Professional journey.
The world is becoming increasingly digital. Businesses are moving to the cloud. Governments are digitising services. Schools are embracing technology. Financial systems are becoming increasingly connected. Entrepreneurs are building digital products. And young people are entering a world where technology is no longer a separate part of life — it is becoming the infrastructure through which life, business, education and opportunity increasingly operate. But with this transformation comes a critical question: Who will secure the digital future? At The Founders' Conference 2026, we are honoured to introduce Alinase Nyirenda, a prominent Zambian cloud security engineer, cybersecurity researcher, technology entrepreneur and digital transformation advocate. Her journey represents an increasingly important reality: Africa's digital future requires African technologists, and Zambia needs people willing to build that future.
Alinase's professional journey is rooted in information and communications technology and has developed into a specialised career in cloud security and cybersecurity. She holds a Bachelor's degree in ICT Information Technology and has advanced her academic expertise through a Master of Engineering in ICT Security/Cybersecurity from the University of Zambia (UNZA). Her master's research specialised in comparative database cloud security using advanced encryption algorithms, placing her work within one of the most important areas of modern digital infrastructure. As organisations increasingly move data and services into cloud environments, questions of security, privacy, encryption and infrastructure resilience become increasingly important. The future needs people who understand not only how technology works, but also how to make it secure. Alinase is building expertise in precisely that space.
For a generation entering an increasingly connected world, cybersecurity can no longer be treated as a specialised concern belonging only to large technology companies. It affects everyone — businesses, universities, hospitals, governments, financial institutions, startups, non-profit organisations and individual users. Every digital system creates opportunities, but every digital system can also create vulnerabilities. As more organisations move to cloud infrastructure, the ability to protect data and systems becomes fundamental to digital transformation. This makes cybersecurity professionals essential to the future of the African digital economy, and Alinase's work places her at the centre of this conversation.
Cloud technology has fundamentally changed the way organisations can access computing infrastructure. Businesses no longer have to depend entirely on traditional physical infrastructure; startups can access sophisticated technological capabilities, organisations can scale digital services, teams can collaborate remotely, and new businesses can build products without having to replicate the infrastructure requirements of much larger companies. But the benefits of cloud technology come with responsibilities: security must be designed into the infrastructure, data must be protected, systems must be properly configured, risks must be understood, and organisations need people with the technical expertise to navigate these environments. This is where Alinase's specialisation becomes particularly relevant to Zambia's digital transformation.
Alinase is the Founder and CEO of AliTech Zambia, a technology company focused on helping organisations navigate secure cloud infrastructure, IT consulting and digital transformation. The company is recognised as a Google Cloud Partner, placing it within a global technology ecosystem while maintaining a distinctly local focus. She is not simply studying emerging technology — she is building a business around it. She is taking specialised technical knowledge and transforming it into services that organisations can use, helping bridge the gap between global technology capabilities and local organisational needs. In doing so, she demonstrates how technical expertise can become an entrepreneurial opportunity: technical knowledge becomes a service, a service becomes an enterprise, an enterprise becomes a platform, and a platform can create opportunities for other people.
AliTech Zambia's recognition as a Google Cloud Partner is another important dimension of the company's journey. For a Zambian technology enterprise, participation in global technology ecosystems creates opportunities for knowledge, infrastructure, standards and collaboration. It demonstrates that local technology companies can operate within global digital ecosystems while addressing problems in their own markets. The significance is larger than a partnership badge — it speaks to a broader possibility: a Zambian technology company can build expertise that is globally relevant while solving locally relevant problems. That is an important model for the next generation of African entrepreneurs.
Alinase's work extends beyond her own company. She serves as the Lead for Google Developers Group (GDG) Lusaka, through which she contributes to the coordination of technology summits, developer programmes and skills workshops. This role places her within the wider developer community and allows her to contribute to the development of technical talent. This is where her story becomes bigger than entrepreneurship: a company can create products, but a community can create an ecosystem; a founder can build a business, but a mentor can help create the next generation of founders; a technology professional can develop expertise, but sharing that expertise can multiply its impact. Through developer-community leadership, Alinase contributes to creating spaces where people can learn, connect, collaborate and explore emerging technologies.
Technology moves quickly. New platforms emerge, new programming tools appear, cloud systems evolve, cybersecurity threats change, and artificial intelligence continues to transform industries. For young developers, keeping up can be difficult — which is why community becomes critical. Developer groups, workshops, conferences and technical learning environments help bridge the gap between what people learn formally and what the industry is actually using. Through her engagement with GDG Lusaka, Alinase contributes to this culture of continuous learning, because a strong digital economy requires more than a few highly skilled individuals — it requires a critical mass of capable people.
