Get Guardian on GoogleUsing Blooming Kids House as a case study, the founder and product manager shares how everyday business challenges can inform technology products people want to use.
For Olayinka Isikalu, building a useful technology product begins with understanding a problem and the people who need it solved. That perspective shaped her keynote training, “AI + Education: From Problem to Product,” at the Teachers of Purpose Conference & Dinner Awards 3.0, held on October 3, 2026, in Egbeda, Lagos.
Speaking to an audience of business owners, educators and other innovators, the Founder and CEO of Blooming Kids House explored how practical experience can become the foundation for developing useful, scalable products.
Her delivery connected product thinking to challenges participants could recognise in their own work. The training encouraged them to examine recurring problems, identify who experiences them and consider what would make a solution useful enough for people to adopt and continue using.
Rather than leaving the discussion at the level of ideas, Isikalu used Blooming Kids House as a practical case study. She drew on her experience leading an online tutoring business to explain how the needs of parents, learners, teachers and administrators can inform product decisions.
At Blooming Kids House, these needs include helping parents follow their children’s progress, supporting teachers’ workflows and coordinating learning across different locations. Its digital portal brings together functions such as class schedules, homework, learning reports and payments, while its Abike AI tools support tasks including lesson preparation and resource creation.
Isikalu’s work as a product manager involves connecting these operational needs with the direction of the products, working with her technology team to translate observed challenges into useful features and improvements. The case study illustrated how running a service can provide valuable insight into what users need and where technology can make their experience more seamless.
A central lesson was that innovation can begin on a modest scale. Existing processes can help a founder understand demand and establish what works. As the service grows, technology and AI can support the development of systems that serve more users while preserving a dependable experience.
The session prompted an enthusiastic response. Participants were receptive and engaged, asking questions that Isikalu addressed during the discussion. Some later shared that the training had inspired them to think more deliberately about developing solutions that work and that people would genuinely want to use.
The engagement also brought recognition for her own contribution. Topmox Edutech presented Isikalu with the Outstanding Edutech Innovation & Product Leadership Award, recognising her leadership, innovation and contribution to advancing education through technology.
For Isikalu, the experience reinforced a principle that continues to guide her work: useful innovation grows through sustained attention to real problems.
Her personal reflection was that founders do not need to begin with a large, complex platform. They can start with the resources and workable processes available to them, learn through delivery and introduce technology as their understanding and operations develop.
The ambition, she emphasised, is to build products that solve meaningful problems, make users’ lives easier and have the capacity to grow. Her experience at Blooming Kids House gives that ambition a practical setting, connecting educational service delivery with the ongoing work of product development.
