Oben / 2026
    London · 51.5074°NSoftware Engineer

    I BUILDTECH THATCHANGESLIVES.

    From teaching myself to code on a shared PC in Cameroon, to contibuting to award-winning platforms used by the NHS and UK government, I am passionate about building software that creates impact.

    Full-Stack Engineer

    Social Finance UK · London

    See My WorkLet's Talk
    Social Finance UK●
    NHS●
    Department for Education●
    iNetwork Innovation Awards●
    Greater Manchester Combined Authority●
    MTN Digital Talent●
    Silicon Mountain Conference●
    Favikon — #3 Cameroon●
    Data to Insight●
    LIIA — London Innovation & Improvement Alliance●
    Emerging African Leader Award●
    Social Finance UK●
    NHS●
    Department for Education●
    iNetwork Innovation Awards●
    Greater Manchester Combined Authority●
    MTN Digital Talent●
    Silicon Mountain Conference●
    Favikon — #3 Cameroon●
    Data to Insight●
    LIIA — London Innovation & Improvement Alliance●
    Emerging African Leader Award●
    02About

    Engineer. Builder. Someone who knows what it costs to start from nothing.

    I didn't have a laptop when I started. After school, I would rush to my father's documentation office just to sit at one of his old PCs. That's where I first wrote code, alone, no mentor, no roadmap. Just curiosity and the refusal to stop.

    That origin shaped everything about how I work. I don't take resources for granted. I don't build things people don't need. And I never forget that behind every system, every dataset, every deployment, there are real people whose lives are affected by whether we got it right.

    The thread through all of it is the same: technology is only powerful when it improves lives. I bring that conviction into every line of code, every architecture decision, and every conversation about what we should build next.

    03Selected Work

    Four projects. Each one harder than the last.

    Children's Services Data Platform, visual placeholder
    01 / Project
    Social Finance UKSocial Finance - iNetwork Award Winner 2026 ×2

    Children's Services Data Platform

    PythonDjangoReactPostgreSQL

    A secure platform enabling multiple English regions to share and analyse children's services data, helping local authorities, the NHS, and the Department for Education make faster, better decisions for vulnerable young people.

    Recognised at iNetwork 2026 in two categories: Information and Data Standards, and Effective Information Sharing & Cyber Security. Built with Greater Manchester Combined Authority, LIIA, Data to Insight, and the Department for Education.

    Role - Feature development, security hardening, release process, IPS Grow reporting pipeline.

    AI Decision Platform, visual placeholder
    02 / Project
    Social Finance UK

    AI Decision Platform

    PythonRAG PipelinesLLM EvaluationClaude API

    An internal AI platform to support high-stakes professional decision-making. I led the full lifecycle: research, requirements, architecture, build, deployment.

    The hardest part wasn't the technology, it was evaluation. Building algorithms that could measure whether the AI's outputs were accurate enough to be trusted where errors have real consequences.

    EU Energy & Peer Transfer Platform, visual placeholder
    03 / Project
    Infinex Partners

    EU Energy & Peer Transfer Platform

    BlockchainAPI IntegrationsWeb Frontend

    An EU-sponsored initiative exploring how households could sell surplus stored energy to neighbours and receive payment in cryptocurrency.

    Cross-border, technically ambitious, and genuinely novel. The kind of problem that forces you to grow fast.

    Lambdaa: 35+ Products Built, visual placeholder
    04 / Project
    Founder & CEO

    Lambdaa: 35+ Products Built

    ReactNext.jsReact NativeDjangoNodeFirebasePostgreSQL

    Marketplaces, SaaS platforms, mobile apps, and internal tools, built for founders and businesses across Africa and beyond. Every project started with validated demand, not assumptions.

    Dev timelines cut by ~40% across engagements. 25+ client websites now generate consistent SEO traffic independently.

    lambdaa.org/portfolio
    04In Their Words

    From people who've seen the work up close.

    "Desmond, you changed my life."
    , Attendee, Hustlers Conference

    What people consistently say: empathetic, a great listener, inspiring, gets things done.

    05Craft

    Full-stack, from user research to production server.

    Technical

    ReactNext.jsReact NativeNode / ExpressPythonDjangoFlaskPostgreSQLMySQLMongoDBFirebaseAWS S3DockerRAG PipelinesLLM EngineeringClaude APIUI/UX Design (Figma)
    06Experience

    Seven years. Four environments. One standard.

