R.A. AMBASU Nzoka

Eighteen years building the invisible infrastructure that keeps East African businesses moving from robotics classrooms in Nairobi to AI assistants that reply in Sheng before a host even reads the message.

View Builds Read the Story

Nairobi · Kilifi · 2006–Present

18+ Years of Experience

400K+ Travelers Served

1K+ Platforms Built (Team)

300+ Solo Builds

JavaScript· TypeScript· Python· PHP· Node.js· React· Next.js· WordPress· Webflow· GoodBarber· SQL / Databases· Conversational AI· LLMs & NLP· Meta Ads API· Google AI· Anthropic / Claude· NVIDIA Deep Learning· Oracle Cloud AI· JavaScript· TypeScript· Python· PHP· Node.js· React· Next.js· WordPress· Webflow· GoodBarber· SQL / Databases· Conversational AI· LLMs & NLP· Meta Ads API· Google AI· Anthropic / Claude· NVIDIA Deep Learning· Oracle Cloud AI·

Featured Work

Platforms that move
East Africa forward.

Nzoka AI

A booking-site and conversational AI platform for Kenya's hospitality sector. Replies in Swahili, English & Sheng. Live in 48 hours.

Node.js LLM / NLP WhatsApp API SaaS

View Build

Vamos Homes 2.0

Kenya's leading group-travel and property platform. Built from a single Nairobi apartment into a brand that has served over 400,000 travellers.

WordPress Elementor Mobile App Meta Ads

View Build

LEGO Robotics East Africa

Established LEGO Education across Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania. Introduced Mindstorms robotics to the Ministry of Education. Chaired the First LEGO League.

Robotics STEM Python Foundations

BUILD

“

The goal has always been the same make standing out online as easy and manageable as possible, so that business people can focus on their business and not the tech inside it.

Ambasu · Founder, Nzoka AI & Vamos Homes

Gallery

Frames from the journey.

The Story

From kiosk
to code.

Ambasu grew up understanding that skill is the only currency that cannot be taken away. From shelving LEGO sets in supermarkets across East Africa to chairing the First LEGO League in three countries, from a single apartment listing to 400,000 travellers, from teaching kids to wire a Mindstorms robot to a PhD in AI (ongoing) every chapter has been driven by one question: how do we make this easier for the people who need it most?

Ambasu · 10 years in Kilifi County

Career Timeline

13 2013–2014

LEGO Retail

LEGO Retail & Supermarket Operations

Started at LEGO in 2013, managing shelves and retail operations across supermarket branches in East Africa. One year of understanding physical retail, logistics, and consumer behaviour before moving into the education division.

Retail OpsEast Africa Logistics100+ Branches

10 2010–2013

Youth & Culture · Nairobi

Okoa Talanta · Youth TV Kenya · Kipaji Fiti

Founded three talent identification and development initiatives that ran from 2010 to 2016 organising television and community platforms that gave young Kenyans a stage. A founding belief: talent ignored is talent buried.

FounderTalent DevelopmentYouth TV

14 2014–2017

LEGO Education East Africa

Commercial Manager Head of LEGO Education

After a year in retail, moved into LEGO Education and established it across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Introduced LEGO Mindstorms robotics to the Ministry of Education and local schools, giving children their first hands-on encounter with logical thinking and Python-like programming. Travelled to Denmark to deepen expertise in robotics pedagogy. Chaired the First LEGO League in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

LEGO EducationRoboticsMinistry of Education, KenyaDenmark

15 Feb 2014–Present

Founder & Chairman · Vamos Homes & Tours

Building Kenya's Group Travel Category

Founded Vamos from a single Nairobi apartment listing into the platform that defined group travel in Kenya. Grew the digital audience to 400,000+ travellers. Launched the viral Girls Trips package in 2018 boat rides along the Mtwapa Creek from KES 1,499 restoring livelihoods for boat operators who were on the verge of giving up. Developed the Vamos Homes mobile app to 40,000+ downloads and oversaw digital campaigns contributing to millions of dollars in tracked hospitality revenue.

Platform Founder400K+ UsersMeta Ads · $1.5M+ Revenue TrackedMobile App · 40K Downloads

16 2016–2018

Retail · Music

Sauti Sol Merchandise Distribution East Africa

Distributed the celebrated Live and Die in Africa merchandise for Sauti Sol Africa's best music group across the entire East African region. Operated at the crossroads of culture, brand, and retail logistics.

