Design Thinking is not just a methodology; it is a mindset that puts human needs at the center of innovation. In business and society, products and services fail when they are built for numbers instead of people. But when empathy becomes the anchor, possibilities expand. A farmer struggling to access markets or a student seeking affordable learning becomes the focal point of ideation, prototyping, and testing.

Through this lens, innovation ceases to be about abstract technology but about solving real frictions with practical elegance. That is the power of design thinking—humanity first, solution second.

Innovation thrives when design thinking is infused into the DNA of organizations. Companies that endure are those that constantly reimagine themselves, not because the market asked, but because they anticipated unmet needs. Apple designed the iPhone not as a phone but as a lifestyle device. Tesla built a car, but more critically, it redesigned the idea of mobility. These breakthroughs came because leaders refused to treat innovation as a department; they made it a culture. When design thinking converges with bold leadership, the results become market-shaping and industry-defining.

In Africa, design thinking holds even more promise. Our challenges—energy access, financial inclusion, healthcare, education—require fresh models anchored in context. A solar company designing pay-as-you-go systems or a fintech simplifying savings for market women are clear examples.

By observing, prototyping, and iterating within the peculiarities of our markets, we can create innovations that are not copies but authentic solutions for our people. As an African proverb says, a child is nurtured according to the environment of birth. So must our innovation be nurtured with empathy, design, and context. That is how great firms emerge.

Join us today at Tekedia Mini-MBA as Aderinola Oloruntoye educates on design thinking and innovation:

Tue, Sept 23| 7pm-8pm WAT | Design Thinking and Innovation – Aderinola Oloruntoye – SAP | Zoom link in classboard.

Nvidia said on Monday it will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, underscoring the scale of resources now being committed to artificial intelligence infrastructure as the industry braces for an unprecedented buildout of data centers.

The investment, which will be deployed in phases, is tied to OpenAI’s plans to construct facilities requiring 10 gigawatts of power—equivalent to between 4 million and 5 million GPUs, according to Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang.

“This is a giant project,” Huang said in an interview with CNBC alongside OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and company president Greg Brockman. He added that the capacity represents twice the number of GPUs shipped last year and roughly equal to what Nvidia expects to deliver globally in 2025.

The chipmaker’s first tranche of $10 billion will be unlocked when the first gigawatt of capacity is completed, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to CNBC. The investments will be made at then-current valuations, the person said. Nvidia shares rose nearly 4% on Monday following the announcement, adding about $170 billion in market value and bringing its capitalization to roughly $4.5 trillion.

The move deepens Nvidia’s already symbiotic relationship with OpenAI, whose 2022 launch of ChatGPT set off the latest AI boom and ignited surging demand for the company’s GPUs. Altman, who said OpenAI now has 700 million weekly active users, called the undertaking an “unprecedented infrastructure challenge” but insisted the company’s focus remains on “great AI research, making products people want, and building this infrastructure at scale.”

The deal cements Nvidia as OpenAI’s “preferred” supplier of chips and networking gear, further consolidating the company’s grip on the AI accelerator market, even as rivals like Advanced Micro Devices and hyperscale cloud providers develop alternatives. In August, Huang told investors that a single gigawatt of AI data center capacity can cost between $50 billion and $60 billion, with Nvidia chips and systems accounting for around $35 billion of that figure.

The first phase of the new OpenAI infrastructure, using Nvidia’s forthcoming Vera Rubin systems, is expected to come online in the second half of 2026. The partnership also builds on OpenAI’s existing relationships with Microsoft, Oracle, SoftBank, and the Stargate project, while complementing Microsoft’s Azure-based integration of OpenAI models into cloud services and Office applications.

The investment follows OpenAI’s $500 billion valuation in a recent secondary round, which included backing from Microsoft, Thrive Capital, and SoftBank. Altman referred to both Microsoft and Nvidia as “passive” investors but also described them as two of the company’s “most critical partners.”

