Andela Advances AI Engineering Talent: Acquires Woven to Empower Africa’s Tech Workforce
Lagos, Nigeria — Andela, the Nigeria-born global engineering talent marketplace, has made a major strategic move in January 2026 to strengthen Africa’s tech ecosystem by acquiring Woven, an innovative technical assessment company focused on real-world engineering simulations and AI-ready talent evaluation.
The acquisition, announced on January 22, 2026, deepens Andela’s commitment to building AI-native engineering capacity and matching enterprise demand with verified technical expertise. Woven’s unique assessment technology — designed to simulate real engineering tasks — will be integrated into Andela’s platform to enhance how software developers are evaluated, benchmarked, and deployed across the global tech market.
Empowering Africa’s Developers with Next-Gen Technical Assessments
With this acquisition, Andela moves beyond traditional coding tests to implement advanced evaluation tools that measure true job readiness for engineers working with modern AI systems, including large language models, autonomous workflows, and scalable production environments. The deal reflects a growing enterprise demand for engineers who can deliver complex AI solutions — not just write code.
Woven’s founder and CEO, Wes Winham Winler, will join Andela to lead the development of the company’s next-generation assessment capabilities. This leadership shift ensures continuity and deep technical expertise as Andela enhances its global talent matching platform.
Andela’s Role in Africa’s Tech Talent Revolution
As companies transition from AI experimentation to full implementation, the need for qualified engineers who can engineer, integrate, and scale AI solutions is intensifying. Andela — with its extensive global network of over 150,000 developers — is positioning itself as a key partner in bridging this skills gap and placing African technologists in high-impact roles.
This acquisition highlights the company’s ongoing evolution from a remote talent marketplace into a platform capable of delivering globally competitive engineering talent, ready for the demands of the AI era.
Why This Matters for Nigeria and Africa
- AI Workforce Enablement: By integrating Woven’s assessment technologies, Andela is building stronger pipelines of AI-ready engineers, which is critical for Africa’s participation in the global digital economy.
- Tech Jobs and Skills Development: The move expands opportunities for Nigerian and African developers to validate skills that matter to world-class employers in AI, software engineering, and cloud computing.
- Economic Growth: As tech continues to be a major driver of innovation and job creation, Andela’s strategic positioning supports Nigeria’s broader digital transformation goals.
