From Lagos State to the global strategy table: How Omotayo Adeoye is building resilient business systems across continents

Business Insider

09-07-2025

Omotayo Adeoye's journey spans oceans, boardrooms, and sectors, but at its core is a fierce commitment to making business strategy work for people, systems, and the planet.
Born and raised in Nigeria, and now shaping strategy at top consulting tables across North America, Europe, and Africa, Omotayo is part of a new generation of diaspora professionals transforming how we think about leadership, resilience, and long-term value. Her work sits at the intersection of finance, strategy, and systems thinking, helping organisations survive in complex environments and thrive by embracing change, clarity, and sustainability.
'We often treat resilience as a reaction. I've learned it's actually a design choice,' she says.
Omotayo's path began in the classrooms of Ogun State, Nigeria, where her natural curiosity led her to study Industrial Chemistry at Bells University of Technology. She graduated at the top of her class, but more importantly, she discovered an early fascination with how systems, chemicals, business, and humans interact.
'I loved solving complex problems, and science taught me discipline. However, I also took a final-year course on SMEs that made me curious about how businesses grow or fail. That was a turning point.'
After an initial stint in audit and financial services, where she helped review financial controls and improve transparency at major multinational clients, Omotayo transitioned into investment banking. There, she structured high-stakes deals in the energy sector, helping leadership teams align capital with long-term opportunity. But the bigger questions beckoned: How could finance shape sustainability? What would it take to build businesses that are not only profitable but also enduring?
These questions ultimately led her to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she earned her MBA, specialising in economics, strategy, behavioural science, and international business. 'Booth sharpened how I think. It taught me to look at a problem from ten different angles before deciding on the one that matters most.'
Today, Omotayo is a sought-after management consultant, working with global leadership teams to develop and execute high-impact strategies. From advising a global wealth fund on decarbonization investment targets to helping African institutions navigate macroeconomic uncertainty, she has led engagements that span strategy design, capability building, and long-term value creation.
'Consulting forces you to bring your A-game, quickly. You're often advising senior leaders who have deep experience. What earns their trust isn't jargon; it's clarity, relevance, and the courage to challenge respectfully.'
Omotayo's signature strength lies in helping clients move from insight to action. She doesn't just develop roadmaps; she builds decision frameworks that align leadership, empower teams, and embed execution discipline.
Her consulting career has taken her across diverse industries, including finance, energy, development, and retail, and into boardrooms on two continents. Along the way, she has seen firsthand how emerging economies, especially in Africa, can leapfrog if the right talent, tools, and thinking are deployed at scale.
Transitioning from Lagos to Chicago and to high-level advisory roles in the U.S. and globally hasn't always been seamless. 'Being a Black African woman in consulting comes with its layers,' she reflects. 'You're often the only one in the room with your perspective. I've learned not to shrink myself. I focus on sharpening my expertise and showing up fully prepared.'
She also credits community: 'Mentorship, shared wisdom, and simply having people who remind you who you are, it makes all the difference.' Omotayo mentors young professionals across continents, helping them navigate careers in consulting, finance, and international development.
'Immigrants carry this beautiful tension between resilience and reinvention. We know how to adapt without losing who we are.'
For Omotayo, living in the diaspora is not about distance from Africa, but depth of perspective. 'You see how systems work elsewhere, policy, accountability, capital flows, and you start to ask: How do we adapt these in a way that works for African realities?'
Omotayo is passionate about embedding resilience into businesses' operations, especially in volatile markets. 'Too often, strategy is treated like a deck instead of a discipline,' she says. 'My job is to help leaders build systems that anticipate risk, centre sustainability, and actually work.'
Her thought leadership on strategy and resilience has been published in BusinessDay and Vanguard and presented to leading global institutions. Her perspectives on what it takes to execute strategy in high-stakes, high-uncertainty environments draw from real-world practice.
She's especially proud of projects that blend purpose and precision, like helping a client launch a sustainability-focused investment fund targeting sectors traditionally left behind in the green transition.
'That was a lightbulb moment, realising that capital allocation could shape which companies survive, evolve, or fade away. Strategy isn't abstract. It shapes lives.'
When asked what excites her most about Africa's future, Omotayo doesn't hesitate to say: 'The people. The ideas. The energy. We must match those with systems, governance, capital, and talent pipelines that can hold and grow our dear continent.'
She sees the African diaspora as a key catalyst in this equation. 'We must be more than remitters of money; we must be remitters of knowledge, frameworks, and global context. The diaspora has a powerful role in reimagining what African excellence looks like at scale.'
Looking ahead, Omotayo is focused on expanding her impact through strategic advisory, cross-border collaboration, and mentorship. 'I want to help African organisations become globally competitive, not just in scale, but in resilience, ethics, and innovation.'
To young professionals, especially African women in the diaspora, Omotayo offers this: 'Own your voice. Sharpen your skills. The world needs your perspective, especially in historically excluded spaces.'
She also reminds them that there's no single path to impact. 'You can shape systems as a founder, a policymaker, a teacher, a strategist. What matters is intentionality.'