Alinase's journey also carries particular significance in the conversation around women in technology. She serves as a global ambassador for the WomenTech Network and as a WiCyS (Women in Cybersecurity) mentor, supporting women pursuing technical and cybersecurity pathways. Technology needs diverse voices, cybersecurity needs diverse voices, entrepreneurship needs diverse voices, and digital transformation cannot reach its full potential if large sections of society are excluded from the opportunity to participate. For young women looking at technology and wondering whether there is space for them, seeing women occupy technical leadership positions can change what they believe is possible. Her example tells young women: you can build in technology, you can specialise, you can lead technical teams, you can conduct research, you can build a technology company, you can participate in global technology ecosystems, and you can do all of this while contributing to the development of your own country.
Cybersecurity is one of the fastest-evolving areas of technology. It requires analytical thinking, curiosity, technical expertise, problem solving, continuous learning, and a willingness to understand how systems can fail — and how they can be protected. Encouraging more women to enter this field is therefore not simply a question of representation; it is also an investment in the size and diversity of the cybersecurity talent pool. Through mentorship and advocacy, Alinase contributes to that wider objective.
Alinase's academic research adds another dimension to her work. Her master's research focused on comparative database cloud security using advanced encryption algorithms. This is not technology for technology's sake: as data becomes increasingly valuable, the ability to protect it becomes increasingly important. Cloud environments create enormous possibilities, but they also require thoughtful approaches to security. Research helps professionals understand those challenges at a deeper level, and when research connects with industry experience, it creates an opportunity to move knowledge from the academic environment into practical application. Her journey therefore demonstrates the value of connecting Education to Research to Technology to Enterprise to Impact — a pathway central to the kind of ecosystem The Founders' Conference seeks to promote.
Alinase's technical abilities have also received international recognition. She achieved top placement as a Cloud Track Winner in the global Huawei ICT Competition, demonstrating technical competence in a highly competitive environment. Recognition of this nature matters because it provides evidence that Zambian technical talent can compete on international platforms. It sends a message to students and young professionals: global standards are not beyond you — you can learn, you can specialise, you can compete, you can represent Zambia, and you can earn recognition based on your technical ability. She has also been nominated for the Women in Tech Global Awards, further reflecting the recognition surrounding her work in technology and digital transformation.
There is a powerful lesson in Alinase's identity as both a technical professional and an entrepreneur. The future of African technology will need people who understand both sides — people who can code and communicate, people who understand infrastructure and business, people who can research and commercialise, people who can build systems and build teams, people who can solve technical problems and identify market opportunities. Technical expertise becomes far more powerful when combined with entrepreneurial thinking, and entrepreneurial thinking becomes more powerful when grounded in real technical capability. Alinase represents this intersection.
For a student sitting in a university lecture today, Alinase's journey offers an important lesson: your degree does not have to be the end of your education — it can be the beginning. You can specialise, you can research, you can compete, you can join communities, you can mentor others, you can build a company, you can enter global ecosystems, and you can turn technical knowledge into enterprise. For aspiring founders, she demonstrates the potential of specialised knowledge entrepreneurship: you do not necessarily need to build a business around something everyone understands — you can build around something the market increasingly needs, such as cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, data or software. For young women considering technology, cybersecurity or entrepreneurship, her journey provides a powerful example that the question is not whether women belong in technology — they are already building it — but how many more young women Zambia can empower to join them.
Zambia is entering a period in which digital capabilities will increasingly influence how businesses operate, how institutions deliver services and how young people access opportunities. But digital transformation cannot happen through consumption alone. We need people who can build, secure, research, teach, innovate, translate technology into products and services, and build communities that help technical talent grow. Alinase Nyirenda's work touches each of these areas. Her journey represents a pathway every student should be encouraged to consider: Learn. Specialise. Research. Build. Connect. Lead. Mentor. Create value.
On 25 September 2026, at the Multipurpose Hall (MPH), Mulungushi University, Kabwe, The Forge will bring together students, founders, entrepreneurs, innovators, industry leaders and young people determined to understand and shape the opportunities of the future. Among those voices will be Alinase Nyirenda — a cloud security engineer, a cybersecurity researcher, a technology entrepreneur, a founder, a developer-community leader, a mentor, a woman in technology, a digital transformation advocate, and a Zambian building within one of the most important technological frontiers of our generation. Her presence at TFC26 represents something bigger than a technology talk: it is an invitation to young people to understand that the digital economy is not happening somewhere else — it is being built now, and they can be part of it. The future needs people who can secure it, people who can understand the cloud, people who can protect data, people who can build secure systems, people who can turn technical knowledge into enterprise, and people who are willing to build from here. Alinase Nyirenda is one of those people.