    2024–Present

    London

    Social Finance UK , Software Engineer

    Social Finance works at the intersection of data, government, and social good. In my time here I've contributed to a children's services data platform now used across England, led an AI decision-support tool from research to production, and strengthened the security and maintainability of core internal systems. The work earned two iNetwork 2026 awards.

    What this role confirmedthe best engineering culture is one where people care about outcomes, not just outputs.

    2022–Present

    Lambdaa , CEO & Founder

    Built to solve a problem I kept seeing: brilliant founders wasting months building the wrong thing. Lambdaa helps startups go from idea to live product, faster, leaner, with less waste. 35+ businesses served. Projects from $1K MVPs to $100K+ platforms. The model: validate demand first, build second.

    What this role confirmedthe most important question in any product meeting is "who is this actually for?"

    Frontend · Agile · React

    OPUVIA , Software Engineer

    Built and refined user interfaces across production web products. Developed discipline around clean code, user-focused design, and collaborative delivery.

    2021–2023

    Cameroon Startup

    Afrovision Group , Lead Software Engineer

    First lead engineering role. Wore every hat, full-stack, DevOps, team coordination. The startup environment taught one irreplaceable lesson: resourcefulness is a skill you can only build under pressure.

    EU-Sponsored Project

    Infinex Partners , Developer

    Contributed to a cross-border energy and blockchain initiative under the direction of Rick Landman. Came through a network recommendation, which is how 90% of the defining opportunities in my career have arrived.

    Community & Leadership

    Founder

    Hustlers Engineering Community

    A 1,000+ network of young engineers and entrepreneurs across Cameroon and Africa. Annual conference: 600+ attendees, career masterclasses, youth awards, 5M+ FCFA in prizes. When an attendee told me "Desmond, you changed my life", that became the reason I keep building it.

    Podcast

    Tech with Oben

    Honest conversations on engineering, entrepreneurship, and building a career in tech from anywhere in the world.

    Public Service

    Junior Member of Parliament · Youth Ambassador for Peace

    Public service that deepened the belief technology, used well, is one of the most powerful forces for social change.

    07Recognition

    Work recognised beyond the team.

    2026

    iNetwork Awards 2026, Double Winner

    Information and Data Standards · Effective Information Sharing & Cyber Security (via Social Finance)

    2020

    1st Place, Silicon Mountain Conference Hackathon

    Cameroon

    2023

    Regional Winner, MTN Digital Talent

    Cameroon

    2023

    Emerging African Leader Award

    Pan-African recognition

    2026

    Youth Impact Award, Hustlers Conference

    Awarded by the community he built

    2024

    #3 Technology & Innovation Creator, Cameroon

    Favikon · #46 Top 200 LinkedIn Creators, Cameroon

    -

    B.Tech Computer Engineering (Software Engineering Major)

    University of Buea

    -

    LLM Engineering: Mastering AI & Large Language Models

    Udemy

    08What I Believe

    A few things I'll defend in any room.

    These aren't values I put on a slide. They're conclusions I reached the hard way.

    01

    "Technology is only powerful when it improves lives."

    The bar isn't whether a product works. It's whether it makes someone's situation better. I apply this to every brief I take on.

    02

    "Access to answers is not the same as mastery."

    AI can make anyone feel skilled. Real depth comes from sitting with the problem until it clicks. I use AI as a tool, not a substitute for thinking.

    03

    "Prototype first. Code second."

    The most expensive mistake in tech is building the wrong thing well. I start with a prototype, test with real users, then invest in development. It's cut wasted effort by 40% across 35+ projects.

    04

    "Imposter syndrome is inexperience, not incapability."

    I've felt it at every level, new engineer, new CEO, new city. Each time, pushing through made me someone I wasn't before. I tell this to every person I mentor.

    05

    "Your reputation is your most compounding asset."

    Ninety percent of the best opportunities in my career came through recommendations. Trust is built slowly, through consistent work. Protect it accordingly.

    09Let's Connect

    Solving something that matters? Let's talk.

    I'm open to three kinds of conversation.

    Builders (uNAVAILABLE FOR NOW)

    If you're building a product

    that needs a engineer who thinks about people as much as systems, reach out.

    Impact Orgs

    If your organisation works at the intersection

    of technology and human outcomes, I want to hear what you're working on.

    Mentees

    If you're early in your journey

    and need an honest conversation about the path ahead, my door is genuinely open.

    Channels

    Best response time is always to a thoughtful first message. Tell me what you're working on, and why.