Having studied zoology at the University of Ibadan, Richard Perebonilado Eradiri took a detour into software development after a bad experience with a developer made him shut down a product idea he had raised $8000 for.
Now Eradiri is the Co-founder and CEO of AI Examiner, and has led the development of high-security applications for institutions such as Zenith Bank and First Bank.
In this edition of After Hours, Eradiri shares how he went from tinkering with scrappy tools to zoology, to music and then to accidentally building an AI learning tool.
Interactions with technology
My earliest interaction with technology was when I was around seven or eight years old. My dad bought a desktop computer, and it was the type you had to cover with a cloth after use, with a landline Internet connection. I played around with that. At some point, I started uploading videos on YouTube. That was very early in my life; I was around nine or ten years old.
During my secondary school education in Port Harcourt, our computer science class involved building simple websites. Many of my classmates didn’t take it seriously, but I did. They would actually pay me to build their assignment websites for them. So even though I studied something different later, I’d already had an early introduction to computers and the Internet.
Beyond computers, I was always interested in science generally. I loved watching the cartoon, Dexter’s Laboratory, as a kid. And so I would beg my dad to bring motor parts from mechanic shops so I could experiment. I tied nylon to action figures, trying to build makeshift parachutes. I was always curious about how things worked.
From zoology to building software for banks
I actually studied zoology, something totally unrelated to computer science and software development that I do today. But I always knew I wanted to build products.
Back in 2019, long before I had any real technical skills, I raised about $8,000 from family and friends for a product idea. I hired a full-stack developer to build it for me, and he ended up spending the money without building anything.
That experience really pushed me. So, instead of relying on someone else, I decided to learn how to build things myself. I taught myself to write code, but I didn’t immediately jump into the tech market. I took the slower route, learning the basics for about six months. Then, I secured an internship after graduating from the University in 2020, and have since grown from there.
It’s been about five years now, and I’ve had some fun experiences. One project that really stands out was working as a team lead for a Zenith Bank product. At the time, we had to build this internal Zenith withholding tax application, which is basically a tool they use to process taxes.
Last year alone, that app handled well over $1 million in processing. I loved the process because it was such a high-security application, and I got to work super closely with their security teams.
I was also part of a team building internal tools for First Bank around the same time. The company I worked for back then was actually a vendor for those big financial institutions, helping them build their internal systems and banking apps. It was a pretty intense experience, but that shaped my skills.
By the time I started AI Examiner, I had reached a point where I could build almost anything myself.
An accidental founder
AI Examiner wasn’t something I planned or sketched out. It actually happened because a friend needed help. One of my co-founders, Nengi Sagbe, was preparing for a major medical exam in 2024. She had an overwhelming amount of material to cover within a limited time, and she needed something that could help her recall everything she was studying.
When she told me about it, I told her, “You know what, I’ll build something for you over the weekend.” The idea was simple: upload her study materials and generate an unlimited number of questions she could use to test herself. So I spent that weekend building a small, simple tool, nothing fancy, and she used it. She passed the exam. And I remember thinking that this might be something interesting.
I made a short post about it on LinkedIn, and out of nowhere, a biomedical student from a school in Dubai found the tool and started using it too. Then he would message me with suggestions on features and adjustments for the platform.
It reached a point where I had to go back to my friend, who, aside from being a medical student, is also a product designer, to ask her to help me redesign it properly. We got Duke Miller on board, and together, we co-founded AI Examiner. By May 2024, we had an MVP. It wasn’t a full application, just a functional tool. By August 2024, we officially launched the platform.
The tech impact
Technology has completely changed how I communicate and stay in touch. I remember when an uncle of mine went to Russia around 2010; even speaking to him was a struggle. We used Skype, but the network was terrible. Now, there are tools that make communication easier.
Even back in secondary school, chatting on Facebook meant gathering all your friends, agreeing to meet online at a certain time, and then talking in the comment section of one person’s post. Now, my friends are all over the world, and tech is what keeps us connected. There are video calls, messages, everything.
Tech has also changed how I express myself online. These days, the Internet feels like it’s filled with everyone, including bots. There’s almost no incentive to share personal details publicly anymore. The people posting aren’t just your circle of friends; it’s the entire world. So I share less about my life and mostly post about work or business. My personal life stays personal.
And sometimes, text communication can be tricky. Tone gets lost easily. Older people sometimes may not use emojis, and their messages can sound different from what they actually intend. You sometimes even need to call to clarify what they mean.
My life now revolves around technology. I wake up on my laptop and go to sleep on it, sometimes literally. That’s why one tech product I can’t live without would be my MacBook. For apps, I would say Google. I’m tempted to say ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude, but honestly, Google is still the gateway to the Internet for me.
As a user, not even as a developer or founder, one challenge that always stands out when using any technology is pricing. Many digital products aren’t priced for the African or Nigerian market. Someone earning $5,000 a month in the U.S. won’t think twice about a $50 subscription. But for someone in Nigeria earning ₦400,000 monthly, $50 is about ₦70,000. That’s huge.
This challenge actually influenced how we priced AI Examiner. We wanted it to be inclusive for people here, considering the purchasing power and exchange rate realities.
Outside of AI Examiner, if I could build something to make my life easier, it would be a lifestyle convenience product. I already use services that pick up my laundry and handle errands, but I’d love a system that also lets me hire a chef who can come cook for me at home. It would save time and give me control over hygiene. Something that just keeps life running smoothly.
If I weren’t the founder and CEO of AI Examiner, I think I’d be doing music, at least as a hobby. Before tech, music was a big part of my life, especially during my time at university. I actually used to sing, and at one point, I put out a four-track EP titled Before Sunrise in early 2020. Somehow, it went to number one on the Nigerian iTunes chart. My co-founders still joke that it was a glitch, but I know it wasn’t. It really happened.
That phase of my life had its own charm; I didn’t stepped back from music entirely, but from the idea of “making it” as an artist. Music is capital-intensive, and so I didn’t want to pour all my resources into that chase.
The future of tech
When I think about the next five to ten years, I’m not sure the tools that will define that future even exist yet. What I do know is that the foundation, which is AI, is already here. But beyond what we have now, I believe the real shift will come from deeply personalised AI and the merging of AI with hardware.
There will be tools that know you so well they can write, respond, or make decisions exactly like you, and eventually appear as physical, robotic extensions of yourself.
We already see hints of this today. There are situations where you’ve given an AI so much context that it can fill out an application or write a summary that sounds uncannily like you. And this is still the early stage.
Ten years from now, we’re essentially looking at a version of you, like your clone, powered by AI and brought to life through hardware. I think that’s where technology is headed, and that’s what will hold the most value in the future.
