Exploring Business Expansion and Technological Integration: Insights from the TQM Capital Conference with Tech Leaders

More than 150 tech professionals, entrepreneurs, and industry stakeholders came together for the highly anticipated TQM Capital Tech Conference 2021. This event, hosted by TQM Capital, a leading digital financial solutions company, was designed to showcase innovative technological strategies that are transforming modern business.

The conference served as an exciting hub of innovation, collaboration, and forward-thinking insights, with 150 tech leaders from different sectors in attendance, facilitating extensive networking opportunities during and after the event.The event was held in Eko hotel & suites Victoria Island Lagos.

Among the standout sessions were three engaging keynotes delivered by Kingsley Onyeagusi, a renowned enterprise sales expert; Destiny Okwuosa, a distinguished senior business analyst and IT project manager; and Bayo Ogunnusi, a finance / fintech professional. Their presentations sparked the day’s most widely discussed topics.

Kingsley Onyeagusi captivated the audience with his keynote titled “Beyond Boundaries: Leveraging Technology to Drive Sales and Business Expansion.” With a proven track record of success in financial, edtech and cleantech sectors as a solution innovator and possessing well-rounded technical expertise, Onyeagusi drew on years of experience in enterprise sales across African markets to explain how businesses can utilise digital tools ranging from customer relationship management (CRM) systems to analytics platforms and AI-driven lead generation systems not only to grow but also scale efficiently in increasingly competitive environments.

“Sales have evolved,” Onyeagusi asserted. “Today, data serves as your compass, and digital tools act as your vehicle. With the right technology stack, a business can penetrate new markets, predict customer behaviour, and shorten the sales cycle by nearly 30%.”

He emphasised the necessity of aligning technology adoption with a clear sales strategy, highlighting successful case studies where digital transformation directly resulted in revenue growth.

“The Million Dollar Question: When to Build, Buy, or Integrate Your Tech Stack” was the title of Destiny Okwuosa’spresentation. Focusing on ‘Enhancing Efficiency by Making Smart Technology Choices’ Drawing on years of experience in implementing digital solutions across the banking, manufacturing, and fintech sectors, Destiny explained how businesses can navigate the complex decision-making process of technology acquisition. This process includes choices between custom development, third-party purchases, and strategic integrations.

“Whether implementing AI tools, robotic automation, or simple IT systems, the decision framework remains that the total cost of ownership must align with measurable business value delivery.
Destiny emphasised the importance of maximising ROI while minimising risk in an increasingly digital marketplace.
“Technology decisions are essentially investment decisions,” Destiny stated. “Making the wrong choice today doesn’t just result in financial loss; it also leads to wasted time, loss of competitive advantage, and missed market opportunities. By using the right decision-making framework, businesses can cut implementation costs by up to 40% and accelerate their time-to-market by six months.”

She emphasised the critical importance of conducting thorough evaluations of business cases before making technology investments. She highlighted successful case studies from her work with the supply and logistics sectors, small and medium-sized businesses, including non-profits, major UK construction companies, and financial institutions. In these cases, strategic technology choices directly led to operational efficiency gains and significant cost savings.

“The million-dollar question isn’t whether to invest in technology,” she concluded, “it’s whether you’re making technology investments that will still be paying dividends five years from now.”

Bayo’s presentation, titled “Leveraging AI in Finance: From Theory to Transformation,” explored how AI, machine learning (ML), and generative AI are reshaping the finance landscape by transforming from buzzwords into practical tools that deliver operational efficiencies, reduce risks, and enable more intelligent decision-making, while focusing on “Leveraging AI in Today’s Business Financial Decisions”

Bayo explained the fundamental concepts of AI, machine learning (ML), and generative AI using relatable analogies. He shared real-world AI tools that finance teams can implement today and demonstrated techniques for prompt engineering relevant to financial modelling and analysis. The session also covered practical applications of AI in areas such as auditing, fraud detection, tax compliance, and the creation of finance-focused AI agents and dashboards that provide real-time insights.

Bayo emphasised the importance of ethical AI adoption, highlighting the need for responsible data usage, transparency, and bias mitigation, particularly in regulated environments. He concluded with a live demonstration on forecasting with predictive analytics, sparking engaging questions from both finance professionals and tech leaders.
“The future of finance is not just digital; it is intelligent. AI is not an option; it is inevitable. However, we must adopt it ethically and strategically,” Bayo told the audience.

The Bigger Picture: A Platform for Growth

During his closing address, TQM Capital’s Director reaffirmed“The Bigger Picture: A Platform for Growth” the company’s commitment to building digital ecosystems that drive growth across Africa. “This conference reflects our belief that the future of business is tech-enabled and collaboration-driven,” he stated. “We are proud to provide a platform for such forward-thinking conversations.”
The conference also featured interactive workshops, product showcases, and networking sessions, providing attendees with hands-on exposure to the latest innovations.

As the day concluded, the message was clear: the convergence of sales, technology, AI, and APIs is not a distant future, it is today’s reality. With visionaries like Kingsley Onyeagusi, Bayo Ogunnusi, and Destiny Okwuosa leading the way, African businesses are well-positioned to leap forward.