Who I Am
My path has been driven by a search for work with tangible impact. It began not in tech, but in accounting and finance. After a scientific baccalaureate, I pursued my degrees and spent four years at the accounting firm KE2C. That time was an invaluable educational opportunity to learn the real language of business, but then I felt a growing need to not just record value, but to help create it.
This led me to seek out complex challenges, first at the corporate giant Veolia, then in an international IPP (Langa International/5B) building energy utility projects and then tech startups from the ground up. Each step of the way, from KE2C to Veolia to my own ventures, has been a profound learning opportunity. I've learned that the most interesting problems are never clean; they are a messy intersection of technology, finance, and human factors. My approach is to dive into that complexity headfirst, break it down and understand its core principles and components, learn what's required, and build solutions.
I seek to be what they call a “generalist”. This website is the story of that journey. It's about being a perpetual student, staying humble, and sharing what I've learned from being in the arena.
The Journey
The Foundation: Learning the Language of Business at KE2C
My professional life started here. For four years, I was immersed in the world of accounting and finance. This wasn't just about the numbers; it was about understanding the mechanics of a business, how resources flow, how decisions impact the bottom line, and how to analyze an organization's health. It was a fundamental, practical education that I still draw upon every day.
The Crucible: Diving into Complexity at Veolia (2019-2021)
Seeking a new challenge, I took on a hybrid role at Veolia. My official job was commercial coordination for the MIB zone at Veolia, a massive entity grouping multiple doing 1 billion Euros of annual revenue and 7000 employees dispatched between multiple powerful business units each one specialezed in one sector. In reality, my role was to act as a fixer, trying to build bridges across a deeply fragmented organization. I wasn't just managing projects; I was tackling systemic dysfunction. This journey led me to work with Veolia's innovation department, where I gained invaluable experience with Hubgrade - Veolia's distinctive suite of digital services. This experience equipped me with knowledge in predictive maintenance, industrial automation, SCADA/IT solutions, robotics, and ML solutions.
The High-Stakes Venture: Building Energy from Scratch (2021-2023)
An opportunity arose to enter the utility-scale energy sector and develop projects in my home country, Senegal, a chance I knew I had to take. I joined what was essentially a startup within the Langa International group, tasked with rebuilding the entire project pipeline from the ground up. The effort was a success. We brought two 30 MWp solar projects + 49 MWh of BESS each to Ready-to-Build status.
The Entrepreneurial Lab: Founding a Startup (2023)
While developing the energy projects, my passion and experience for tech continued to grow. I founded a ridesharing (Bokoo SAS) startup in Senegal. We built a high-quality app and managed to gain immediate user traction. However, we failed at driver recruitment and making it match the demand, learning a hard lesson that even the best tech is useless if it doesn't meet the on-the-ground reality of its target users and product market fit.
My Current Focus: Espirai
This journey—from finance to corporate problem-solving to high-stakes entrepreneurship—led me to create Espirai. We are an AI-native software and data engineering firm. For the past several months, we have been working quietly in our corner, doing intensive research and development while scanning and understanding businesses problems across industries. We’ve been developing real world use cases, exploring what solutions genuinely work for businesses, and refining each time our own capabilities. This work is still ongoing and our final goal is to ensure we deliver the absolute best for our customers. Espirai is the synthesis of everything I've learned: a company built to manage complexities and solve real, problems with practical, data-driven solutions.
Toolkit
Core Strengths
- Financial & Accounting Analysis
- Problem Solving
- Data & AI Engineering
- Full-Cycle Project Development
Education & Certifications
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner: Certified in AI and Solutions Architecture
- Master's Degree in International Business, MBWay
- Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Maestris Lille
- Bachelor's Degree in Finance & business management, Kedge business school
Current Learning & Interests
- Data Structures & Algorithms
- Distributed Systems
- AI Software Engineering
- Energy Systems Management