Who is Richard Ruoro?

Richard Ruoro is a Nairobi-based Technology Architect, Product Builder and AI & Digital Innovation Consultant with 25+ years building digital infrastructure, platforms and AI products across Africa. He is Co-Founder & Lead Technology Architect at Silicon Savannah Talent (SST Oracle), CTO at DataLock (Kinga), co-founder of Global Message Company, and founder of Kioo, Unganisha, Zabuni and Savanna Avia.

Can Richard build AI agents for my organisation?

Yes. Richard runs his own operations with Nia, an AI agent hosted on his own server that triages mail, manages the calendar, prepares daily briefs and posts updates to his teams. For organisations he designs connected suites of AI agents, also called agentic AI or a multi-agent system: an executive assistant, a content and storytelling agent, news and policy monitoring, a website and SEO agent, and impact reporting. Everything is self-hosted, so the data stays with the organisation, and a human stays in the loop where it matters.

What is agentic AI, and does Richard build it?

Agentic AI is software that does more than answer a question. AI agents plan a task, use tools such as mail, calendars, search and databases, and carry the work out, while a person approves the steps that matter. Richard builds it as connected teams of agents on large language models (LLMs), self-hosted for organisations that want their data to stay on their own server. His own agent, Nia, runs his working day this way.

How can I hire Richard for AI consulting, a fractional CTO role or technology advisory?

Use the contact form on ruoro.co.ke or message him on WhatsApp at +254 759 000666. Typical engagements cover AI strategy and AI product strategy, AI agents and workflow automation, technology architecture review, fractional or acting CTO roles, platform engineering, fintech rails and digital transformation programmes.

Does Richard also build ordinary business websites?

Yes. Alongside the platforms he has designed and built websites for schools, hotels, construction firms, retailers and property companies, for example Ridgeville Perazim Montessori School, Lacienda Kitui Resort, N Global Realty and Min's Baking Supplies. Most clients start with a website and come back for a full product.

What does a technology architect do?

A technology architect designs how an organisation's software, data and infrastructure fit together to meet business goals: choosing the stack, defining how systems integrate, setting standards for performance, security and cost, and guiding engineering teams through delivery. Richard operates across three layers most architects pick one of: infrastructure, product and strategy.

What products has Richard built?

Zabuni (tender-to-bid automation for Kenyan suppliers), Unganisha (privacy-first blood donor matching on PostgreSQL + PostGIS), Kioo (AI beauty technology with skin-aware try-on, built in Flutter), Kinga (a community operating system for boda boda SACCOs with M-Pesa and bank rails), SST Oracle (AI candidate search on pgvector) and WingsPath at Savanna Avia (aviation management software). Most are live; see the Work section for status.

Zabuni is Richard's tender-to-bid automation product. It reads a Kenyan government tender PDF, turns it into a structured checklist, tracks statutory certificate expiry, runs a gap analysis, fills the price schedule and produces one serialised submission PDF. It is live at zabuni.ruoro.co.ke.

Unganisha (formerly DamuLink) matches a patient who needs blood with compatible donors nearby across 1,620 Kenyan towns and 1,051 health facilities. The blood-compatibility rules live in the database itself and privacy is enforced by the schema: no names on public pages, no diagnosis tracking, identity data purged on a schedule. It is live at unganisha.co.ke.

What is Richard's role at Kinga?

Richard is CTO of DataLock, the company behind Kinga. He designed the Kinga brand first, then built the complete app: a working proof of concept in one month, followed by hardening towards the Google Play release, including the M-Pesa and Co-op Bank Open API payments rail.

SST Oracle is the AI candidate-search and talent-intelligence platform built by Silicon Savannah Talent, where Richard is Co-Founder & Lead Technology Architect. It combines semantic vector search, structured CV data, recruiter scoring and milestone escrow so teams can find and pay African talent that other platforms miss.

Kioo is Richard's AI-powered beauty technology platform. It uses ML Kit face-mesh and Gemini-driven recommendations to give skin-aware virtual try-on tuned for African skin tones, paired with personalised product matching.

Can I invest in one of Richard's ventures?

Several of his own ventures are open to investors: Zabuni, Unganisha, Kioo, SST Oracle, Savanna Avia, Shamba and KopaBro. The Opportunities page lists each one with its stage and a short summary. Use the contact form with the venture name as the subject.

