Growth That Thinks: How Abdulazeez Baruwa is Scaling Fintech with Built-In Intelligence

By Rebecca Ejifoma

In an industry obsessed with speed and scale, Abdulazeez Baruwa stands out for doing something radical: scaling with intention. As a leading voice in Africa’s digital finance revolution, the Senior Product Manager at Polaris Bank isn’t just building digital banking products, he’s rethinking what smart growth actually means in fintech.
“You don’t scale by adding features,” Baruwa often says. “You scale by listening, then building for what actually works.”

It’s a mindset that has guided his work in launching and expanding some of Nigeria’s most user-centric digital banking tools. Under Baruwa’s leadership, Polaris Bank’s digital platforms have become models for intelligent, responsive design, where growth is driven by insight, not impulse.

At Polaris, Baruwa led cross-functional teams to develop digital cards that could be requested with a single tap, loan products that felt secure and personalized, and user support flows that required no explanation. But beyond these features was something more transformative: machine learning systems that evolved alongside user behavior.

Rather than using AI as a buzzword, Baruwa’s teams deployed it quietly but effectively to build adaptive digital experiences. As users interacted with products, the systems learned. As patterns shifted, the platform adapted. This was fintech with a feedback loop constantly improving, constantly optimizing.

Colleagues describe Baruwa’s leadership style as clear, collaborative, and deeply strategic. Developers, designers, compliance officers, even marketing teams, moved in lockstep under his guidance.
“The best digital products feel like they’re one step ahead,” Baruwa explains. “But that only happens when every layer of the team is aligned behind a mission.”

He achieved that alignment through structured KPIs, agile planning sprints, and regular feedback cycles creating a product environment where innovation could thrive without chaos.

Industry insiders have taken notice. In 2022, Baruwa was recognized by several Nigerian fintech associations for his leadership in scaling secure, inclusive, and intelligent banking solutions. His work has not only impacted thousands of users across Nigeria, but also contributed to a broader shift in how African fintech firms think about scale not just as a numbers game, but as a systems design challenge.

As the global fintech sector matures, voices like Baruwa’s are helping shape its next phase. His approach user-centered, AI-informed, and operations-driven, offers a roadmap for building financial tools that are not only scalable but sustainable.

With international markets eyeing Africa’s digital finance ecosystem for innovation and investment, Baruwa’s model of “smart growth” may soon become the standard, not the exception.