For Nvidia, the $100 billion commitment eclipses its recent spending spree in the AI ecosystem. Just last week, the company disclosed a $5 billion stake in Intel tied to a collaboration on AI processors, nearly $700 million invested in U.K. data center startup Nscale, and more than $900 million to hire Enfabrica CEO Rochan Sankar and license the company’s technology.

Analysts say the scale of the OpenAI project dwarfs other AI infrastructure efforts underway. While cloud providers like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are pouring billions into their own GPU clusters, none have matched a single commitment of this magnitude.

“Nvidia invests $100 billion in OpenAI, which then OpenAI turns back and gives it back to Nvidia,” said Bryn Talkington, managing partner at Requisite Capital Management. “I feel like this is going to be very virtuous for Jensen.”

Comparatively, other AI ventures appear modest: Amazon Web Services announced $15 billion in data center expansion in 2023, while Google pledged roughly $30 billion over several years. By contrast, the Nvidia–OpenAI project, with its 10-gigawatt ambition, underlines a scale that analysts say could reshape energy demand and global computing supply chains.

“This investment is additive to everything that’s been announced and contracted,” Huang said, stressing that it goes beyond Nvidia’s prior financial disclosures.

The sheer size of the deal positions Nvidia and OpenAI at the center of the infrastructure race—one that may increasingly define the future of the AI industry.

Every great digital platform eventually matures with fintech component. That is the message of fintechnolization—a construct I have studied over years. Amazon began with books, Apple with devices, Grab with rides, but all found their way into payments, wallets and broad fintech. Why? Because to control ecosystems, you must also control the financial rails. Fintech is the final bus stop of digital platforms, the state of maturity every digital journey travels to.

In that redesign, stablecoins have emerged as the lubricant. Unlike volatile cryptos, they are pegged to stable assets like the US dollar, offering predictability. They cut the costs of moving money, power instant cross-border settlements, and through smart contracts, make finance programmable. In marketplaces, gaming, logistics, or insurance, stablecoins are not just tools—they are bridges connecting industries to the inevitable fintech layer of their platforms.

So, when you see industries adopting stablecoins, understand the deeper plot: fintechnolization at work. The platforms are maturing. They are finding their destiny in finance. And in this era, stablecoins have become the vehicle of that destiny. As the Igbo say, you may run, but you cannot outrun your destiny. For platforms, that destiny is fintech—and stablecoins are helping them get there. And that means: stablecoins are thus not a passing fad.

Stablecoin as the Currency of Digital Platforms

Stablecoins—cryptocurrencies pegged to stable assets like the US dollar—fit into this evolution. As digital platforms fintechnolize, they look for low-cost, borderless, and programmable money that can serve their global and multi-industry ambitions. Stablecoins provide exactly that:

• Low-cost settlements: Cross-border remittances and trade payments can clear in seconds, bypassing expensive correspondent banks.

• Programmability: Smart contracts enable platforms to integrate payments into their workflows automatically, from supply chain financing to subscription renewals.

• Trust and stability: Unlike volatile cryptocurrencies, stablecoins offer predictability, making them usable for payroll, savings, and trade.

In this way, stablecoins become the preferred financial instrument that accelerates the fintechnolization process for industries.

Industries Adopting Stablecoins

• E-commerce & Marketplaces: Platforms use stablecoins to settle international vendor payments instantly, reducing FX friction.

• Gaming & Creators’ Economy: Stablecoins power in-game transactions and payouts to creators globally, avoiding delays in traditional banking.

• Insurance & Finance: Firms explore stablecoin-based premium collections and claim payouts, ensuring faster liquidity for customers.

• Logistics & Supply Chains: Stablecoins are adopted for cross-border B2B settlements, reducing dependency on fragmented banking systems.

Connecting the Dots

Fintechnolization explains why industries are turning to stablecoins: as firms mature into fintech providers, they require instruments that transcend national currencies and banking inefficiencies. Stablecoins are thus not a passing fad but a manifestation of the digital destiny Ndubuisi Ekekwe described—where every platform eventually builds fintech layers, and in today’s global internet, stablecoins serve as the lubricant of that transition.