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Articles by Mbugua
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Mbugua Njihia shared thisOpenAI ChatGPT Surpasses $1 Billion in Annualized Ads Revenue. #OpenAI began testing ads inside #ChatGPT in February, introduced an ads manager in March, and integrated with AppsFlyer in August. The company now sees more than 1 billion weekly active users, 20% of whom show “commercial intent,” according to Colin Fleming, who joined the artificial intelligence firm in May as its chief marketing officer. Its aggressive advertising build-out comes as the AI lab attempts to supplement subscription revenue, with losses continuing to outpace its gains. The company made nearly $10 billion in revenue in 2025, but its operating losses hit nearly $21 billion thanks to soaring compute costs. The concerted effort to stand up an advertising business serves as a key point of differentiation between OpenAI and its rival, Anthropic, which is also hurtling toward a debut on the public markets in the coming months. Anthopric has vowed never to bring advertising into its ecosystem, instead focusing its commercial strategy on serving the needs of enterprise clients that buy usage-based tokens.
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Mbugua Njihia reposted thisThis period marked the beginning of our ASCEND strategy; 2026-2030 through which we are strengthening our customer obsession, elevating our focus on execution excellence and Innovation. The various solutions we have launched in the first half of the year across the Group demonstrates that this strategy is already being translated into action for our customers and communities. #HY2026 results briefing #ASCENDMbugua Njihia reposted thisPress Release: Britam half-year pre-tax profit up 52% on strong underwriting and investment income performance.Britam half-year pre-tax profit up 52% on strong underwriting and investment income performanceBritam half-year pre-tax profit up 52% on strong underwriting and investment income performance
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Mbugua Njihia reposted thisMbugua Njihia reposted thisThe most interesting shift in payments today is not technological, it's behavioural. Kenyan customers are more connected, more mobile and more intentional about how they spend, save and travel. As digital banking becomes the norm, the real challenge is how we create real value around them. That's why this partnership between Kenya Airways, Absa Bank Kenya and Visa matters. Customers don't experience life through industry silos... they expect banking, payments, rewards and travel to work together seamlessly. The institutions that win will be those that combine capabilities to solve real customer needs and deliver outcomes, not just products. The Asante Global Credit Card is a reflection of that evolution to create a more connected, rewarding experience for customers who increasingly live and operate without borders. The future of consumer financial services will belong to organisations that understand that customers are looking for smarter ways to achieve their ambitions. #YourStoryMatters Absa Bank Kenya Absa Group
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Mbugua Njihia reposted thisWhat an incredible evening as we officially launched the Asante Global Card, Africa’s most awaited travel-lifestyle credit card, a partnership between Visa, Kenya Airways and Absa Bank Kenya. This partnership reimagines what travel and spending can look like for everyone - whether spending at home with your Asante card or abroad. It was a privilege to join Dr. George I. Kamal and Yusuf Omari and their teams on stage to bring this moment to life, a launch that marks a significant step forward for Kenya's financial and travel ecosystem. The Asante Global Card is built around a simple idea: that every transaction should bring you closer to the places and experiences you want to be part of. Every KES 100 spent on your shopping at any merchant outlet earns an Asante Rewards Point, redeemable for flights on Kenya Airways. 10,000 points is enough for a one-way ticket from Nairobi to Mombasa or Kisumu. Customers who sign up for the Signature Asante card will get welcome bonus points on sign-up, access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide, complimentary international travel insurance, and an interest-free period of 50 days, alongside all the global acceptance and security you'd expect from a Visa card. Under the theme "Your Life Rewarded," we've built a card that gives everyday spending real purpose. None of this would have been possible without the vision and hard work of teams across Visa, Kenya Airways and Absa. Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate this new chapter. The Asante Global Card is now open for applications at asante.kenya-airways.com. #Visa #AsanteGlobalCard #YourLifeRewarded #KenyaAirways #AbsaKenya #DigitalPayments #Kenya
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Mbugua Njihia reposted thisMbugua Njihia reposted thisEND OF AN ERA, A NEW CHAPTER BEGINS! Betty Wamaitha · Chief Marketing Officer, Quickmart Limited · October 2015 to August 2026 In October 2015 I joined Quickmart as a marketing consultant, At the time we had 4 branches, 100 people, and a name that travelled about as far as our hometown. This August I close that chapter. …72 branches. Over 8,000 employees. More than 600 suppliers. A turnover past KES 50 billion. Kenya's second-largest retailer by footprint, turnover, and by the measure I am proudest of, its place in Kenyan homes. Eleven years. Nearly 7,900 jobs created. An average of six new stores every year, built through a merger, a pandemic, punishing inflation and a highly volatile and competitive retail landscape,The brand did not merely survive all that It grew louder, clearer and better loved. None of it was one person's work. To the founders and directors who trusted a marketing vision and backed it. To my team, who turned strategy into shelf, screen and street. To every branch manager, cashier, butcher, merchandiser and driver who made the promise true , I thank you. You built this. I got to tell the story. #Quickmart #Retail #Marketing #Kenya #Leadership #NewBeginings Quickmart Supermarket Kenya , AS YOU TURN 20 Congratulations. From the hometown of Nakuru to a national institution in two decades is a Kenyan business story worth celebrating. May the next twenty years bring greater reach, deeper loyalty and continued success in serving Kenyan homes. I leave full of gratitude, and looking forward to what comes next.
