Bridge Africa Technologies is pleased to introduce Mr Ndukwe Victor Ukara as one of the judges for the BAT Hackathon 2023. His appointment comes at a moment when the hackathon continues to grow in influence, attracting young innovators, business professionals, and creators who are determined to build solutions that truly work in real organisations. Selecting the right judges is an essential part of this process. The BAT community needs leaders who understand how businesses operate, how data drives decisions, and how everyday users experience products and services. Mr Ukara brings all of these strengths together with clarity and experience.
He arrives on the judging panel with a solid background in Business Administration and a career that has taken him through general management, purchasing, inventory oversight, data analytics, customer engagement, and organisational support roles. This broad foundation gives him a practical understanding of how companies function from the inside. It also means he approaches innovation with both realism and imagination. He recognises what it takes to run an organisation day by day, and he understands the value of information, structure, and disciplined execution.
His professional journey tells a clear story. He is a business and data professional who has spent years improving operational systems, strengthening teams, and guiding business units toward growth. His work in general management demonstrates his ability to supervise teams, organise workflows, manage budgets, and maintain productive relationships with clients, suppliers, and partners. These are not abstract skills. They reflect daily responsibilities that shape whether an organisation runs smoothly or struggles with inefficiencies.
As General Manager at Vicson Trading Company, he oversaw operations that required careful planning and consistent decision making. He monitored financial performance, developed policies that streamlined operations, and managed teams through the everyday realities of work. His role demanded discipline, clarity, and a calm approach to problem solving. He supported both staff and customers, ensuring that the business met its goals while staying grounded in practical realities. This kind of experience is valuable in a hackathon setting, where ideas often sound promising on paper but need to stand up against questions of feasibility, sustainability, and real world constraints.
Before moving into senior management roles, he built a strong foundation in purchasing, inventory, and store management. These earlier experiences sharpened his appreciation for cost control, vendor negotiation, stock management, and value optimisation. He learned how money, materials, and people connect in everyday business environments. This background becomes especially important when evaluating innovation projects that claim to improve processes or reduce operational waste. He understands what efficiency looks like, not from theory but from years of hands on work.
Alongside his operational strengths, Mr Ukara has a clear data focused side that strengthens his ability to interpret and evaluate ideas with logic. His work as a Data Analyst at High Impact Careers exposed him to Business Intelligence tools, dashboard design, customer journey research, and detailed data modelling. He worked with Excel, Power BI, and SQL to clean data, identify patterns, and extract insights that support decision making. His ability to interpret data and communicate insights in simple language is a major advantage in a judging environment. Hackathon teams often present ideas backed by numbers, assumptions, or projections. He is equipped to look beyond the enthusiasm of a pitch and examine whether the underlying data tells a consistent, credible story.
His data strengths are not limited to tools. They extend to how he thinks. He pays attention to information integrity, clarity of logic, and how data connects to real decisions. This aligns strongly with the type of evaluation expected in the Data Analytics and Decision Support Solutions category of the hackathon. He will be able to assess whether a proposed solution can genuinely help business leaders see clearer, decide faster, or track performance more effectively.
Customer experience and service management also form a significant part of his professional identity. Across his roles in operations and administration, he has consistently engaged with users, clients, and staff. He understands how expectations are shaped, how problems escalate when support systems fail, and how service delivery affects customer satisfaction. These insights will guide his work in the Customer Experience and Service Management category, where innovation must be practical, intuitive, and responsive to real needs. He is the kind of judge who looks beyond surface level features and asks how a solution will serve users over time.
Beyond his corporate experience, Mr Ukara has been involved in volunteering, peer education, fundraising, and community focused work. These roles reveal his commitment to service and personal responsibility. He has served as a volunteer peer educator, taken fundraising leadership positions, and contributed to committees that support community projects. These experiences matter because hackathons often involve guiding participants, offering feedback, and modelling integrity. His background reflects someone who values respect, fairness, and constructive engagement.
His appointment as a judge is centred around three judging categories, each aligned with his strengths.
First is Business Operations and Process Innovation. With years of managing workflows, developing policies, and improving internal processes, he brings deep insight into what makes an organisation efficient. He understands how ideas translate into real procedures, how bottlenecks emerge, and how solutions can reduce friction. Participants presenting operational tools can expect firm but fair evaluation based on real world expectations.
Second is Data Analytics and Decision Support Solutions. His experience with dashboards, data quality, market analysis, and business reporting gives him the ability to evaluate solutions that rely on data. He will look for clarity, logical structure, and reliable data foundations. He understands that successful decision support tools must be meaningful and easy to use.
Third is Customer Experience and Service Management. His background interacting with customers and managing service environments positions him to judge how well solutions support users. He will pay attention to practicality, accessibility, and the long term impact on customer satisfaction.
For participants, having a judge like Mr Ukara on the panel means facing someone who listens carefully, asks precise questions, and values ideas backed by evidence. His evaluations will focus on clarity, practicality, and the ability to scale. He will encourage teams to think about the full lifecycle of their solutions, not just the prototype stage.
As Bridge Africa Technologies prepares for another inspiring edition of the BAT Hackathon, the presence of professionals like Mr Ndukwe Victor Ukara strengthens the ecosystem. His mix of operational experience, data thinking, and human centred leadership reflects the core values of the hackathon. We look forward to the insights he will bring and the teams he will help shape.
Bridge Africa Technologies welcomes him to the BAT Hackathon 2023 judging panel and looks ahead to a vibrant showcase of innovation driven by discipline, creativity, and real world understanding.