Prof. Abejide Ade-Ibijola
Top Artificial Intelligence Professor in Africa – Google Search First Result
Professor Abejide Ade-Ibijola (“Jide” for short and pronounced “Gee-Day”) holds a PhD in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Prior, he completed a Bachelor’s in Theoretical and Applied Computer Science with First Class Honours, and a master’s in advanced computer science (focusing on Game Artificial Intelligence) with distinction in research. He is currently a professor of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Applications at the Johannesburg Business School (JBS), University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa. He is rated by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa, and he has published 90+ articles in recognized outlets on algorithms, AI tools, and innovations for solving real-world problems.
His research has resulted in several commercialized innovations. Abejide has won 65 major teaching, research, and innovation awards and secured/contributed over R405+ million in funding and value towards research, innovation, and social development (training of youth technopreneurs, unemployed graduates, and small businesses).
Abejide is the Founder and Head of the JBS Innovation Lab, the Chairperson of the JBS Centre for Entrepreneurship’s Advisory Board, the Founder and Chairman of GRIT Lab Africa (a social project for training young Africans in grit and programming), a Distinguished Professor of Artificial Intelligence at Woxsen University, India, and holds several academic, consulting, and advisory positions around the world.
He is a member of UJ’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers, serves on the UJ’s Teaching Portfolio Assessment Committee, and he is also a member of the Senate’s Teaching and Learning Committee. He is a 2-Time Winner of the UJ Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Awards (Innovation of the year 2019 valued at R500,000 and Teacher Excellence 2020 valued at R150,000). In 2020, he secured software licenses for the entire UJ community, worth over $1.5 billion US dollars.
Abejide’s recent recognitions include being a 2-Time Finalist of the Africa Tech Week Awards (Africa Tech Leader of the Year 2023, and Africa Ed Tech Award 2023) in Cape Town, South Africa; Africa Impact Award at the Deep Learning IndabaX Nigeria 2023; Overall Academic Excellence Award at the NCEA Awards in Pretoria, South Africa; Finalist of the South African NSTF-32 Societal Impact Award 2024; 2-Time Winner of the Africa Startup Ecosystem Builders Awards (Held in Accra, Ghana) 2024 for the Incubation Hub of the Year and the Ecosystem Champion of the Year; African Tech Innovation of the Year 2024 by Business Tech Africa; and Google search for the “Top AI Professors in Africa” returns Abejide as the first result.
Abejide’s career is decorated with over 100 awards and recognitions.
Email: abejideai@uj.ac.za or abejide@jbs.ac.za
More at: www.abejide.org or www.gritlabafrica.org.
