In our second instalment of Akoni Tech Talks, we sat down with Menekse Stewart, an experienced SEO enthusiast and founder of the AI-powered business tool, Marketing Magic. In this episode, we learn about Menekse’s unconventional journey into the tech world, starting at just 15, and how she built a successful career in digital marketing without a traditional degree. 

Menekse shares how she began her career copywriting for SEO, which later transformed into helping businesses create customer-focused ecosystems for their brands through the power of IT. Menekse’s experience and passion for digital marketing then led the award-winning AI and marketing specialist to teach SEO, Digital Marketing strategy, Google Analytics and Email Marketing to University students.  

Discussing societal perception of non-degree backgrounds in a professional and educational space, Menekse highlights the importance of having passion, experience and understanding to grow within your career in emerging technology, as information and processes are constantly evolving ahead of the education system. 

“We still exist in a society that prioritises having a degree and it’s very difficult to access jobs if you haven’t been through the process. Just because you haven’t been to university, done an apprenticeship or had a career in an alternate space, [it] doesn’t preclude you from being able to work in emerging technologies as long as you have the curiosity and willingness to learn.”

Through the use of emerging technology, Menekse tells us how she developed the application ‘Marketing Magic’, an AI-powered business growth tool, to help marketers grow their brand, not their to-do list. Menekse shares that this concept was initially developed to rectify content problem in her own team to help solve the problem of time, capacity and having to learn before you can do. 

To conclude the podcast, Menekse debates both the positive and negative impact emerging AI has had on technology and society, from significantly improving educational functions and increasing advances in the medical and pharmaceutical industries, to storing biased data, compromising product safety and the limitation of government guidelines. 

“[AI] Makes my workday more efficient and helps get ideas out of my head and into reality to save creative energy and save time.”

Tune in to Akoni Tech Talks for the full conversation and more insights from industry leaders – available on Spotify Podcasts,Apple Podcasts and YouTube.