a collaborative culture, leading by example with the principle, "Do as I do, not Do as I say." When a leader’s actions align with their words, it inspires others to work together toward a shared, positive outcome that benefits the community.
He demonstrates leadership through three key strengths: responsibility, empathy, and collaboration. As the eldest child in his extended family, he learned the importance of responsibility, guided by the example set by his father, who embodied trustworthiness in both good and bad times. This experience taught him that his word is his bond, and he feels compelled to complete any work he commits to.
Empathy is another strength Oluwatobi applies through active listening to understand the struggles of others. Throughout his student and professional career, he has volunteered in various roles, including mentoring, teaching, and coaching. These have deepened his ability to empathize and seek solutions that help others feel heard and supported.
Collaboration brings all his strengths together to enhance outcomes. By understanding individuals' strengths through empathy, he encourages them to apply those strengths in a collective effort. This approach enables each team member to contribute from a place of confidence, driving growth and success for the entire group.
Ultimately, Oluwatobi views leadership as finding one’s voice and using it to create positive environmental change.
Teamwork, Leadership, and Strategic Thinking Through Football
Oluwatobi began playing football at three, quickly developing a passion for teamwork and achieving collective goals. As a central midfielder, he excelled in connecting with teammates and identifying critical moments for scoring. His ability to read the game and analyze movements, both in attack and defense, shaped his approach to problem-solving, enabling him to make quick decisions or conduct in-depth analysis depending on the situation.
His technical skills, work ethic, and versatility on the pitch earned praise from coaches in the Netherlands and Canada, where he played in competitive leagues. These experiences helped him develop leadership abilities, particularly as a captain for diverse teams at the University of Toronto and in international leagues. He guided teammates in tactical analysis, communication, and creating scoring opportunities, fostering a supportive and empathetic team environment.
Football taught him key life lessons, such as playing for each other in challenging situations, the power of redemption, and the underdog’s victory. These experiences have influenced his professional life, where he applies the exact strategies to drive team success. Football taught him the importance of teamwork and that no one is bigger than the collective effort.
Building a Global Virtual Engineering Program
As the founding project coordinator for the International Virtual Engineering Student Teams (InVEST) initiative at the University of Toronto, Oluwatobi faced the challenge of structuring a program that grew out of existing initiatives to offer international project opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. The program aimed to facilitate remote, international collaboration projects between students and faculty from universities around the world to enhance students’ teamwork, intercultural understanding, and communication skills. As the only full-time resource, Oluwatobi managed a team of six part-time colleagues, along with an extensive network of over 30 faculty members and students, all while balancing conflicting schedules and time-sensitive tasks.
To address the diverse needs of all stakeholders, Oluwatobi created a persona diagram that identified key periods for students and faculty, which could affect project timelines. This allowed him to schedule regular check-ins around these periods to monitor progress and collect feedback from faculty at partner universities. This proactive approach helped identify issues early, enabling the development of solutions to keep projects on track or to arrange ad-hoc training sessions for students.
Oluwatobi also established the program’s operating model, defining roles and responsibilities across areas such as partnerships, administration, research, communications, and faculty advocacy. He collaborated with colleagues to refine the initiative’s mission, vision, values, and operational strategies, presenting a cohesive message to the University of Toronto and its global partners. These formalized statements were instrumental in pitching the program to over 50 prospective partners, funding agencies, and donors, which helped expand its global reach.
The program also required high professional and ethical standards, as it involved global institutions and was integral to students’ academic progress. Oluwatobi's careful coordination ensured that students’ graduation timelines remained unaffected by the program’s demands.
Within 2.5 years, Oluwatobi successfully coordinated 20 team research projects involving over 60 students and 38 tenured faculty mentors from the University of Toronto and 16 global university partners spanning Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, South America, and the Middle East. The program’s research contributed to six academic publications in respected journals, including IGI Global, JSIE, and IEEE-FIE. These publications focused on scaling international student experiences and preparing students for the digital workforce through remote academic projects.
