Absolutely. The very beginning was clear that we're on a long journey and wanted to build a business that was a generational type of business. That's why from very early days, I remember actually the very first town hall at Paga, me saying to the employees that my dream was to build a business that lasted 200 years, and me saying that none of us would be here in 200 years, right? Whether it's as a standalone business or it's part of another business, and that that's a long type of impact that we need to have on society. And to do that, we have to build a business that does not depend on any one individual, and that we make sure that we have the right sets of processes, etc., right? And things are not in people's heads. So from the very beginning, my view was it's a long game. That's why I really love that proverb which some of you might be tired of me saying, right? Which is that, you know, if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. And that's why it really is about together. And I think the 17 years has really shown that spirit as like how we build and execute the business.
Yeah, man. We got many things wrong and there's a lot of different iterations and things, right? Look, I think in the very, very early days, I think I would say that one of the things that we got wrong was understanding how partnerships are built in Nigeria and the way Nigerians do business to build mutual relationships. And so I think that made it take us a bit longer to build relationships with the banks or the telcos, right? I think we eventually fixed that and then we're able to build really great working relationships that we have today, but I think in the early days we got that wrong.
That's an interesting question. I think, like every employee, I thought it was just another gig. So I think I walked into a very exciting environment. I thought about social impact. That was a big win for me. I wanted to be part of that. I think like for my previous job, I could see similar values and all that. I think the biggest change I saw or difference would be the engine that runs Paga itself. You would think it's the employee at that time, the agent business was very big. So it was around the employees that manage the agent business, would be field sales. There's this part of Paga where you get to go on a field visit when you join your first week. And when I just saw what was happening, how money was moving, how a few sales team were reaching out, that was quite interesting to see. And it was quite a change from coming from a different background.
Yeah. You know when he came in, we had just done our strategy to come up with the idea that we needed to have someone responsible for customer experience. And that came out of clarity that the way we win is actually by having superior customer experience, which again, that's not customer service. It's about the totality of the customer's journey with us prior, during, and after they've experienced the product or our services. And so he came in to run and start that unit. But when I think it really clicked for me that he and that role had remit to go across the business, but clicked for me that he goes beyond that, was really when he stepped up to leading our execution cadence, right? And really plugging in very strongly around our strategy formulation, right? And I think by this time you're already running business operations, but I think like just seeing him plug into that from that perspective, taking the wide view of the entire business, being very actively engaged and driving forward the agenda, it started becoming clear to me that, okay, you know, I think OP can really start driving in this direction. Yeah.
Gosh, I have many moments where that's been the case. I actually can't think of one moment where I would say that, and I'm not being just like where I can't, where I would say that there was something that he did that I was like, 'Oh, I don't think he should have done that.' Or I think from everything from how he's handled the, you know, taken up the OKRs particularly, right? Like I remember the point, there was a particular point where I was like, 'Okay, I don't need to come to this anymore.' Like I think he just really got it, right? I think that was like another big moment for me, right? And so just driving that process with the team, making sure that people are delivering. I think from then I felt like we're in good hands. Yeah.
I think we get tested every day. But honestly, there were a number of moments. One comes to mind, I think, around the COVID year. And there was this task of you wanted to understand how we should move on with other centers. Is that what we call it? Yeah. And there was this small group of about four of us that we set out to, you know, understand what that was and make some recommendation. The pressure was on at that time like, get this done well, because we had about 100 of them or something like that. 120 of them. Yeah. And you know, it was either to shut them down or model them, what should we be doing, data and all that. So it was quite an interesting work around that period and so that's one of those moments, but you know, yeah.
