Hi, I’m Teff! Welcome, and thanks for stopping by.
This site explores systems thinking, storytelling, and speculative research. From interactive maps of algorithmic history to design probes on autonomous systems, my work asks how infrastructures shape power, how platforms influence participation, and how socio-technical imaginaries are constructed and governed.
I began in journalism, where at Voice of America I led digital initiatives across 14 language services, launched Nigeria’s first 24/7 Hausa audio livestream, created viral explainer series, and co-produced a documentary on African tech entrepreneurs. I also reported on the ground, including a piece on the art of mudcloth (bogolan) in Mali. At the U.S. Agency for Global Media, I carried this forward by collaborating on cross-platform metrics standards and building tools to measure digital performance, sharpening my ability to track impact in complex policy environments.
At the 3A Institute (3AI) at the Australian National University, I turned to the infrastructures behind AI-enabled systems. Projects ranged from a smart tap that reduced water waste, to a VR city of my browsing history, to speculative futures for smart city planning. This work deepened my focus on intent as a design choice, reinforcing how technical architectures are also moral and cultural.
More recently, at the Institute for the Future, I balanced infrastructure management with foresight research by prototyping tools and automations, exploring the futures of media, work, and education, and facilitating workshops that helped communities surface emerging signals of change and preferred futures.
Across journalism, policy, systems design, and foresight, I return to the same questions: How do complex systems behave? How are values encoded into technology? And how can we design and narrate technologies to foster collective agency, not just automated efficiency?
I invite you to explore these projects (and more) to see where curiosity has taken me so far, and if something resonates, I’d love to connect and see where it might lead next.