What was Richard's role in Kenya's AI policy and the AI Bill 2026?

Richard filed a formal response to the Ministry of ICT on the Draft Kenya AI Policy in August 2026 and submitted a memorandum on the Kenya AI Bill 2026: practical input from a builder's perspective on AI adoption, governance, and how regulation lands on the people actually shipping AI products.

Where is Richard based?

Nairobi, Kenya. His work covers East Africa and the wider African continent. Clients have included telcos, fintechs, schools, hotels, talent platforms and policy bodies.

What technologies does Richard work with?

Next.js and TypeScript on the web, Flutter on mobile, Python (FastAPI) and TypeScript (Fastify) backends, PostgreSQL with PostGIS for spatial queries and pgvector for vector search and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), Redis, Gemini and other large language models (LLMs), n8n for workflow automation and agent orchestration, M-Pesa Daraja and Co-op Bank Open API for payments, and Docker on self-managed Linux servers behind nginx with Let's Encrypt. The deeper toolkit covers messaging platforms and telco integrations built up across 25 years.

What is the 150M+ SMS figure on the site?

A cumulative count covering the Sasanet free-SMS platform (about 1 million free SMS per month from 2006), the Committee of Experts (CoE) constitutional-education campaign that reached Kenyans during the Katiba referendum, and enterprise messaging volumes at Global Message Company.

Richard Ruoro, Nairobi

Twenty-five years building Kenya’s digital infrastructure. Now AI products, and the rules around them.

CTO at DataLock, the company behind Kinga. Co-founder of Silicon Savannah Talent. Founder of Zabuni, Unganisha, Kioo and Savanna Avia. I design the architecture, write a good part of the code, and stay until it ships.

Talk to me See the work ↓

Now · Sept 2026

Shipping Kinga to Google Play as CTO at DataLock
7 products live, 10 client sites online
8 ventures open to investors
Nia, my own AI agent, runs my inbox, calendar and daily briefs
Formal input filed on the Draft Kenya AI Policy
Opportunities →

SMS messages sent across Kenya: 150M+
Years building: 25+
Products live: 7
Client sites online: 10
Ventures open to investors: 8

About

Infrastructure first. Then products. Then the strategy around both.

I started in Kenya’s SMS infrastructure in the early 2000s: Sasanet’s free-SMS platform, the Katiba constitutional-education campaign, and Global Message Company, which I co-founded in 2011 and still run.

The 2010s were web platforms, portals and business systems for companies across East Africa. Since 2020 the work is AI-native products: SST Oracle, Kioo, Zabuni, Unganisha and Kinga, plus formal input on Kenya’s AI policy and the AI Bill 2026.

What that gives a client is one person who can sit with the board on Monday and review the pull request on Tuesday.

The full story, 1989 to now →

What I do

Seven kinds of work. One person across all of them.

Each one is backed by something I have shipped. The proof is named on the right.

01
AI agents and automation for organisations
A connected team of AI agents for the work that never gets done: an executive assistant that triages inbox and calendar and briefs you before every meeting, a content agent that turns each interview into owned posts, monitoring agents for news, policy and tenders, a website and SEO agent, and impact reporting for donors and boards. This is agentic AI in daily use: a multi-agent system built on large language models, self-hosted so your data stays on your own server, with a human in the loop where it matters.
Built the way I run my own operations: Nia, my agent, lives on my own server and runs my day. Recently designed as a six-agent suite for a Nairobi health and safeguarding organisation.
Discuss this →
02
AI products and intelligent platforms
AI-native applications built on large language models (LLMs): generative AI features, semantic and vector search, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), recommendation engines, document AI and workflow automation.
Production AI, not demos. Patterns proven on SST Oracle, Zabuni, Kioo and Unganisha.
Discuss this →
03
Websites, web applications and digital platforms
Business websites, web applications, talent marketplaces, member portals and e-commerce, from a single sharp site to a full platform. Fast, mobile-first, and built to be found by search engines and AI assistants.
Proven on SST Oracle and the ten client sites listed under Work.
Discuss this →
04
Fintech and digital commerce
Lending, payments, savings and transaction systems on the rails Africans use.
M-Pesa Daraja, Co-op Bank Open API, SACCOs, chamas and agency networks. Proven on Kinga.
Discuss this →
05
Technology strategy and architecture
Technology and AI strategy, roadmaps, system architecture and transformation programmes that engineering teams can build.
For boards and leadership teams deciding how technology should serve the business. Also as a fractional CTO.
Discuss this →
06
Digital infrastructure
Messaging platforms, enterprise integrations and communication systems: the foundations that carry scale.
150M+ SMS sent across Kenya through the Sasanet, Katiba/CoE and Global Message Company years.
Discuss this →
07
Technology advisory and policy
Guidance on AI adoption, AI governance, compliance and emerging technology.
Including formal submissions on the Draft Kenya AI Policy and the Kenya AI Bill 2026.
Discuss this →

