Foster Awintiti Akugri is a computer scientist and process engineer by education, an entrepreneur by training, and a volunteer by passion. His 8 years of experience spans several fields including technology, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, innovation and policy design, community building, financial inclusion, business development, marketing, leadership, and more.

In 2015 he founded the Hacklab Foundation, an international nonprofit organization headquartered in Ghana with a focus on preparing the youth for future digital jobs through technology education and skills development.Hacklab has also designed and implemented hackathons across 11 countries (Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, South Africa, Cameroon, Madagascar, Uganda, Kenya, Mali, Malawi, and Ethiopia). The Foundation has directly impacted over 12,000 people.

Foster currently serves as Head of Innovation at Old Mutual Ltd working closely with other business partners and players in the ecosystem to create new business models and commercial opportunities for Old Mutual.

Prior to Old Mutual, he was the Head of Youth Banking & Stanbic Business Incubator, at Stanbic Bank Ghana, driving financial inclusion for the youth and advising startups and SMEs to become sustainable.

In 2018, Foster was the youngest participant at the World Economic Forum’s 48th Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

In 2019, he was listed among 30 under 30 Future of Ghana Pioneers, named Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leader by the Policy Center for the Global South, Morocco. He was also named amongst the Top 100 Most Influential Young Ghanaians and the Top 4 Most Influential Young Ghanaians in Science & Technology by Avance Media. He also received the President's Outstanding Youth Prize in Science and Technology by the Millennium Excellence Foundation under the patronage of HRH Otumfour Osei Tutu II.

In 2020, He was listed amongst Top 50 Young CEOs in Ghana by Avance Media, nominated for the 40 under 40 Awards in Ghana, honored by the Humanitarian Awards Ghana, and nominated for the Women’s Choice Awards.

He also serves on several boards including the Digital Foundation Africa as Chairman, Roots Digital Limited, Traverse PropTech, and SETSI Social Finance Taskforce.

He has contributed to 40+ global conferences, 20+ countries, given over 100 keynotes and is a 2x TEDX Speaker. He speaks on emerging technologies, tech public policy, corporate strategies, tech for development, financial inclusion for the youth, organization design and education.