The success of the InVEST program garnered significant recognition, including the 2021 UofT Student Engagement Award and a finalist position for the 2020 Global Engineering Deans' Council Diversity Award. It was also instrumental in fostering a global community of interdisciplinary teams and inspiring students from diverse backgrounds to excel in engineering. In addition, the program’s success led to the establishment of a global research alliance by the University of Toronto President based on the program’s approach to classroom learning.
Transforming Team Dynamics to Drive Growth and Accountability
As a business coach, Oluwatobi worked with an executive client in the interior decoration industry who faced difficulties in scaling the company’s sales due to a disconnect in the values and priorities of the team members. The client aimed to create a lasting legacy but felt stuck. Oluwatobi recommended John Maxwell’s leadership book The Leader’s Greatest Return to help build a foundation for a sustainable business. He also assigned each team member to identify their goals and growth opportunities, encouraging a shift from managing to a mentoring relationship between the client and the team.
By fostering a mentoring relationship, Oluwatobi helped create individual accountability and a supportive environment, allowing team members to contribute organically to their development and the company’s growth. This shift led to a significant improvement in team morale, the creation of new revenue streams, and increased enthusiasm for both the client and their team’s growth.
Driving Technology and Sustainability with Agile in Energy
On the path to becoming a certified Project Management Professional and Scrum Master, Oluwatobi gained exposure to the waterfall methodology during his internship at Shawcor, where he worked in research labs supporting the oil and gas sector. Through his certifications, he developed a strong appreciation for the agile methodology, which reduces rework and minimizes misalignment in stakeholder expectations. As technology has become central to the energy sector, driving automation and value-driven efficiencies, agile and scrum methodologies have enabled teams to collaborate more effectively with clients. This approach has played a key role in integrating technology and urgently advancing sustainable energy initiatives.
Hybridizing Energy Solutions for a Sustainable and Inclusive Future
Oluwatobi recognized that energy issues in Nigeria are complex and span several critical areas, such as outdated infrastructure networks, reliance on polluting fuel sources, and the need to embrace new technologies. He saw that instead of overhauling the entire system with new processes, hybridizing existing technology networks would be a more practical and cost-effective approach. This strategy was driven by several key considerations. First, introducing entirely new processes would come with high development, scaling, and decommissioning costs. Furthermore, the implementation of new technologies could lead to unforeseen challenges and social issues, especially if it means disrupting the existing energy infrastructure.
Additionally, Oluwatobi understood the importance of change management, particularly because current energy technologies are already familiar and reliable, making any transition less disruptive. He also pointed out that energy solutions must be adaptable, taking into account factors like location, weather conditions, and energy demand. A one-size-fits-all approach would not be effective. He believes that hybrid energy systems, incorporating a blend of traditional and renewable resources, are essential for addressing the diverse needs of different regions.
Oluwatobi’s experience with systems thinking and analyzing potential pathways for energy transitions has reinforced his optimism about the future of energy. He envisions a world where technological advancements, particularly in Artificial Intelligence and digital networks, play a pivotal role in creating shared communal energy resources. This would not only support a responsible, climate-friendly energy mix but also offer individuals the freedom to choose energy systems that align with their values and everyday needs. His commitment to this vision reflects his belief in a future filled with opportunities for all.
Advancing Sustainable Energy Solutions through Technology Integration
Driven by his childhood experiences in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria, Oluwatobi has focused on resolving his country’s energy issues through sustainable technology. He believes that hybridizing existing oil and gas networks with sustainable energy sources using Artificial Intelligence, Digitization, and Blockchain will enable the sharing of communal energy resources in a climate-responsible mix, compensating individuals and communities who contribute energy to the grid.
His journey began in high school in the Netherlands, where he researched converting vegetable oils into biofuels, sparking an interest in Chemical Engineering. This led to both a Bachelor's and Master's degree, where he explored alternative energy and entrepreneurship and participated in relevant industry events.
Post-graduation, he further honed his entrepreneurial skills through an Engineers Without Borders Canada-Africa Fellowship, focusing on human-centered design and systems mapping.
As a Risk Technology Consultant at Deloitte, he provides digital transformation advisory services to financial services clients, gaining valuable experience in artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies. These experiences fuel his vision of transforming Nigeria’s energy infrastructure, reducing reliance on polluting fuels, and creating a model for other nations struggling with outdated energy systems.
