Tony Munene Kinyua is a passionate software engineer and fintech enthusiast, completing his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Economics from Yale University. His academic journey has been marked by a strong focus on data structures, algorithms, and econometrics, complemented by his role as a Tsai CITY Summer Fellow and TAMID Scholar. Tony’s interest in fintech solutions for small and medium-scale businesses in sub-Saharan Africa drives his professional and academic pursuits.

Currently, Tony is working on his senior project, developing a reinforcement learning agent using Partially Observable Markov’s Decision Process (POMDP) to optimize Fantasy Premier League team selections, showcasing his passion for artificial intelligence and game theory. His professional experience includes a software engineering internship at Meta, where he designed and created a data pipeline for retrieving and storing merchant reviews from the Shopify App Store, significantly improving Meta’s Shopify app rating. After graduation, he will return to Meta’s Seattle office as a full-time software engineer. At the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale, Tony developed user interfaces for AI-powered tools, achieving over 1,000 users within the first week of release.

In addition to his technical expertise, Tony actively participates in the Yale Men’s Rugby team and enjoys playing pickup football. His volunteer efforts include leading the Student Technology Collaborative at Yale, where he manages a team of 20 technicians to ensure the smooth operation of campus IT services. Tony’s commitment to innovation, along with his technical skills and leadership experience, makes him a valuable contributor to the fintech and AI landscape in East Africa.