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From Cameroon to France, then to the United States, and now back and forth between Morocco and the US, Dr.Yasmine Ndassa, founder of Noor AI & Analytics consulting, has built her career around applying scientific methods to solving real-life challenges in a structured way across different fields. Holding a Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics from Harvard University, the Cameroonian carries scientific processes into the business world to allow companies to obtain data-driven insights and make data-informed decisions to drive revenue growth and strengthen their competitiveness.
Beyond all her solid scientific and biomedical research background, