Introducing Humans of Development: Adeniyi Charles Ajayi

A global health journey profoundly shaped by trust with local communities.

What’s one misconception about your work?

I am Adeniyi Charles Ajayi. My family and friends initially perceived my transition into international development and global health as a distraction, then an ‘unfortunate’ departure from conventional medical practice, expressing concerns about financial stability, professional recognition, and untapped potential as a clinician.

My father and fiancee (now wife), though, felt convinced I knew what I was doing even though they did not understand why I made the decision.

Over the next two decades, after witnessing tangible outcomes such as designing multimillion-dollar health initiatives across Africa, driving epidemic control strategies, and mentoring local healthcare systems, some of my close friends and relatives have shifted their perspective.

They now recognize that this path leverages clinical expertise to achieve scalable impact in under-resourced settings, fundamentally reshaping health equity beyond individual patient care.

You’ve led transformative health initiatives. Is there one moment that shaped you?

My global health journey has been profoundly shaped by the trust that local communities placed in me, across diverse cultural contexts. While each posting, country and work setting offered unique lessons and experiences, my work combating the HIV/TB syndemic in Lesotho during its peak crisis (2008 - 2014) stands out as a defining chapter.

Leading teams through the design and implementation of epidemic response strategies in the main city (Maseru) and several remote mountain communities, I witnessed human resilience at its best. The collaboration between international experts, like me, and local health workers, in resource-starved clinics, created unprecedented solutions to the twin epidemics (HIV AND TB) that threatened national survival.

What remains indelibly ingrained in my memory and in my heart isn’t the statistical victories or the data we shared, but the faces of mothers seeing their children thrive after treatment, children surviving beyond the 5-year mark, husbands and fathers regaining their dignity and communities reclaiming their futures.

This experience crystallized my conviction that transformative change emerges when technical expertise honors local agency, a principle that continues to guide my leadership in health development and innovation management today.

What inspired your focus on digital transformation?

From my pre-med days where I used 3D anatomy software to dissect complex systems, to designing Africa’s first hybrid HIV quality assessments during COVID-19, digital innovation in healthcare has always been the end goal for me.

At USAID Zimbabwe, I pioneered the utilization of data platforms like the DMPPT2 that optimized epidemic response, while at the same time mentoring engineering students in Montreal to build remote neonatal incubators as part of their capstone projects, demonstrating my commitment to scaling low-resource solutions.

This synergy culminated in national governments developing superbly efficient biomedical prevention programs, where we accelerated data driven diagnostics for men’s health across several provinces and countries.

The catalyst? Recognizing that tech isn’t ancillary, it’s essential for equity.

• Knowing that 80% of Nigerians seeking healthcare services do not have health insurance and lack access to quality healthcare services, we deployed telemedicine networks and I am now building simple mobile applications and online systems that allow all cadres of healthcare providers to find temporary shifts, in areas of need, outside of their regular jobs and for patients to move smoothly through their healthcare visits.

• When data gaps hindered progress in biomedical prevention in Zimbabwe, we created real-time dashboards that enabled us achieve monumental district and provincial service coverage of 80-100% !

• When donor resources became severely limited in Liberia and the risk of disease resurgence increased astronomically, I led the redesign of national evaluation and assessment systems, creating health facility level consultation fora and dashboards that prioritized patient care, health provider-led implementation and value-based health systems that focused on value for money.

My passion stems from seeing technology dismantle barriers: from reengineering health systems in Southern Africa to designing mental health apps and studies in Nigeria and international COVID-era hybrid evaluations that sustained care for hundreds of thousands of people.

Health justice demands using every tool available and I’ve spent 21 years ensuring that technology serves those who need it most. I intend to spend the next 2 decades ensuring that the voices of those who need these services are heard ‘out-loud’ in and through the technology tools we design and build!

How you are currently using cutting edge technology to drive health innovation?

I am currently leveraging cutting-edge technology to address persistent bottlenecks in healthcare delivery, particularly those I observed during my years managing large-scale health programs across Africa and the Caribbean.

Drawing on these experiences, I am leading the development of digital health platforms that integrate mobile and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to streamline clinical workflows, improve health literacy and expand access to quality care, especially for underserved and home-based populations.

These include mobile applications for healthcare worker staffing solutions, AI-powered platforms for mental and community health, clinical dashboards and mobile applications that automate repetitive tasks, supporting decision-making for frontline health workers.

These platforms will not only reduce administrative burden but also facilitate integrated project planning and quality management—key challenges in resource-limited settings. The idea is to ensure that health workers spend more time with patients and less on paperwork, while patients benefit from more timely and coordinated care.

When you think about the next chapter of your work and what excites you?

The recent changes to U.S. led global health and international development is highly disruptive BUT also highly catalytic. The current transformation in global health—driven by policy shifts, technological acceleration, and emerging threats—represents the most significant opportunity in decades to redesign health systems.

Having designed epidemic responses, pioneered hybrid evaluations, built diagnostic and program tools across 10 countries, I see this disruption as the catalyst we need to finally achieve three critical shifts: replacing fragmented program siloes with integrated platforms, closing generational capability gaps through digital upskilling, and embedding climate resilience into every single health intervention.

What truly excites me is mentoring, and more opportunities to support, the next generation of health innovators who will lead this transformation. As in the past, I’m gently investing in emerging leaders who combine technical brilliance with deep contextual intelligence.

Watching them tackle health inequities caused by the utilization and adoption of AI technology with tools and perspectives far beyond what my generation possessed—convinces me they’ll build agencies that are not just efficient, but anticipatory; not just resilient, but regenerative.

Their work won’t just improve health systems—it will redefine global wellbeing for the 22nd century.