Brand DistributionSauti SolEast Africa

24 2024–Present

Founder · Nzoka AI

AI-Powered Booking Platforms for Kenya Hospitality

After moving to the Chairman role at Vamos, launched Nzoka.com a SaaS product that builds AI-powered booking websites and conversational assistants for Kenya's hospitality businesses. The assistant replies in under 3 seconds, speaks Swahili, English and Sheng, and works 24/7. Trained on real Kenya travel conversations. One extra booking covers the monthly cost.

SaaS FounderConversational AIMultilingual NLPWhatsApp API

Community

Beyond the screen.

Ngoloko Fisherfolks, Kikambala

One of the first helpers of the Ngoloko fisherfolk community at Sultan Palace area, Kikambala a stretch of pristine beach that has since grown into a major relaxation destination along the North Coast. Community empowerment through visibility and tourism.

Sultan Palace · Kikambala · Kilifi

Marine Conservation, Kilifi County

Participated in dozens of marine conservation programmes during 10+ years of residence in Kilifi County. Protecting the ocean is not separate from growing the tourism industry it is the same work.

10 years · Kilifi County

Kenya e-Graders · Kariobangi South

Co-founded the Kenya e-Graders initiative, led by Ayub Simba and patroned by Hon. Mwenje, MP for Embakasi West. The programme redirects students who underperformed academically toward TVET, practical skills and talent development. Established a permanent office in Kariobangi South, supported over 300 youth, runs quarterly talent searches and connects students with colleges, garages and apprenticeships.

300+ Youth Supported · Kariobangi South

Girls Trips · Mtwapa Creek Revival

Launched in 2018 a travel package allowing groups of women to experience a photography boat ride along the Mtwapa Creek for as little as KES 1,499 each. The initiative brought tens of thousands of visitors from Nairobi and Uganda, made Vamos the most talked-about travel brand in the region, and directly restored the livelihoods of boat operators who had been on the brink of abandoning the business.

Mtwapa Creek · 2018–Ongoing

Technical Arsenal

The stack
behind the work.

300+ solo builds and 1,000+ with the team spanning hospitality, real estate, logistics, education, politics, music and AI built on these technologies across eighteen years of daily, billable practice.

// Languages & Runtimes

JavaScript TypeScript Python PHP Node.js SQL

// Frameworks & Libraries

React Next.js WordPress Webflow Figma GoodBarber

// AI & Machine Learning

LLMs / NLP Conversational AI Prompt Engineering Deep Learning Predictive Analytics

// Platforms & APIs

WhatsApp API Meta Ads API Google AI Anthropic Claude M-Pesa API

// Systems & Architecture

SaaS Architecture Mobile Apps Portals & Platforms Databases Cloud Infrastructure

// Growth & Marketing

Performance Marketing Conversion Funnels Audience Targeting Paid Social Digital Analytics

          Builds & Projects
        

1,000+ platforms.
One mission.

Three hundred personal builds and over a thousand with the team. Hospitality. Real estate. Logistics. Education. Political campaigns. Music. E-commerce. Every one of them built to remove tech friction from the people running real businesses.

1K+ Platforms Built

Portfolio

AI · SaaS

Nzoka AI Booking Sites & Conversational Assistants

Full SaaS platform that delivers AI-powered booking websites and WhatsApp-native conversational assistants for Kenya's hospitality businesses. Replies in Swahili, English and Sheng in under 3 seconds. Trains on real Kenya travel data. Custom pricing tiers from starter to enterprise. First demo in 24 hours, live in 48.

Node.jsPythonReactLLM / NLPWhatsApp API

Visit nzoka.com →

Travel · Platform

Vamos Homes 2.0 Kenya's Group Travel Platform

Built from scratch to a 400,000-traveller platform in 10 years. Custom-built property listing engine, integrated booking calendar, WhatsApp-native inquiry funnels, curated experience packages, mobile app at 40,000+ downloads, and Meta Ad campaigns that tracked over $1.5 million in revenue.

WordPressPHPElementorGoodBarberMeta Ads

Visit vamos.co.ke →

Education · AI Foundation

LEGO Robotics & First LEGO League East Africa

Established LEGO Education's full commercial and programme footprint across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Introduced Mindstorms and LEGO WeDo to the Ministry of Education and schools the robotic hardware and logic-block programming that forms the foundation of modern AI. Organised international and regional tournaments as Chairman of First LEGO League.