Work

Products I run, platforms I architect, sites I have shipped.

7 products live and 10 client sites online today. Status is checked every ten minutes. The screenshots are of the real sites.

Ventures and products

My own companies, plus products I architect and run for others.

CheckingOpen to investors

Avicore

The operating system for African aviation

An aviation intelligence platform built Africa-first: airstrip data, community pilot reports, digital pilot passports, and AI safety assessments for East African operators.

Founder · a Savanna Avia Ltd productReact · Aviation intelligence · AI safety assessments · Maps & geospatial

Case study →Visit avicore.co.ke ↗

Checking

KenyaView

A live globe of Kenya's skies, seas and ground

Live aircraft, ships, satellites, earthquakes and public cameras on a 3D globe, tuned for Kenya. Built on the open-source God's Eye View project; I adapted, localised and host it.

Deployed & adaptedVite · Node · PostgreSQL · Redis · Open-source God's Eye View

Visit kenyaview.ruoro.co.ke ↗

BuildingOpen to investors

Shamba

Offline-first field operations for teams where there is no network

A field app that keeps working with no signal and syncs itself when the network comes back, built for agricultural teams that spend their day far from a tower.

FounderFlutter · PostgreSQL · Background sync

BuildingOpen to investors

KopaBro

Safe peer-to-peer lending for Kenya

Lend to friends without the drama. Borrowers post a need with clear terms, lenders choose who they trust at a fair rate, money sits in escrow until the terms are met, and repayments are reminded and verified automatically.

FounderFlutter · M-Pesa · Escrow · CRB integration · CBK NDTCP licensing

Case study →

Websites and client work

Built for the businesses that run them. Screenshots are of the live sites.

Policy and infrastructure

How technology gets governed, and the foundations it runs on.

Questions

What people usually ask me.

Short answers on how I work, what I have built, and how to engage. If yours is not here, the form below is the fastest way to ask it.

