Justin Bakoubolo (he/him) is the CEO and Co-founder of Umbaji, a Togo-based AI company building voice-first, multilingual AI solutions for underserved communities across West Africa. Trained as an engineer in France, he combines deep technical expertise with a lifelong commitment to using technology as a tool for equity. He also holds a Machine Learning certification from Stanford University and a robotics specialization from the University of Pennsylvania.
He is the lead architect of Yodi, a multilingual voice AI agent operating in 12+ West African languages. He has led the curation of 100,000+ African-language data points and leads a 70+ network, including scanned researchers dedicated to African Languages.
Justin is an AAI Laureate (Excellence and Leadership Award for highly talented youth in Sub-Saharan Africa), ROS (Robotics Operating System) Diversity Laureate (2022), Togo Digital Awards winner, and finalist at the Paris AI Action Summit (2025). A Live for Good alumnus and current coach for social entrepreneurs, he leads Umbaji’s partnerships with UNICEF Togo, Meta AI, Mozilla Foundation, Microsoft for Startups, and 35+ ecosystem organizations across Africa and Europe.