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Mbugua Njihia reposted thisMbugua Njihia reposted thisAs AI transforms publishing and advertising, the goal isn’t just automating today’s workflows — it’s reimagining what’s possible for the future of monetization. Looking back at #CannesLions2026, Scott Sheffer, VP of Global Partnerships, Sellside Monetization, shared how publishers can embrace agentic AI to drive faster decisions and build for what’s ahead. Here are his top takeaways ⬇️ 🎥 ADWEEK: https://goo.gle/4fTWByB
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Mbugua Njihia reposted thisMbugua Njihia reposted thisDigital banks stopped asking how much you earn. They started asking what you need. For years, banks segmented customers mainly by income and wealth. Mass, mass affluent, affluent, HNWI. Then they built products for each segment and tried to sell them. Digital banks approached it differently. They looked for needs that cut across those income brackets and built products around them: - International travelers needed multi-currency accounts, better FX rates, international cards, travel insurance, eSIMs and airport lounges. -Young investors needed access to investments products with low fees and multiple asset classes. - Freelancers needed to manage irregular income and separate personal and business finances while being able to have multi-currency accounts, send invoices and pay by link. - Couples needed joint accounts and shared savings to pay the monthly bills and plan for the big purchases. - Parents needed junior accounts and ways to introduce their children to money, in a safe way while being able to set up a chores and pay pocket money. - Small business owners needed banking that worked alongside their personal finances. These segments weren't mutually exclusive. The same customer could be an investor, a traveller, a freelancer and part of a couple. Their children could sit inside the same financial relationship through junior accounts. That created something traditional banking rarely offered: one app that could manage more of the financial life of an individual or an entire household. The advantage wasn't having more products. It was connecting products to real needs, then making them simple enough to use together. Slowly, then suddenly, millions of people had a reason to use a digital bank. Most banks were still selling products. Digital banks were solving problems. That is the #DigitalExecutionGap, where I write about the gap between what banks want to build and what customers actually need and experience. Follow me for more on digital banking, product strategy and execution. #DigitalBanking #CustomerExperience #ProductStrategy #DigitalTransformation #Banking
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Mbugua Njihia liked thisMbugua Njihia liked thisWe recently had the opportunity to visit Global Tilapia and get a closer look at the journey behind the product. From harvesting (production) and handling to processing, packaging and the standards that ensure quality reaches the consumer. One of our biggest takeaways? Hygiene isn’t just a requirement, it’s an integral part of the entire process. From how the fish is handled to the cleanliness of the processing environment and the systems in place to maintain food safety, every step matters. It was a valuable reminder that delivering a great product goes far beyond what the customer sees on the shelf. It starts much earlier, with the processes and people behind it. The visit also gave us a deeper appreciation for the work that goes into building a reliable food supply chain, particularly when quality, freshness and consumer trust are non-negotiable. And perhaps the most exciting part? This may not be the last you see of Global Tilapia. We are exploring what it could look like to bring their products onto GoBEBA, making quality fish more accessible and convenient for our customers. For us, onboarding a brand isn’t simply about adding another product to the platform. It’s about understanding the people, processes and standards behind that product and ensuring they align with the experience we want to deliver. More to come. #GoBEBA Camino Ruiz Agencies- Global Tilapia Limited #QuickCommerce #FoodSupplyChain #BehindTheScenes #ComingSoon Peter Ndiang'ui Minny Njeru Gladys Wambura LILIAN WESONGA Lucy Mwangi Faith Gachucha Felix Amwom Rajan Okita
