The Founder and Chief Executive Officer, a certified data management professional, Berkeley Data Strategist, Adetokunbo Ajibola has narrated how his career began in 1999, right after completing my engineering degree at the prestigious University of Sheffield, when I joined Parsons Brinckerhoff—now known as WSP USA—a global engineering and strategic consulting firm.
I started as a consulting engineer, contributing to major transportation projects such as the Dublin Light Rail and the Hong Kong Tramways.
In this role, I was responsible for conducting HAZOP (Hazard and Operability Studies), HAZID (Hazard Identification), and reliability assessments.
These activities required a meticulous and systems-oriented mindset—skills I would later find to be foundational in data manageme nt.
Working in rail infrastructure exposed me to the importance of cause-and-effect analysis. I often had to trace operational faults and assess how one small failure—say, a signaling issue—could ripple through and impact entire transport networks.
This rigorous approach to understanding system interdependencies would later evolve into my expertise in data lineage: the ability to trace how data moves, transforms, and impacts business outcomes across increasingly complex systems. Just like understanding the path of electricity or signal flow across a transit line, mapping the flow of data from source to consumption is critical in ensuring operational integrity and transparency.
My work on reliability assessments taught me how to evaluate infrastructure performance over time, flag vulnerabilities, and recommend preventive controls. In my later roles, this translated directly into designing and embedding data quality frameworks—ensuring that data, like physical assets, is consistently reliable, accurate, and trustworthy. Whether it’s assessing the risk of derailment due to track failure or the financial risk of reporting errors due to poor-quality data, the principles of reliability, risk mitigation, and resilience remain the same.
In engineering, I operated within a tightly regulated environment, adhering to safety standards and industry codes to ensure compliance and protect public welfare. That early grounding in regulatory compliance and structured controls has been central to my approach to data governance. Today, I design and implement policies, standards, and controls that guide how data is used, protected, and maintained across entire enterprises. Like safety procedures in rail engineering, data governance frameworks safeguard an organisation from reputational, regulatory, and financial risk.
Fast forward to 2004, when digital transformation accelerated across industries, I transitioned from physical infrastructure to information infrastructure. Over the past two decades, I’ve built a robust career in data governance, data quality, metadata management, and master data management across diverse sectors including financial services, utilities, pharmaceuticals, telecoms, and government. I’ve served in leadership roles at organizations such as Lloyds Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, BNP Paribas, Astra Zeneca, SDAIA, and British Telecom to mention a few, where I’ve led major data transformation initiatives—from defining enterprise-wide data strategies to managing complex ERP migrations and embedding governance frameworks into global operations and ensuring regulatory compliance like BCBS 239, EMIR and CCAR.
One of my proudest career milestones has been mentoring and coaching over 4,000 people into successful data professions through training programs, certifications, and strategic workshops. As the founder of a consulting, training, and recruitment firm, I now support public and private sector organisations—particularly across Africa, the Middle East, the USA, and the UK—in establishing sustainable data management practices aligned to international best practices like DAMA-DMBOK, CCPA, NDPR, and GDPR.
Through it all, the thread connecting my journey has remained consistent: a passion for building structured, safe, and sustainable systems—first in physical engineering and now in data. I bring a rare blend of technical rigor, business acumen, and cross-industry experience to every engagement, with the ultimate goal of enabling organisations to trust and unlock the full value of their data.
If you’re considering a career in data, seeking to strengthen your organisation’s data capabilities, or simply in need of a mentor, coach, or data management consultant to guide your next step — I’d be honoured to support you.
With a career that began in engineering and evolved into leading global data transformation initiatives, I bring not only technical depth but also a deep commitment to empowering individuals and organizations to thrive in the data-driven era.
Feel free to reach out directly — whether you’re at the start of your journey or scaling your impact.
Dr. Adetokunbo Ajibola CDMP DCAM MDQM
The Data Evangelist | Data Strategist | Trusted Advisor | Coach & Mentor | CEO | Data Governance | Data Quality | Data Management | CDO | Award Winning Data & Analytics Leader | Pathfinder | Problem Solver | AI Investor