Mindstorms NXT/EV3WeDoPython FoundationsMinistry of Ed

E-Commerce · Cultural

Custom E-Commerce & Cultural Platforms

Active consulting work building e-commerce and cultural preservation platforms combining product catalogues, payment gateways (M-Pesa, Stripe), multilingual content, storytelling architecture and AI-enhanced discovery. Current active brief in this vertical.

JavaScriptNext.jsM-Pesa APITypeScriptSQL

Digital Marketing · Scale

Meta Ads Management Kenya Hospitality & Tourism

End-to-end campaign management for Kenya hospitality clients. Audience architecture, creative in Swahili/English/Sheng, pixel setup, retargeting sequences, and conversion-optimised landing pages. Directly contributed to campaigns tracking over $1.5 million USD in hospitality revenue. Trained thousands of digital marketers online.

Meta Ads ManagerPixel / Conversions APILanding PagesAnalytics

Community · Civic

Kenya e-Graders Platform & Programme Infrastructure

Co-founded and built the operational and digital infrastructure for Kenya e-Graders a TVET and talent development initiative in Kariobangi South. Office setup, youth talent database, quarterly event management, college and employer outreach systems. 300+ youth supported since founding.

Programme DesignCommunity SystemsWordPressWhatsApp Comms

Numbers

Results that matter.

400K+ Travellers Served Via Vamos Homes Kenya's most active group travel platform.

$1.5M+ Revenue Tracked Directly tracked from Meta Ads campaigns managed for Kenya hospitality clients.

40K+ App Downloads Vamos mobile app, built on GoodBarber, downloaded across East Africa.

1K+ Platforms Built Across hospitality, education, logistics, real estate, music and civic sectors.

Flagship Initiative · 2018

Girls Trips
Mtwapa Creek

In 2018, Vamos launched the Girls Trips package: a photography boat ride along the Mtwapa Creek, available to groups of women at just KES 1,499 per person. Tens of thousands of women from Nairobi and Uganda made the trip. The package made Vamos the most talked-about travel brand in Kenya and Uganda and quietly brought back the boat operators along the Creek who had nearly given up after years of dwindling bookings. Both things happened at the same time. One idea. Two communities healed.

1,499 KES entry price

10K+ Women Travelled

100% Boat Ops Recovered

“

The Creek operators were almost giving up in 2018 before the start of this project. Now the businesses are stable and the beach is alive again.

Ambasu on the Mtwapa Creek Revival

         Academic & Credentials
      

ACADEMIC

The foundation
behind the builds.

University of Nairobi · MSc Data Science · BA Economics & Tourism · PhD in AI (ongoing) · Certified by Google, NVIDIA, Oracle, Anthropic & OpenAI.

Education

2017–2020

University of Nairobi

Master of Science (MSc) · Data Science

Specialised in Machine Learning, Predictive Analytics, Data Engineering, Big Data Systems and Intelligent Automation. Applied AI and data systems for travel, hospitality and consumer engagement. Developed intelligent recommendation engines using regional behavioural datasets and built analytics systems supporting digital growth and conversion optimisation work that fed directly into the Vamos platform's growth strategy.

Machine Learning Predictive Analytics Big Data Recommendation Engines Statistical Computing

2010–2014

University of Nairobi

Bachelor of Arts · Economics & Tourism

Core areas in Economics, Tourism Management, Statistics, Research Methods and Market Analysis. Founding member of the University Tourism Trends Club. The academic grounding that made Vamos more than just a listings platform it made it a data-driven market intervention.

Economics Tourism Management Market Analysis Founding Member · Tourism Trends Club

2009–2011

IAT College Nairobi

Diploma · Information Technology

The technical seedbed. IT foundations, systems and business computing. Chairman of the IAT Business Club. The bridge between the economics mind and the developer's hands.

IT Systems Business Computing Chairman · Business Club

2022–2026 · Ongoing

University of Nairobi

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) · Artificial Intelligence & Intelligent Systems (ongoing)

Research focused on conversational AI for multilingual African communication, Large Language Models, AI systems for tourism and hospitality, cross-border East African recommendation systems, and NLP for Sheng, Swahili and English. Built multilingual AI capable of conversing naturally in all three the same system that powers Nzoka AI. Currently in final thesis stage.

