Ann C Ukadike: Pioneering Excellence in Human Resources in Technology and Business Management

In an industry where diversity of talents in the core Engineering and Data Science roles are limited, Ann Ukadike stands out as a leader who has helped bridge this gap with women through talent management and transformation.

Her career and commitment have been in advancing women in business and leadership in technology. Throughout her career, she has been at the forefront of promoting women in key leadership positions, most recent being her success in having women in 40% of the key leadership positions at Terragon.

An Amazonian Driving People Management

Ann Ukadike has extensive experience in people and transformation across different industries. With a master’s degree in public administration (HR) from the University of Lagos, a certified professional in Human Resources International (PHRi), a certified Talent Development Manager from London School of Business and Finance and an alumnus of Common Purpose, Africa Venture, Ann has built the required knowledge and expertise in people management space.

Her career includes time at PwC, Deloitte, Nestoil Limited and Terragon, where she led strategic people management initiatives resulting in improved work culture, talent succession and cost savings.

As the VP of People and Culture of Terragon, Ann led high velocity transformation initiatives in people management and culture. At this time, the ambition of Terragon was large and intertwined with the continent’s own growth trajectory and opportunity.

This required a very strong talent strategy, backbone and key assets for Terragon’s success, with 50% of its talent base consistently lured by companies with international footprints. Her task was to find some stability in these changes that the company could benefit from.

She overhauled the talent acquisition process, pushed for stronger governance on talent assessments – simple and effective strategy, in order to ensure return on investment (both time and money). She personally led a monumental shift for how Terragon approached diversity.

Diversity of thought, background, culture, gender, and geography – creating a very compelling and performance driven network of expertise. From International Women’s Day initiatives, cultural bias training, remote working and geographical dispersion best practices, and leadership education – these initiatives created a very open, communicative, and empathetic culture, allowing the business to push boundaries and move fast toward its ambition.

The successful completion of this led her to other projects both within and outside of People and Culture, leading to her promotion as Chief Operating Officer (COO) after her first year at Terragon.

Beyond People Management to Business Operations and Technology

As the COO of Terragon, Ann has led product launch in the financial services sector. She worked closely with the Engineering, Data Science and Product team on the launch of a new product into a new market.

Less than 3 months into her role as COO, she demonstrated immense leadership and business acumen by closing a major deal with a Pan-African financial institution and a Tier-1 bank in Nigeria. She also went on to lead the deployment and implementation of the Terragon Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS) for the customer, handling millions of messages monthly.

A Visionary Thought Leader

Ann’s influence extends beyond people management, business operations and technology. She is a recognized thought leader in women in business and leadership, frequently moderating conferences, hosting and speaking at events that push the narrative for women in business.

She has hosted and moderated events such as “Leading a Successful Career for the Girl Child in Tech 2021”, “Doing Business in Nigeria Conference, 2022”, and published an article on “Empowering Women in Business 2021”.

She also has an unpublished book titled “The role of Staff Training in Organizational Productivity”.

Ann C Ukadike’s contribution to people management and women in business are marked by her strategic vision, business transformation, and unwavering commitment to improving the representation of women in business and leadership.

Through several roles she has held across different organizations, she continues to help organizations achieve their goals in people management practices.