21/10/2025
Bolaji Olatoye FIEP’s career path is anything but conventional. With almost 20 years leading multi-million-pound digital transformation programmes in banking and large enterprises, he has now channelled his expertise into a sector where technology can make a tangible difference in people’s lives.
“I’ve always been a bit of a technology evangelist,” Bolaji says, embracing his self-described identity as a “comic book geek.” He draws inspiration from characters like Tony Stark and Black Panther, whose stories demonstrate technology being used for good. “Now my geek career has turned into a bit more altruism. And it’s like, OK, how can we use technology to make a difference?”
This philosophy has driven Bolaji’s work across diverse contexts, from supporting farmers in Africa to use technology for better trading and accessing microloans, to creating digital skills programmes helping people return to work. His shift to employability came from a clear realisation: “The same tools that I was implementing for big businesses could be adapted to help frontline employability teams and job seekers, and I saw an opportunity to bridge the gap and bring real innovation to a sector that had, you know, direct impact on people’s lives.”
Altitude Employability: Building Digital Infrastructure for Impact
As Lead AI Solutions for Altitude AI Consulting, Bolaji heads Altitude Employability, a practice specifically established for the employability and skills sectors. The organisation focuses on “helping organisations in the Employability and Skills sectors to use AI and digital systems to deliver better outcomes, whether it’s reducing missed appointments, freeing up frontline advisors from admin or supporting providers to strengthen their bids and contracts with real innovation.”
Altitude operates on what Bolaji calls the “AEE framework” – Assess, Educate, and Empower. “We structure the majority of our programmes in a way where first of all we will assess, we’ll take a look and actually look under the hood,” he explains. The educate phase involves identifying opportunities, risks, and available tools, recognising that not everything requires a custom build – rather, they can help you set up an existing toolset.
The empower phase focuses on training and support plans, ensuring organisations don’t just receive technology but know how to use it effectively. “Once we’ve rolled it out, it’s working, it’s in the production environment, it’s safe, it’s secure. But also you now have the wherewithal to become sufficient in it,” Bolaji notes.
A crucial aspect often overlooked is data governance. “A key thing that people miss or are not sure about is data,” Bolaji observes. “Where’s the data going? What’s the state of your data governance and your data architecture and security?”
Discovering the IEP: From Keynote to Fellow
Bolaji’s introduction to the IEP came through an invitation to deliver the opening keynote at the 2025 IEP Summit. His presentation, “Demystifying AI: Practical Insights for the Employability Sector,” proved to be more than just a speaking engagement – it was a revelation.
“It showed me that there’s a hub already in place for people in the employability sector where best practice and fresh thinking come together,” he reflects. More personally, the experience helped him recognise his own professional identity: “I’ve been in the industry actually for about 18 to 20 years and I hadn’t even realised that a lot of what I’m doing is working towards employability outcomes.”
Subsequently becoming an IEP Fellow held deep significance for Bolaji. “It was more than just being recognised. I saw it as a commitment to contribute to the sector, hopefully at the highest level and it has meant being part of a collective of leaders who are not just reacting to change, but actively shaping the future of employability.”
He views the Fellowship as bringing both recognition and community to a sector that often operates without sufficient acknowledgment. “It’s good to just have that badge to say, you know, I’m part of something bigger,” he says, noting that frontline employability work, while mission-led, “can be a little bit thankless.”
Setting Audacious Goals
True to his nature, Bolaji doesn’t think small. Altitude has set what he calls “a big audacious goal to positively enable 100,000 employability journeys by 2028, using AI powered systems, tools and training.”
This ambitious target doesn’t mean working directly with 100,000 individuals. Rather, it recognises the multiplier effect of supporting the ecosystem. “If we’ve supported, for example, an employability frontline practitioner or an employability provider or an employability stakeholder who is also serving people. So through us supporting them, we’ve impacted the journeys of the people that they’re working with.”
Bolaji describes Altitude’s role as “an enabler of the ecosystem,” supporting existing pillars rather than creating new ones. “We’re going to almost support the entities that are supporting the people that count.”
New Content Series: AI Governance Demystified
For his Fellowship content contribution, Bolaji is developing a six to eight-part series on AI governance and employability. The content is “aimed at risk averse organisations who want to adopt AI but have concerns around data privacy, security and ethics.”
The series will take multiple formats – “short, practical and engaging. Videos, carousels and guides that members can immediately learn from.” Bolaji is particularly excited about utilising cutting-edge content production tools, including Google Veo 3 for AI-generated video content, to demonstrate practical applications.
“What I’m most excited about in this collaboration,” he says, “will be the fact that I’m going to continue to demystify AI for the sector, showing how it can be safe, ethical and genuinely helpful for both practitioners and providers.”
He hopes the content will spark ongoing conversations and forge new relationships, ultimately demonstrating how Altitude “can support the sector to continue to do good work.”
A Pivotal Moment
Reflecting on the current state of employability, Bolaji sees immense potential. “I feel like we’re at a pivotal moment for employability. If we get digital transformation right, we can create a sector that’s more resilient, more innovative and more impactful.”
His vision extends beyond job placement to sustainable futures. “We can help more people not just find jobs, but build sustainable futures. And I’m proud to be part of that initiative and proud to be within the IEP community. And I’m committed to supporting members with both thought leadership and practical tools that they can apply straight away.”
