Engineering with Purpose: Lawal’s Approach to System Design
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“My engineering philosophy is driven by three key principles,” Lawal begins, his voice steady yet passionate. “First and foremost, there should always be clarity regarding the system being built. It’s essential that the system remains understandable not just to me, but also to other engineers and future maintainers.”
This unwavering belief in clarity lies at the very core of Lawal’s coding practices and architectural choices. “I consciously steer clear of clever code and unnecessary abstractions. Consistency in naming strategies is paramount,” he elaborates. “The second principle I adhere to is the need to apply context to every technical decision. Context encompasses a deep understanding of the business, the end-users, and the market environment.”
Lawal emphasizes that best practices in one domain do not always translate seamlessly into another, so grasping the specific environment becomes crucial. “Finally, I believe in consciously evaluating the trade-offs inherent in design decisions. Questions such as, ‘Will a major rewrite be required if the system evolves?’ and ‘How does it recover from failures?’ are vital,” he asserts.
Over the years, Lawal has come to embrace a philosophy he describes as “defaulting to simplicity.” He acknowledges that achieving simplicity often proves more challenging but ultimately saves valuable time and staves off future headaches.
Building for Real-World Efficiency
One of the remarkable platforms that Lawal led is Jaiye, a ticketing and reservation system tailored for the event and hospitality sectors. His motivation for this project was refreshingly straightforward: to eradicate inefficiency.
“An event organizer often finds themselves juggling payments, managing guests, and validating attendance, sometimes utilizing a mix of disparate tools or resorting to manual processes,” he says. “Jaiye centralized this chaotic experience by integrating payment flows, access control, and real-time analytics.”
This drive to streamline processes has naturally infused other projects too, including EstateVault, a property management system, and axl, an AI-driven solution aimed at journey management.
“To me, translating intricate industry challenges into elegantly designed systems starts with immersing myself in the environment,” Lawal explains. “I take the time to study how domain experts perceive their challenges and make their decisions. This allows me to formulate mental models that mirror their thought processes.”
Before the architecture even begins to take shape, Lawal insists on developing a proof of concept that aligns with these workflows. “Embracing domain-driven design provides a framework that reflects the natural thought processes of the experts involved,” he adds.
A Game-Changing ETL System
Perhaps one of Lawal’s most impactful contributions to date has been his groundbreaking ETL tool for bank statement reconciliation, a robust technical solution for a dauntingly manual issue.
“Different banks deliver statements in varying PDF and CSV formats, each with inconsistent field mappings and local conventions,” he notes.
To tackle this issue, Lawal and his team engineered a multi-stage pipeline:
- A smart extraction layer that ingests PDF and CSV files and adapts to each bank’s format.
- A normalization layer that cleans and organizes data into a standardized JSON format.
- A transformation layer that parses the JSON into the fields of an MT940 file.
“Thanks to this innovation, a task that used to consume finance teams days of manual effort is now accomplished automatically,” he observes, a hint of satisfaction evident in his voice.
The Lessons from Failure
Not every project has unfolded according to plan. Lawal reflects on Grip, a personal finance platform that, despite its ambitious scope, ultimately faced scalability challenges.
“Grip aimed to bring together all your financial services, payments, subscriptions, and budgeting into a single platform, but we struggled to secure funding quickly enough, and operational costs quickly became unmanageable,” he admits. “Interestingly, some features we built have since been adopted by larger competitors, validating that we had the right insights.”
His takeaway is both humbling and enlightening: “Sometimes, it’s not about ideas; it’s about timing and execution.”
Building in Africa: A Testament to Resilience
Lawal passionately asserts that engineering and scaling solutions in Africa necessitate more than mere technical skill; they often demand creativity fueled by constraints.
“Despite the numerous challenges—a volatile economy, inadequate infrastructure, and ever-changing regulations—it’s inspiring to see how we can adapt and sometimes even thrive amidst these hurdles,” he remarks, reflecting on the landscape of innovation.
“Building in Africa isn’t solely about creating scalable code. It’s about developing systems resilient to volatility and deeply rooted in local contexts,” he emphasizes.
Looking to the future, Lawal maintains a steadfast belief in the potential of fintech, particularly in the realm of digitizing the informal economy.
“Fintech is an area where I feel particularly passionate. While we have a multitude of fintech solutions, I genuinely believe we haven’t reached our peak just yet,” he reflects.
“I would love to see a product that can effectively digitize the informal economy, empowering those who function outside traditional financial systems to leverage their cash transactions for enhanced creditworthiness,” he shares, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
“It’s a challenging task, but such an innovation could truly change lives,” he concludes, leaving us with the undeniable truth that clear intent and resilience often pave the way for transformative futures.
Edited By Ali Musa
Axadle Times International – Monitoring.
