Leonida Mutuku

Leonida is an entrepreneur and researcher working at the intersection of inclusive AI and development. She is an experienced data scientist, published in several peer-reviewed journals and a sought-after global keynote speaker on the opportunities of data, AI and emerging technologies to improve inclusive access to financial services, promote climate-smart agriculture, good governance practices and the achievement of sustainable development goals. 

She is the founder of Intelipro, an African company building business management and analytics tools that enable entrepreneurs to make sustainable and profitable decisions for their businesses. 

She is also the AI Research Director and leads the Accountable and Inclusive AI practice at the Local Development Research Institute, a Nairobi-based think-tank whose work contributes to the efforts of African countries to end extreme poverty, hunger and reduce inequalities. 

She is the co-founder of Quotidian Data, a non-profit focused on funding and holding space for critical research and counter-narratives on data stewardship and the socio-technical layers of science, innovation and knowledge production. 

Previously, she led the Research and Data Science teams at the iHub, Nairobi’s premier innovation hub. In these capacities, she spearheaded a team of researchers to conduct groundbreaking research on the uses and approaches to technology in Africa and launched the first data science lab in Kenya.  

She holds a BSc. in Actuarial Science and a Masters in Business Analytics and Big Data. She was privileged to be named one of Forbes Africa’s Top 30 under 30 in 2018.

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