Julian Owusu is a Ghanaian entrepreneur building at the intersection of artificial intelligence, talent and trade. He is the founder of B57, the AI group behind BUILD AI Academy, a public education programme on a mission to train 300,000 Ghanaians in practical artificial intelligence, and Cactus Talent, which positions Ghana as a global hub for AI-ready digital talent. He also leads Mansco, a food and cold-chain company at Tema port whose entire operation runs on AI systems his team built, proof that AI-native African businesses are not a future ambition but a present reality.
A former professional footballer in the UK, Ghana and the Netherlands, Julian moved into technology in London, delivering digital products for Landor and WPP companies before co-founding Zuberi in 2020, a digital bank that served some 20,000 Ghanaian government workers. In June 2025 he launched the Collaborative Skills Economy (CSE) at the UK Parliament, an initiative connecting Ghanaian talent working with AI tools to UK companies as part of enhancing the future of work between the two countries.
Julian holds a BA in Business from the University of Northampton, where he was elected the institute’s first ever Student President. He is a son of Akropong, Akuapem, where he was recently enstooled as a traditional leader, and he lives by one conviction: your future will only live in what you build.
Timeline
- Football Professional footballer in the UK, Ghana and the Netherlands.
- London Digital products for Landor and WPP companies.
- 2020 Co-founds Zuberi, a digital bank serving some 20,000 Ghanaian government workers.
- B57 Founds B57 (formerly BUILD) in Accra.
- June 2025 Launches the Collaborative Skills Economy at the UK Parliament.
Your future will only live in what you build.