ABOUT
Akintunde Idowu
Technology lawyer working across AI governance, data protection and digital regulation.
About
I am Akintunde Opeyemi Idowu, a Nigerian-qualified technology lawyer, researcher and product founder working across AI governance, data protection, technology contracts, legal operations and digital regulation.
I serve as Legal Counsel and Legal Team Lead at Data Scientists Network Foundation, where I also lead the AI + Law Portfolio for EqualyzAI. My work involves translating legal and regulatory questions into practical decisions for products, research, contracts and organisational governance.
Much of that work sits where legal rules have to become practical decisions. What data may a system use? What authority should an AI agent have? When must a person intervene? What evidence should be retained? What should an organisation require from a supplier before relying on its system?
Those questions matter because legal compliance cannot be separated from how a system is actually designed and operated. A privacy notice cannot repair an unsuitable data source. A broad contractual warranty cannot replace proper evaluation. Human oversight has little value if the person responsible for reviewing a decision cannot see the information needed to question it.
That is the part of technology law that interests me most.
Practice and Perspective
My work is shaped by a practical view of regulation. A legal rule may travel easily across borders; the conditions needed to make it work often do not.
Infrastructure, language, institutional capacity, procurement choices, access to technical expertise and the ability of an affected person to challenge a decision can all change what a governance framework means in practice.
That is particularly important in African technology policy. International regulation provides useful lessons, but African institutions should not be limited to importing rules developed for different markets and administrative systems. I am interested in how Nigeria and other African countries can develop the legal, technical and institutional capacity to govern technology on their own terms while remaining engaged with developments elsewhere.
My current interests include AI governance and accountability, agentic AI, automated decision-making, data protection, digital sovereignty and the evidence organisations should be able to produce when technology affects people.
I write about these questions through my essays and research, including The Law Before the Model, a developing series on the legal and institutional choices made before AI systems reach their users.
Qualifications and Wider Work
I hold an LLM in Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law from Trinity College Dublin. My postgraduate research examined bring-your-own-device practices and data security in Nigeria.
I was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2021 after completing the Nigerian Law School programme, and I hold an LLB from Obafemi Awolowo University.
I am also a PMI Agile Certified Practitioner. My professional affiliations include the Nigerian Bar Association, the International Association of Privacy Professionals and the Project Management Institute.
Alongside legal practice, I build learning platforms and professional tools. I founded Tend, ATTP Global, AIGP Quiz Master, the CIPP/E Study Workspace and PMI-ACP Quiz Master. I co-founded FE-1 Made Simple and its Notes Shop.
My Christian faith is an important part of how I understand leadership, service and responsibility. I am involved in studying and sharing the Word of God, mentoring others and helping people recognise and develop their potential.