Tech Trivia with Okikiola Oyeniyi, Founder of Healfica

Many young Nigerians who want a healthcare career are taught to see only one path: doctor, nurse, or pharmacist. Few are shown the much wider world working quietly behind the scenes: the people turning health data into insight, building digital health tools, or using AI to help healthcare systems make better decisions. Okikiola Oyeniyi is one of the people working to change that.

As a Healthcare Data Analyst and Consultant, Oyeniyi works at the intersection of healthcare, data, research and technology, using data to understand health problems and communicate insights that support better decision-making. 

Her path into the field began with a research role at the Centre for Population Health Initiatives, where she worked on public health research around HIV prevention, hepatitis B vaccination, STIs, treatment, health education and digital health interventions. 

That work exposed her to questions she couldn’t shake: why people still die from preventable diseases despite available vaccines and treatment, and why access to care can look so different depending on where someone lives, even within the same city.

That curiosity eventually led her into health data analytics and later into founding Healfica, a global community advancing healthcare through data, AI, digital health, research and technology. 

Through Healfica, Oyeniyi is building a space where people can learn, collaborate, and explore careers in healthcare technology. Her work is rooted in her belief that a healthcare career doesn’t have to end at the bedside, and that technology offers another way to ask better questions about healthcare and make better decisions.

1. Summarise your mornings in one sentence

My mornings start around 5:30 a.m. with my daily prayer, a cup of warm lemon water, a quick check of my email, a LinkedIn post while connecting with people on there, and setting up my to-do list for the day.

2. Describe your gadget setup

My laptop is my main workstation, with my phone beside it for research, content, and everything else happening around my work. I also keep a notebook nearby because I love writing down ideas immediately as they come to me.

3. What tech tools/applications do you use the most for work?

Microsoft Excel, Power BI, SQL, Python, Google Workspace, Notion, Canva, PowerPoint, Slack, Zoom, ChatGPT, Claude, Zapier, REDCap.

4. What do you do when you need inspiration?

I take a break from work. I tend to look into the future I am building just so I can fall in love with the current process. I also study how other people are solving problems and read stories about women building incredible things; it really motivates me to keep going. Sometimes I look into my notes to see my previous research, drafts of ideas, and I immediately pick up something from there.

5. What mobile application can you not do without daily?

As much as I don’t like WhatsApp, a lot of my life happens there. My communities, client conversations, work conversations, family, and all. I also don’t go a day without my Spotify. I vibe to music every single day; it gives me the energy to work better.

6. What tech solution do you wish someone had created?

I wish there were a trusted health access platform that brought healthcare providers, services, health information, and patient pathways into one place. One of the frustrating parts of healthcare is knowing you need help but not knowing where to go, what services are available, which provider to trust, or what the next step should be. A well-designed platform could help people find the right care faster, help healthcare organisations reach the people who need their services, and make health information easier to understand.

7. If you have unlimited time and money, what problem would you solve?

I would solve the health tech literacy gap among young people. Growing up, many of us were taught to think of healthcare careers mainly as becoming a doctor, nurse, pharmacist or another clinical professional. We are not always introduced to the people working behind the scenes in health data, health informatics, digital health, artificial intelligence, research, product development and other areas of technology. I want young people to see these paths earlier.

I would build a global platform and ecosystem where young people can learn about different careers in health technology, understand the skills required, meet people already working in those fields, gain practical experience and build with other young people who share the same interests. I believe this will shape the future of healthcare.

8. Which woman in tech inspires you the most?

Dr Funmi Adewara, Founder of Mobihealth International. I admire what she has built in health tech, especially around telemedicine, health education and access to care. She’s literally THE BLUEPRINT. Her work has shown me what it looks like to see a healthcare problem and build technology around it at scale. I also love the fact that her work goes beyond building a product. It’s about the bigger question of how technology can make healthcare more accessible to people.

9. Which profound statement inspires you the most?

“If you don’t get a seat at the table, build your own table and invite people to sit with you.” It reminds me that I do not have to wait for someone to create the space I need. I can build it myself and make sure other people have a place in it too. That is one of the reasons I started Healfica.

10. Whose women in tech trivia would you love to read?

Dr Valerie Okorie. I’d love to hear more about her journey, the experiences that shaped her decision to work at the intersection of healthcare and technology, and what she has learned from building in the health tech space.

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