There's so many things, it's like writing a book about Tayo really. The opportunity to one, work with a leader that is very grounded, and there's so many of his values. When I say grounded, I really mean it, you know, deeply. It's not typical of every leader you come across where people are not moved by far and unimportant things, right? So it's really about the genuineness, intellect, the competency in whatever box that is in, he wants to shine the light of that talent and that really is meaningful. There's some element of, you know, brutal honesty. So I don't leave thinking, okay, how does he feel about that? I almost get what it is. And then the strongest one is when we're in a state of confusion, because one recently happened where I was like, should I ask him or shouldn't I? Someone just told me that if I don't ask, he finds out in the future or I eventually bring it up, he's not going to be happy that you didn't even talk about it. So he encourages you to really, really be open and transparent about stuff. And the moment I just brought up the subject, like, okay, that was it. We were able to talk through it and all that. So I think I'm more than really, really, really grateful to see him up close and personal in those moments. And there was one that leaves a very lasting impression on me again around here. Tayo just saw through my emotion. It was a very not great, so great, a good call at that time and I don't know, I figured out on that call that I was really bothered about the team and we got off that call. He just paged me and said we should jump on the Zoom call immediately or the video call and just told me everything is going to be fine, like we're going to be okay, blah, blah, blah. And I wonder why he was doing that, you know, and those were those moments that cut it for me that, okay, these are the kind of things I want to lean into, this is who I want to be led by, you know, and all of that. I have no memory of this.
We took part. Yeah, no, I remember us having to like, I know what you're going to say originally on the other question, but that was my tough, one of my toughest moments. I didn't sleep, I didn't sleep for two days. That was crazy. Yeah. Yeah, we put together a list of the entire company. Yeah. And said there's an A list, there's a B list if we had to do layoffs. And then when the teams came together and brought it to me and it was on my desk two days, like I could barely be in the house, I was just like, oh, what do we do, what do you not do? After he probably was like tired of hearing me talk about it, but yeah, I didn't sleep for two days on it. And then I had a chat with Ila and, you know, and I was like, what should we do, how should we do it? Should we put it to the team? And she's like, 'Yeah, let's put it to the team.' And so we put it first, put it to the leadership team. Yeah. And then they said, 'We shouldn't do it and they'll take pay cuts and they'll take longer than everybody else.'
So in terms of the transition we're going through and really operationalizing the group structure, the strategy and the vision for the group structure came in around 2018, 2019 or so. When we started, when it became clear around our massive transformative purpose to make it simple for a billion people to access and use money, that purpose takes us beyond Nigeria, right? And we actually looked at it that it takes us beyond Africa, right? And we said, look, to execute that we needed to transition roles and really change things. And so, but there will be a, but we should go through a process in doing so and very thoughtful. Then COVID happened and just sort of like slowed things down. But about a year ago, you know, as we're starting to prepare for our strategy sessions and think through things, we're like, 'Okay, look, we think the timing is about right for us to go back to this particular point.' And really think through how do we achieve and accelerate where we are? Act one of Paga was ending. Act two, we're leaning in around a multicurrency platform where it's not just about domestic payments but it's about global financial rails. We're already working on the US stuff, launching in the US, and that really taking us into US financial rails. And so then the other question was like, okay, so we have the multicurrency, we have new countries, we have new technologies in terms of stablecoins, crypto, AI, how do we operationalize all of those elements? And we also want to build out lending within the ecosystem, how to operationalize all of that and not lose sight of the business that we're already in, right? And which is scaling really well and there's still a lot to do, right? And so it became clear that, you know, for us to accelerate this, we have to change leadership roles, right? And that's what will accelerate our growth. And, you know, and it was a very, I mean like the conversation between myself, Jay, Eric, you know, and then the board was very, very clear about that and also clear that we thought he would be the best person to take on this new group chief operating officer role. And I was very convinced about it because he has already proven himself in the business to go beyond his job, beyond his job function, and to take an expansive view across the entire business, very deep in our strategy and not just in the strategy but the execution of it. And has a really good understanding of the business. And so that was also very, very clear to us that, you know, he'd be the best person to do this. And I'm excited about it because I think, you know, I really want him to fly and I think for me it's actually like how do I get out of his way and how can I be helpful, right? Because the way I've done things wouldn't be the way he would do things. And so what I would love to see there is for him to really like just flow into his own motion around it. And so for me, my new role, right, and that transition to new role is about me working with OP, working with Eric, Jay, and the other leaders of the organization on vision, on strategy, and helping to drive our product leadership around new technologies and new areas in what we're calling Paga Labs. Labs doesn't mean we're experimenting. We will experiment but some of the things that come out of the labs will become products and will become businesses. And when they're fully formed, to bring them into the fold and then really expanding us into new countries and accelerating that effort to expand into new countries. So, I'm excited about the acceleration this transition is going to give to the business.
