At a time when personal computers and mobile phones were still unfamiliar to many Kenyan students, Amon Ngechu chose to study computer science, a decision that would shape a career spanning software development, telecommunications and digital financial services. Today, Amon is the CTO at NCBA Loop DFS.
At the turn of the century, Amon Ngechu made a decision that would shape the rest of his life. He had never seen a laptop or held a mobile phone, and computer science was still a relatively new course. Still, something in him reached for it, even without a clear sense of where it would lead.
His leap of faith paid off as he enjoyed his time at the University of Nairobi. Shortly after graduation, Amon secured a role in the non-profit sector as a developer.
“I was a developer in everything,” he recalls with an easy chuckle. “There were no smartphones, so there was no app development back then.”
His stint in the non-profit space was brief, as the telecommunications sector quickly came calling with a senior systems analyst role at Telkom Kenya. That move marked the beginning of a two-decade career in telecoms.
Throughout his journey, Amon has accumulated numerous milestones. While working at Safaricom Kenya, for instance, he spearheaded a critical project that saw Mpesa Africa adopt a system capable of boosting daily transactions from about 200 to 1,000 transactions per second.
Scaling fintech and digital banking
Despite those achievements, the true highlight of his career came with his move into the digital banking space at NCBA.
“I really enjoy the work I've done at NCBA managing digital wallets. I love where the future is heading, especially the possibilities of expanding financial inclusion into broader markets beyond Kenya. Other markets are still a bit behind. You don't find everyone with a bank account or a digital wallet like you do in Kenya, where everyone uses mobile money.”
At NCBA, Amon oversees the technical backbone of both the NCBA Loop and mobile lending platforms, ensuring they run seamlessly across six countries.
“I run the entire tech ecosystem, right from core infrastructure and application development to support channels like USSD,” he explains.
Amon’s career, however, has not been without its tense moments.
“I once upgraded a mobile money platform right before the December holidays, only to be called back to work because things were failing constantly. I got a lot of support, including from my boss, the CTO, who came in to help resolve it. Within two weeks everything was working better than we expected.”
While he admits feeling guilty about the glitch at the time, he no longer views the event as a low point, but rather as an essential lesson in resilient engineering.
Embracing AI
As a forward-thinking tech leader, Amon is aware of conversations surrounding artificial intelligence. He believes any future-minded leader must integrate AI into their long-term strategy.
“I have a very positive outlook on AI, and we are already using it in system development. Instead of writing every line of code manually, you can provide AI with your design principles and instructions, and it generates the baseline code for you. Previously, you needed a team of 20 people sitting together to run manual tests and verify application integrity. Now, you can feed your architectural documentation to AI, ask it to generate test cases, and execute the tests automatically.”
However, he offers a gentle word of caution regarding its risks.
“AI can empower even people with malicious intent. It needs to be demystified and properly understood so everyone learns how to use it safely.”
Life beyond code
Away from the high-stakes world of digital infrastructure, Amon’s primary focus is his family, who he is passionate about. He speaks fondly of their tradition-filled gatherings, particularly during the December holidays.
“For me, the real family moments are the December goat-eating ceremonies. I enjoy slaughtering goats with my sons, roasting the meat, and serving it to the family.”
He, however, admits that he is not much of a chef and cooking is always a collaborative effort at home. While Amon handles the grill or marinates meat to roast, his sons take charge of making the kachumbari.
When he isn't with his family carves out time for the golf course, aiming for at least one round on Saturday mornings.
Despite his long career, Amon actively avoids becoming set in his ways. To keep his mind sharp, he continuously takes technical courses and reads articles across tech forums and social media. More importantly, working alongside Gen Z engineers keeps him grounded and adaptable.
“I don’t think I can afford to be old school. I have a lot of Gen Zs on my team, and I have to think at their level. With this generation, salary alone isn't the primary motivator. They need to feel connected to you and the work. If they don't feel that connection, they won't stay.”
