Nigerian companies spend heavily on technology, yet many still make their biggest people decisions on instinct. That gap was put in the spotlight at the 11th Nigeria Technology Awards (NiTA), held at VirginRose Resorts, Victoria Island, Lagos, on December 6, 2025, where Chioma Ann Udeh was named Most Exceptional HR Analytics and Workforce Management Professional of the Year 2025.

Mrs. Udeh, who heads human resources at E-Ranch Autocare in Ikeja, Lagos, was recognised for applying data to workforce planning and for a body of research on employee wellbeing, talent management and the future of work. NiTA says nominees are verified across credible sources and assessed by a panel of technology professionals on innovation, leadership, impact and achievement before final scoring.

The award is notable because it treats people management as a technology discipline, placing a human resources leader in the same honours list as product, engineering and innovation professionals. HR analytics, which uses employee data to guide decisions on hiring, training, performance and retention, is seldom the focus of technology awards, which tend to spotlight fintech and software.

Mrs. Udeh said the significance of the honour went beyond her own career.
“My heart is full,” she said. “This honour is not just a personal achievement. It is a recognition of what HR analytics can do for Nigerian businesses, and it tells every HR professional that our work belongs at the centre of the technology conversation.”

As HR Director, Mrs. Udeh oversees recruitment, training, performance appraisal, staff welfare and labour-law compliance. She has placed HR analytics at the centre of workforce planning at the company, linking staff performance and wellbeing to customer service outcomes. A 2024 paper she co-authored on predictive analytics in human resources made the same argument in research form, showing how workforce data can improve both planning and customer experience.

She arrived in the role by an indirect path, teaching Economics and Commerce and then working as a Sales Representative with Atom Continental Limited before joining human resources as an HR Associate.
She credited each of those roles with shaping the work that earned her the award.

“Teaching taught me patience and how to measure progress. Sales taught me to listen to customers,” she said. “Working as an HR associate taught me that every staff record has a real person behind it. When I study workforce data, I am looking for ways to help people grow, not reasons to blame them.”
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, and completed a Master of Business Administration in Human Resource at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, earlier this year, graduating with a CGPA of 4.42 out of 5.00. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Human Resource Management and of the Institute of Management Consultants, and a Certified Management Consultant.

Alongside her day job, Mrs. Udeh is a prolific researcher whose work is widely cited. Her recent studies have examined burnout in the IT industry, upskilling workers for new technologies, remote work policies and gender equity in education, while earlier reviews explored how artificial intelligence can sharpen HR decision-making. This year she also published a book with Deep Science Publishing, Customer Engagement Techniques in Green Spare Parts Initiatives, which grew out of her MBA project at Ahmadu Bello University.

She also serves as a Section Editor and peer reviewer for international journals published by Fair East Publishers and FE Gulf Publishers, which have named her Editor of the Year or Reviewer of the Year seven times since 2023, and has sat on judging panels for the Africa Innovators Award and the West Africa Tech Excellence Forum awards. The NiTA prize is her second major national honour, after she was named Most Outstanding HR and Workforce Management Professional of the Year at the 3rd Business Excellence Awards in 2021.

Mrs. Udeh said she hoped the award would encourage more women to pursue careers in the field.

“I hope this inspires more women and young Nigerians to believe that learning, integrity and consistency will always be rewarded,” she said. “I will keep using research and data to help organisations treat their people better and perform better.”