Patrick
Attankurugu
Senior AI/ML Engineer · Financial Compliance AI · Africa
Helping African financial institutions prevent fraud, verify identities, and stay compliant — with AI built for scale.
About
Building AI for Africa
Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellow at Queen's University, Canada — one of just 60 selected from 1,000+ entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries. I'm a Senior AI/ML Engineer specialising in financial compliance AI: building systems for Know Your Customer (KYC), Know Your Business (KYB), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and transaction monitoring.
Currently Senior AI/ML Engineer at Agregar Technologies, architecting identity verification, deepfake detection, credit scoring, and AML transaction monitoring platforms for enterprise financial institutions across Africa.
BSc Computer Science from the University of Ghana. I build for Africa because the continent's financial institutions deserve compliance AI as sophisticated as anywhere else in the world.
Deep Learning
PyTorch, TensorFlow, ResNet, transformers for production inference
Computer Vision
YOLO, OpenCV, document verification, deepfake detection
KYC/AML Compliance
Identity verification, transaction monitoring, PEP screening, FATF compliance
LLMs & Agentic AI
LangChain, LlamaIndex, RAG pipelines, autonomous compliance agents
Skills & Expertise
Technical Stack & Domain Expertise
AI & Deep Learning
PythonPyTorchTensorFlowscikit-learnONNXCNNsTransformersResNetYOLOGANsModel QuantizationTransfer Learning
Computer Vision & Biometrics
OpenCVFace DetectionLiveness DetectionDeepfake DetectionOCR / PaddleOCRDocument VerificationSmart ID CaptureVideo AnalyticsObject DetectionImage Classification
KYC / KYB / KYE
Identity VerificationDocument AuthenticationBiometric MatchingBusiness VerificationUBO DetectionEmployee ScreeningPEP ScreeningSanctions ScreeningWatchlist MonitoringRisk Scoring
AML & Transaction Monitoring
Transaction MonitoringSuspicious Activity DetectionSAR/STR GenerationRule-Based EnginesML Anomaly DetectionFATF ComplianceTypology MappingRisk AssessmentAlert TriageRegulatory Reporting
LLMs, RAG & NLP
LangChainLlamaIndexVector DatabasesRAG PipelinesPrompt EngineeringAgentic AIspaCyEntity ResolutionFuzzy MatchingText Classification
Engineering & Infrastructure
FastAPINext.jsReactTypeScriptPostgreSQLRedisNeo4jDockerAWSCI/CDREST APIsSystem Design
Experience
Where I've Worked
Agregar Technologies
CurrentSenior AI/ML & Backend Engineer
Aug 2024 – Present
Building and maintaining the core AI/ML systems that power identity verification and financial compliance for enterprise clients across Africa. Architecting AI credit scoring, fine-tuning ResNet and YOLO models for document verification and smart ID capture, AML transaction monitoring engines, and a deepfake detection system for biometric fraud prevention.
PythonPyTorchTensorFlowResNetYOLOOpenCVFastAPIPostgreSQLRedisDockerAWSLangChain
SEMA Technologies
AI Engineer
Nov 2022 – Jul 2024
Built a real-time predictive surveillance system that interfaces with IP cameras to detect and predict suspicious activity using computer vision and ML models. Led a team of 5 engineers.
PythonPyTorchOpenCVTensorFlow
SuperFluid Labs
AI Engineer · Team Lead
2020
Built an LLM-powered solution with a 4-person engineering team for an AI innovation challenge, finishing in the top 4 of 12 competing teams.
PythonLLMsPrompt Engineering
Kosmos Innovation Center
Technical Lead · AgriTech Challenge
2023
Led technical development for an agriculture technology project integrating data-driven approaches to cassava processing and export optimization.
PythonData AnalysisML Modeling
DEXT Solutions Consult
Web Developer
Jun – Aug 2019
Built websites and web applications for clients. Streamlined codebases and improved user experience across multiple projects.
JavaScriptHTMLCSS
Projects
What I've Built
Featured ProjectLive · Open Source
AfricaPEP
No dedicated PEP screening database existed for African jurisdictions — so I built one. Covers all 54 African countries with 27,000+ verified Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) profiles, an NLP entity resolution pipeline with hybrid fuzzy matching, and FATF-compliant tier classification.
27K+PEP Profiles
54Countries
1,300+Family Links
FastAPINeo4jPostgreSQLNext.jsspaCyrapidfuzzDocker
Open Source
Five specialized AI agents orchestrated by LangGraph run end-to-end AML/KYC investigations autonomously — triaging alerts, gathering evidence, and drafting Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) without manual intervention.
PythonLangGraphGeminiFastAPINext.js
Deepfake Detection System
Production biometric fraud prevention — detects AI-generated faces, video replays, and printed photo spoofing in live KYC deployment.
PythonPyTorchDeep LearningOpenCV
AI Credit Scoring Engine
Machine learning credit scoring system for financial institutions — alternative data analysis, risk modeling, and automated decisioning.
Pythonscikit-learnFastAPIPostgreSQL
Achievements
Milestones & Recognition
Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellow
2023Queen's University, Canada
One of just 60 fellows selected from over 1,000 applicants across all 54 African countries — a leadership programme backed by the Mastercard Foundation for transformative entrepreneurs.
BSc Computer Science
2021University of Ghana
Transitioned from Chemistry to Computer Science, graduating with a focus on AI and data science.
AI Innovation Challenge — Top 4
2020SuperFluid Labs & AI Commons
Led a 4-person engineering team to build an LLM-powered solution, finishing in the top 4 of 12 competing teams.
AgriTech Innovation Challenge
2023Kosmos Innovation Center
Built a data-driven platform to model cassava processing efficiency and export optimisation, leading a cross-functional technical team selected for the programme.
Blog
Insights from the Compliance AI Frontier
Get in Touch
Open to new opportunities, collaborations, and conversations about AI/ML engineering. Whether it's a role, a research discussion, or just connecting — feel free to reach out.
Emailpatricka.azuma@gmail.com
WhatsApp+233 551 087 418
LinkedInpatrick-ai-africa
GitHubPatrickAttankurugu
Based in Accra, Ghana
Open to opportunities and conversations worldwide