LLMs NLP · Swahili · Sheng · English AI Tourism Systems Conversational AI East Africa AI Context

Certifications

Certified at the frontier.

Google

AI, Generative AI & Cloud

Multiple professional certifications across Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, AI Productivity Systems, Android Development, Google Search, Cloud AI Tools and AI-assisted development workflows.

Anthropic

Claude AI & Prompt Engineering

Advanced expertise in Claude AI systems, prompt engineering, context engineering, AI workflow design and enterprise AI deployment applied daily in Nzoka AI.

OpenAI

GPT Models & API Ecosystem

Extensive applied experience across the full OpenAI ecosystem: GPT-4, GPT-4o, Assistants API, function calling, embeddings, fine-tuning, and prompt chaining for production AI systems serving East African businesses.

Oracle

AI Foundations & Cloud AI Services

Oracle AI certification tracks covering AI Foundations, Generative AI, Cloud AI Services, Data Infrastructure and Enterprise AI Systems.

Anthropic

Claude AI & Prompt Engineering

Advanced expertise in Claude AI systems, prompt engineering, context engineering, AI workflow design and enterprise AI deployment applied daily in Nzoka AI.

Meta / Facebook

Meta Ads & Growth Certification

Certified across the full Meta advertising ecosystem: Ads Manager, Conversion Optimisation, Paid Social Strategy, Audience Systems, Performance Marketing and Campaign Scaling.

Equity Bank · Mastercard Foundation

Youth Entrepreneur East Africa

Selected as a youth entrepreneur representative from a humble background by Equity Bank and Mastercard Foundation (2012). Featured in an inspirational video campaign displayed across Equity Bank branches throughout East Africa for approximately one year.

Milestones

18 years.
Every year counted.

2009

First Supermarket · LEGO Retail East Africa

Started managing LEGO shelves across East Africa the first lesson in how physical presence drives consumer behaviour and brand trust.

2012

Equity Bank / Mastercard Foundation · Youth Leader

Selected from a humble background as a youth entrepreneur inspiration. Featured across Equity Bank branches in East Africa for one year a story of what is possible when opportunity meets work ethic.

2014

LEGO Robotics · Ministry of Education, Kenya

Introduced LEGO Mindstorms and WeDo robotics to Kenyan schools through the Ministry of Education giving children their first encounter with the hardware that AI would later grow from.

2015

First LEGO League Chairman · Kenya · Uganda · Tanzania

Chaired and organised the First LEGO League competitions across three countries. Travelled to Denmark for deep robotics pedagogy training. Built the regional community of student innovators and coaches.

2018

Girls Trips · Mtwapa Creek Revival

Launched the Girls Trips package at KES 1,499 filled the Creek with visitors, made Vamos a cultural phenomenon and restored livelihoods for boat operators who were days from giving up.

2024

Nzoka AI · SaaS Launch

Launched nzoka.com a multilingual AI platform for Kenya hospitality, delivering booking sites and AI assistants that reply in Swahili, English and Sheng before a host can reach their phone.

R.A. AMBASU Nzoka

Platforms that move
East Africa forward.

Nzoka AI

Vamos Homes 2.0

LEGO Robotics East Africa

Frames from the journey.

From kiosk
to code.

Beyond the screen.

The stack
behind the work.

1,000+ platforms.
One mission.

Results that matter.

Girls Trips
Mtwapa Creek

The foundation
behind the builds.

Certified at the frontier.

18 years.
Every year counted.

Let's build
something
real.

Send a brief.

R.A. AMBASU Nzoka

Platforms that moveEast Africa forward.

Nzoka AI

Vamos Homes 2.0

LEGO Robotics East Africa

Frames from the journey.

From kioskto code.

Beyond the screen.

The stackbehind the work.

1,000+ platforms.One mission.

Results that matter.

Girls Trips Mtwapa Creek

The foundationbehind the builds.

Certified at the frontier.

18 years.Every year counted.

Let's buildsomethingreal.

Send a brief.

Platforms that move
East Africa forward.

From kiosk
to code.

The stack
behind the work.

1,000+ platforms.
One mission.

Girls Trips
Mtwapa Creek

The foundation
behind the builds.

18 years.
Every year counted.

Let's build
something
real.