Who is Richard Ruoro?: Richard Ruoro is a Nairobi-based Technology Architect, Product Builder and AI & Digital Innovation Consultant with 25+ years building digital infrastructure, platforms and AI products across Africa. He is Co-Founder & Lead Technology Architect at Silicon Savannah Talent (SST Oracle), CTO at DataLock (Kinga), co-founder of Global Message Company, and founder of Kioo, Unganisha, Zabuni and Savanna Avia.
Can Richard build AI agents for my organisation?: Yes. Richard runs his own operations with Nia, an AI agent hosted on his own server that triages mail, manages the calendar, prepares daily briefs and posts updates to his teams. For organisations he designs connected suites of AI agents, also called agentic AI or a multi-agent system: an executive assistant, a content and storytelling agent, news and policy monitoring, a website and SEO agent, and impact reporting. Everything is self-hosted, so the data stays with the organisation, and a human stays in the loop where it matters.
What is agentic AI, and does Richard build it?: Agentic AI is software that does more than answer a question. AI agents plan a task, use tools such as mail, calendars, search and databases, and carry the work out, while a person approves the steps that matter. Richard builds it as connected teams of agents on large language models (LLMs), self-hosted for organisations that want their data to stay on their own server. His own agent, Nia, runs his working day this way.
How can I hire Richard for AI consulting, a fractional CTO role or technology advisory?: Use the contact form on ruoro.co.ke or message him on WhatsApp at +254 759 000666. Typical engagements cover AI strategy and AI product strategy, AI agents and workflow automation, technology architecture review, fractional or acting CTO roles, platform engineering, fintech rails and digital transformation programmes.
Does Richard also build ordinary business websites?: Yes. Alongside the platforms he has designed and built websites for schools, hotels, construction firms, retailers and property companies, for example Ridgeville Perazim Montessori School, Lacienda Kitui Resort, N Global Realty and Min's Baking Supplies. Most clients start with a website and come back for a full product.
What does a technology architect do?: A technology architect designs how an organisation's software, data and infrastructure fit together to meet business goals: choosing the stack, defining how systems integrate, setting standards for performance, security and cost, and guiding engineering teams through delivery. Richard operates across three layers most architects pick one of: infrastructure, product and strategy.
What products has Richard built?: Zabuni (tender-to-bid automation for Kenyan suppliers), Unganisha (privacy-first blood donor matching on PostgreSQL + PostGIS), Kioo (AI beauty technology with skin-aware try-on, built in Flutter), Kinga (a community operating system for boda boda SACCOs with M-Pesa and bank rails), SST Oracle (AI candidate search on pgvector) and WingsPath at Savanna Avia (aviation management software). Most are live; see the Work section for status.
What is Zabuni?: Zabuni is Richard's tender-to-bid automation product. It reads a Kenyan government tender PDF, turns it into a structured checklist, tracks statutory certificate expiry, runs a gap analysis, fills the price schedule and produces one serialised submission PDF. It is live at zabuni.ruoro.co.ke.
What is Unganisha?: Unganisha (formerly DamuLink) matches a patient who needs blood with compatible donors nearby across 1,620 Kenyan towns and 1,051 health facilities. The blood-compatibility rules live in the database itself and privacy is enforced by the schema: no names on public pages, no diagnosis tracking, identity data purged on a schedule. It is live at unganisha.co.ke.
What is Richard's role at Kinga?: Richard is CTO of DataLock, the company behind Kinga. He designed the Kinga brand first, then built the complete app: a working proof of concept in one month, followed by hardening towards the Google Play release, including the M-Pesa and Co-op Bank Open API payments rail.
What is SST Oracle?: SST Oracle is the AI candidate-search and talent-intelligence platform built by Silicon Savannah Talent, where Richard is Co-Founder & Lead Technology Architect. It combines semantic vector search, structured CV data, recruiter scoring and milestone escrow so teams can find and pay African talent that other platforms miss.
What is Kioo?: Kioo is Richard's AI-powered beauty technology platform. It uses ML Kit face-mesh and Gemini-driven recommendations to give skin-aware virtual try-on tuned for African skin tones, paired with personalised product matching.
Can I invest in one of Richard's ventures?: Several of his own ventures are open to investors: Zabuni, Unganisha, Kioo, SST Oracle, Savanna Avia, Shamba and KopaBro. The Opportunities page lists each one with its stage and a short summary. Use the contact form with the venture name as the subject.
What was Richard's role in Kenya's AI policy and the AI Bill 2026?: Richard filed a formal response to the Ministry of ICT on the Draft Kenya AI Policy in August 2026 and submitted a memorandum on the Kenya AI Bill 2026: practical input from a builder's perspective on AI adoption, governance, and how regulation lands on the people actually shipping AI products.
Where is Richard based?: Nairobi, Kenya. His work covers East Africa and the wider African continent. Clients have included telcos, fintechs, schools, hotels, talent platforms and policy bodies.
What technologies does Richard work with?: Next.js and TypeScript on the web, Flutter on mobile, Python (FastAPI) and TypeScript (Fastify) backends, PostgreSQL with PostGIS for spatial queries and pgvector for vector search and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), Redis, Gemini and other large language models (LLMs), n8n for workflow automation and agent orchestration, M-Pesa Daraja and Co-op Bank Open API for payments, and Docker on self-managed Linux servers behind nginx with Let's Encrypt. The deeper toolkit covers messaging platforms and telco integrations built up across 25 years.
What is the 150M+ SMS figure on the site?: A cumulative count covering the Sasanet free-SMS platform (about 1 million free SMS per month from 2006), the Committee of Experts (CoE) constitutional-education campaign that reached Kenyans during the Katiba referendum, and enterprise messaging volumes at Global Message Company.