Deriv Appoints Rotimi Akinyele as CTO to Lead AI-Native Engineering

Online broker Deriv has appointed Rotimi Akinyele as Chief Technology Officer, tasking him with leading its engineering organisation as the company pursues an AI-native operating model. Akinyele joined Deriv in July 2024 as Vice President of Security and has since taken on a widening remit across the business.

In the CTO role, Akinyele will focus on automating work across every function, improving Deriv's internal AI intelligence layer and building a self-improving agentic loop for software development. The company said controls and security remain central as AI agents are given greater access and responsibility.

Since joining Deriv, Akinyele has led Security and Data, then automation across Compliance, Data and Finance, and more recently Trading and Antifraud. Before Deriv, he was Director in the Group Information Security Department at Dubai Holding, overseeing cybersecurity across its hospitality, real estate, ICT, media and education portfolios. He was previously Head of Information Security and Business Continuity at a government authority in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE.

Deriv CEO Rakshit Choudhary said Akinyele has grown as a leader during his time at the company and that he is confident in him as CTO. Choudhary added that as Deriv automates more and gives agents greater access and responsibility, the company has more systems and operations to secure, and controls need to be the foundation of how it builds.

Akinyele said his focus is to maintain the pace of change in how Deriv's engineering teams build while ensuring security and controls grow with every system the company automates.

Deriv said the appointment reflects its approach of developing leaders from within as it builds an AI-native company. The broker has set a target of automating 75% of manual workflows by the end of 2026. Deriv, which has more than 900 employees across 13 countries and over 3 million traders worldwide, said it continues to invest in AI literacy at every level.