Professor Abejide Ade-Ibijola holds a PhD in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He is currently an Associate Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Applications in the Department of Applied Information Systems at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), and the Founder/Lead of the Research Cluster on Formal Structures, Algorithms, and Industrial Applications at UJ. Abejide is NRF-Rated1 and mainly interested

in problems and algorithms in AI, innovations for driving the 4th Industrial Revolution, the applications of Formal Grammars (string or picture grammars) in the synthesis of things, programs (analysis, comprehension, and/or synthesis), special-purpose compilers, and theoretical computing. He has won over R2.4 million rands in research and innovation grants, mostly in the last five years.

In his twelve years of experience in Academia and the Software Industry (across domains such as Financial Markets, Serious Games in Public Health and Education, and IT consulting), he has left a trail of 90+ awards, 60+ publications, and an incredible record of top-notch delivery of algorithmic and innovative solutions — creating over 100 innovations and securing R1.9 million rands (in students' annual salary) worth of jobs for his students from 2018 till date.

Abejide is the recipient of the UJ CBE Dean’s Top Senior Lecturer Award 2018 (in a faculty of 338 academics), SA Department of Public Service (DPSA) Ignite Hack Innovation Award 2018, the UJ Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Award for the Innovation of the Year 2019 (Valued at R500,000.00), SA Department of Communications Living 4IR Hackathon Overall Best Innovation of 2019, Two SA State IT Agency (SITA) Public Service Innovation Awards of 2019, and the Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Award for Teacher Excellence of the Year 2020 (Valued at R150,000.00). In 2020, he secured software licenses for the entire UJ community, worth over $1.5 Billion US Dollars. In March 2021, Abejide was invited by the prestigious University of Oxford, United Kingdom, to speak on the Fourth Industrial Revolution.