Dr. Thierry Wandji

Dr. Thierry Wandji is President and Chief Executive Officer of Cybastion, a U.S. tech leader delivering digital, infrastructure, and cybersecurity solutions to accelerate Africa's digital transformation. Since co-founding the company in 2019, Dr. Wandji has led Cybastion's rapid expansion into more than 10 African countries and overseen large-scale digital transformation initiatives across Central and West Africa.

Drawing on a combination of global technology expertise and deep understanding of African markets, Dr. Wandji has advised more than a dozen African heads of state and governments on cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, and digital transformation strategies.

With more than 15 years of academic research and teaching experience in the defense and intelligence fields, he is recognized as a leading expert in developing solutions for cybersecurity and intelligence professionals. Under his leadership, Cybastion helped establish the first national cybersecurity agencies in Burkina Faso and Benin and is advancing national data center projects that strengthen digital sovereignty across the continent.

A champion of local capacity building and digital workforce development, Dr. Wandji co-founded Cybastion's philanthropic arm, THEYA Foundation. To help address the growing demand for digital skills across Africa, Cybastion and Cisco, in partnership with African governments, launched Africa DigiEmpower, the foundation's signature training program to equip young people and women with training in high-demand fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and networking.

He is a former member of the Presidential Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA), where he advised the White House on strengthening U.S.-Africa commercial ties. He serves on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's U.S.-Africa Business Center and Cybastion is a member of the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA). Dr. Wandji holds degrees from Polytechnique Montréal, Morgan State University, the University of Maryland, and George Washington University, where he earned a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering.