The Connected Awards has honoured Abbas Irekeola as the 153rd Certified Global Tech Hero, immortalising him among the most distinguished technology professionals in the world. He is also formally recognised as a Certified Professional in the Development Category, a testament to his mastery in engineering scalable systems, optimising performance, and solving real-world challenges through code.
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With years of proven experience in full-stack development, Abbas has carved out a reputation for building mission-critical systems that improve lives and businesses alike. His career reflects technical brilliance and an unwavering commitment to excellence, innovation, and collaborative problem-solving.

Currently serving as a Senior Software Engineer at American Airlines, Abbas plays a pivotal role in enhancing flight operations and optimising systems used by over 15,000 pilots. His work on the airline’s pilot scheduling system led to a 30% improvement in efficiency, reducing delays and empowering crew members with better control over shift management. His implementation of microservices architecture using Kubernetes and KPAAs significantly improved system scalability and reduced deployment time by 40%, a move that elevated user satisfaction and operational agility.

Before joining American Airlines, Abbas worked with The Home Depot, where he led modernisation efforts on legacy systems by migrating data workflows to Google Cloud Pub/Sub, BigQuery, and Dataflow. His contributions enabled real-time inventory synchronisation, ensuring product availability accuracy and enhancing the customer shopping experience. His meticulous backend development using Java Spring Boot and cloud-native DevOps practices helped ensure reliable, performant, and user-focused applications.

His impactful journey traces back to ByteWorks Technologies in Abuja, Nigeria, where Abbas led enterprise-grade system development and digital transformation projects for government agencies. His work on the Abia IRS system increased state revenue collection by 30%, while a flagship enterprise HR/payroll system tackled the issue of ghost workers, generating over USD 800 million in recovered funds. Abbas was instrumental in creating robust systems built with Java, Angular, Kafka, Redis, PostgreSQL, and AWS technologies, systems that improved transparency, security, and efficiency at scale.

At PureWeb Technologies, his earlier role involved building dynamic e-commerce applications and microservices-based solutions deployed via AWS EC2 and S3, laying the foundation for a career marked by innovation and impact.

Abbas’s technical toolkit is extensive and forward-looking. He is fluent in Java Spring Boot, Angular, SQL, Kafka, RabbitMQ, Docker, Kubernetes, GCP, and AWS, with deep expertise in RESTful APIs, microservices, and cloud-native deployments. His knowledge spans the full development lifecycle, from architecture and coding to testing using JUnit, and Mockito and monitoring via tools like Splunk, Prometheus, and Dynatrace. He has consistently demonstrated an ability to translate complex technical challenges into scalable, user-centric solutions across industries.
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Speaking on his certification, Qazeem Oladejo, the visionary founder of The Connected Awards, remarked that “The Global Tech Hero certification is earned through a rigorous process that demands proof of real-world impact, technical depth, and community contribution. Abbas Irekeola exemplifies all of this. He has consistently delivered high-impact results in every role, from transforming aviation systems to revolutionising government tech infrastructure. His work improves experiences, saves time, and creates value at a global scale. That’s the mark of a true Tech Hero.”

Becoming a Certified Global Tech Hero requires multiple attestations, peer validations, and the demonstration of long-term impact across multiple environments and industries. Abbas’s story checked all the boxes and more.

As he joins the Heroes of The Connected Awards, Abbas Irekeola’s journey serves as a beacon for young engineers, and anyone striving to harness the power of technology to build a better world. He reminds us that excellence isn’t just about writing code, it’s about creating systems that scale, serve, and inspire.
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