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Mbugua Njihia reacted on thisMbugua Njihia reacted on thisThere's a way to make real money on a TV show that almost nobody in this industry talks about. It isn't a streaming deal. Everyone chases the shiny object of the big platform, the announcement, the name. And when it lands it can be great. But you might get it and you might not, you do your own marketing to earn it back, and even when you win, you usually don't own the thing you made. Here's the boring money nobody posts about. Between 500 and 800 commercial broadcasters across Africa buy content by the episode, right now, to fill schedules that run 24 hours a day. The fee is agreed before you shoot and paid on delivery. You know the number going in. Because it's unglamorous, almost no one is doing it at volume. The supply sits wide open. We ran the whole path with Stay, Kenya's first comedy-drama ~ licensed across 30-plus channels, dubbed into French, still earning from new licenses a decade after we shot it, and 100% still ours. One show, produced once in shillings, still paying in dollars years later. That's the model. Turkish television quietly turned this exact playbook into a billion-dollar-a-year export across 170 countries. Cheap to produce, sold by the episode, owned at the source. The least glamorous model on earth, and one of the most profitable. The shiny thing gets the attention. The boring thing gets the money. NorthSouth Media
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Mbugua Njihia reacted on thisMbugua Njihia reacted on thisThis is WILD -- a major milestone in AI video unlocked, Video can now be generated faster than watched. @rehan_shei built an infinite Twitch livestream dubbed intergalactic cable, running an infinite loop of Rick and Morty skits. Running on MiniMax H3, post-trained by fal, to create 15 seconds of video, generated in 9 seconds -- this creates an opportunity to create an endless stream of video curated by it's viewers. This implies the next step in AI media evolution, which is real-time and interactive. You can now literally stream movies -- generated as you go along. Or connect it to a neural band or HRV ring to steer video gen based on your emotions, or other interesting interfacing options. It costs $0.04/second at 1344×768 at 24fps, or a $2.40/minute to run, and users are already creating live-streams guided by the chat. This is wild. Credits fal.ai/minimax-h3-max Dropping links to comments. rehan_shei on X
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Mbugua Njihia liked thisThis period marked the beginning of our ASCEND strategy; 2026-2030 through which we are strengthening our customer obsession, elevating our focus on execution excellence and Innovation. The various solutions we have launched in the first half of the year across the Group demonstrates that this strategy is already being translated into action for our customers and communities. #HY2026 results briefing #ASCENDMbugua Njihia liked thisPress Release: Britam half-year pre-tax profit up 52% on strong underwriting and investment income performance.Britam half-year pre-tax profit up 52% on strong underwriting and investment income performanceBritam half-year pre-tax profit up 52% on strong underwriting and investment income performance
Experience & Education
Volunteer Experience
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National ICT Caucus Member ~ ICT Human Capital and Workforce
ICT Authority
- Present 11 years 5 months
Economic Empowerment
As a member of the caucus, I play a thought leadership role through the design, updating and implementation of the National ICT Master Plan while also assessing its effectiveness through tracking, monitoring and evaluation; providing guidance on the ongoing or planned programmes/projects to ensure alignment with the priorities of the plan and industry trends.
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Mentor, Google Launchpad Startup Program
Google
- Present 9 years 11 months
Economic Empowerment
The Google Launchpad Startup Program seeks to provide startups with the in-person mentorship they need to build technically solid products and scalable businesses. For this to achieve this, Google are building a Global Mentor Network and inviting select local ecosystem influencers e.g. investors, experienced tech founders and technologists willing to volunteer their time to be part of this network. As part of this program, startups receive...Equity-free support, Access to Google engineers…
The Google Launchpad Startup Program seeks to provide startups with the in-person mentorship they need to build technically solid products and scalable businesses. For this to achieve this, Google are building a Global Mentor Network and inviting select local ecosystem influencers e.g. investors, experienced tech founders and technologists willing to volunteer their time to be part of this network. As part of this program, startups receive...Equity-free support, Access to Google engineers, resources and mentors , opportunities to work closely with Google for 6 months, Credits for Google products plus PR training and global media opportunities. Passionate about seeing Africa and other emerging markets become a net producers of value, I am giving my time and experience to help budding technology entrepreneurs figure it out faster.
