mr.Martin Ruto

AI/ML engineer & software builder

I build AI that works beyond the demo.

I'm Martin, a Nairobi-based engineer connecting AI, software and the people they should serve. I turn complex ideas into useful products, from business systems to practical advice for farmers.

Explore my work Find me on GitHub
Nairobi, Kenya10+ years in softwareMSc Artificial Intelligence
BUILD / LEARN / REFINE

Technology meets
the real world.

My focus: practical engineering, thoughtful delivery and impact that can be demonstrated.
Applied AIAgent experiencesCloud & full-stackProduct leadership

01 / Selected work

Built for a reason.

Products and experiments where engineering meets an actual need.

LIVE EARLY PILOT / AGRICULTURE + AI

Digital
Agronomist.

Useful farm advice. A familiar conversation.

An independently built agricultural advisory service on WhatsApp. Five farmers in Bomet and Mwea are using it to ask about weather and share crop photographs, covering maize, beans and rice.

It began as my master's research. The next step is to grow the live service into farm-specific support, with reliable weather information, soil results and agronomist oversight.

Independent buildWhatsAppApplied AIKenya
Read the project overview

FROM RESEARCH TO REAL USE

5initial farmers
3crops represented
~20messages in a week

Early usage reported by the builder, as of 28 October 2026.

01

ListenQuestions, photographs and farm context

02

SupportUseful advice, feedback and follow-up

03

LearnReal records and measured outcomes

Honest about the stage. Farmers have reported help with selecting a pesticide and preparing for weather. These are not independently verified agronomic outcomes. Proactive alerts are in development; yield prediction remains experimental and was trained on simulated data.

02Health technology

Damu-Sasa

Technical direction and product delivery through KROM Systems, connecting software engineering with a practical health-sector need.

Role: architecture & delivery leadership

03Agricultural information

My Anga

Weather-advisory work for smallholder farmers through KROM Systems. An earlier connection between digital services and decisions in the field.

Focus: accessible farmer information

04Product engineering

Tausi & Tembo Trade

Selected KROM product work, contributing technical direction, architecture and delivery from concept through release.

Role: technical leadership

Selected work is described at a high level. Internal systems, client information and confidential performance figures are not published here.

02 / A little about me

An engineer's mindset.
A builder's curiosity.

I work across the whole journey: understand a problem, design a system, build it and learn from the people using it.

My background spans mobile applications, backend services, cloud platforms and applied AI. Alongside my software engineering career, I co-founded KROM Systems, where I lead technology and product delivery.

I believe useful AI should fit people's lives, not demand that they become technology experts first. That belief is central to Digital Agronomist.

Away from the keyboard: gaming, sport and, lately, improving my darts game.

AI & machine learning

AI agents, LLM applications, applied ML, multimodal learning, model evaluation

Systems & delivery

Python, FastAPI, React, mobile engineering, cloud integration, CI/CD

People & products

Architecture, technical leadership, mentoring, stakeholder collaboration

03 / Experience

A decade of
building & learning.

Engineering across enterprise, entrepreneurship and public-facing products.

2021 - PresentNairobi

Software Developer

Microsoft, African Development Center

Software engineering and AI-agent experiences, with a focus on dependable systems, integration and collaboration.

2016 - PresentCo-founder

Chief Technology Officer

KROM Systems Kenya

Technical direction, architecture and product delivery across software initiatives, alongside hands-on engineering.

2016 - 2021Mobile & enterprise

Software Developer

Safaricom PLC

Android applications, customer and partner channels, and enterprise service-management systems.

2013 - 2014Early experience

Foundations in software

Development experience at Health Informatics for Kenya and the University of Nairobi ICT Centre.

04 / Education

Grounded in learning.

Academic foundations, carried into practical work.

Awarded June 2026 / Merit

MSc Artificial Intelligence

University of Liverpool

Research: The Use of AI in Agriculture: An East African Context. A hybrid advisory prototype informed by 84 survey responses and 10 interviews, with experimental soil-and-image yield prediction.

Research participation is separate from the five users of the live advisory service.

2011 - 2015

BSc Computer Science

University of Nairobi

The foundations of a career spanning software systems, mobile applications, cloud services and applied AI.

05 / Read the thinking

A closer look.

Concise project documents, updated for the live service.

Keep the conversation going

Good work starts
with a real problem.

Connect about practical AI, engineering and farmer-focused technology.

Let's connect on LinkedIn