Publications
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Technology in Africa - 2014 Digest
iafrikan.com
Africa Rising is the phrase we have become used to and sometimes use carelessly in a bid to portray a progressive image of our continent despite some of its shortcomings.Although the past few decades have seen an increase in the fortunes of the continent, there are certain things that need to happen in order for Africa to Rise. One of the key factors that will play a role in the economic growth, skills growth and life improvement of Africa and Africans is Technology in the form of Information…
Africa Rising is the phrase we have become used to and sometimes use carelessly in a bid to portray a progressive image of our continent despite some of its shortcomings.Although the past few decades have seen an increase in the fortunes of the continent, there are certain things that need to happen in order for Africa to Rise. One of the key factors that will play a role in the economic growth, skills growth and life improvement of Africa and Africans is Technology in the form of Information and Communications Technology.
This year’s Technology in Africa–Digest sees professionals and thought leaders in the technology industry offer their insights into the problems facing the continent and also offer solutions, some of which they are already working on. We hope you find this eBook useful.Other authorsSee publication -
State of the Ministries - taking government services mobile
Symbiotic
This research for this report was carried out between February 2011 and June 2011, with field research conducted at 4 out of a target 6 key government ministries. The participating ministries were; Ministry of Health, Ministry of State for Immigration and Registration of Persons,
Ministry of Education and the State Law Office.
Many thanks to Public Sector Transformation Department under the leadership of Mr. Emmanuel Lubembe, who provided a team of two staff – Ms. Wanjiku Wainaina and…This research for this report was carried out between February 2011 and June 2011, with field research conducted at 4 out of a target 6 key government ministries. The participating ministries were; Ministry of Health, Ministry of State for Immigration and Registration of Persons,
Ministry of Education and the State Law Office.
Many thanks to Public Sector Transformation Department under the leadership of Mr. Emmanuel Lubembe, who provided a team of two staff – Ms. Wanjiku Wainaina and Mr. Ronald Enyakasi who assisted greatly in facilitating the introductory meetings at the various ministries, as well as providing logistical support.
The Permanent Secretaries at the participating ministries must be thanked for marshaling their teams for meetings and discussions where information was shared openly. The energy and vigor was evident at each of the meetings.
Thanks to the various heads of department and implementation champions many of whom availed themselves on short notice and actively participated in the research process,as well as those who gave valuable feedback and comments on the draft report.
• Mrs. Winnie Maktosi, Deputy Secretary – Ministry of Immigration and Registration of Persons
• Amb. Felistas V. Khayumbi, Director of Administration - Ministry of Medical Service
• Mr. P.C. Yator, Deputy Director Primary Education – Ministry of Education
• Mr. Patrick Njoroge, Head of ICT – State Law Office
Projects
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Gruppo Health
- Present
A healthcare delivery platform aligned to Kenya's National Health Masterplan designed to transform the reach, scale, & quality of healthcare by improving a facility's system wide performance with a patient centered approach hence helping the organisation to advance care and operate more efficiently. GruppoHealth complies with the Electronic Medical Records guidelines of the GoK and is also in line with the 70-module IBM-KNH ICT Masterplan that will form the template for the envisioned Health…
A healthcare delivery platform aligned to Kenya's National Health Masterplan designed to transform the reach, scale, & quality of healthcare by improving a facility's system wide performance with a patient centered approach hence helping the organisation to advance care and operate more efficiently. GruppoHealth complies with the Electronic Medical Records guidelines of the GoK and is also in line with the 70-module IBM-KNH ICT Masterplan that will form the template for the envisioned Health Information Exchange in Kenya.
Other creators -
Sure
A different take on insurance leveraging big data.
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Blackbox
- Present
Turnkey Value Added Services platform that incorporates SMS, USSD and Voice riding off scalable cloud infrastructure ( with multiple redundancy ) integrating seamlessly with Huawei and IBM service delivery platforms for Africa and other emerging markets.
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Countellect
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A platform that brings intelligence back to governance in a new political dispensation in Kenya providing a 47 county intelligence dashboard to guide decision making and power what I call "collaborative government"
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PashaHabari
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An adaptaive, self sustaining citizen journalism platform.
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Zuru
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Languages
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Kiswahili
Native or bilingual proficiency
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English
Native or bilingual proficiency
Organizations
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Mobile Marketing Association - MMA East Africa
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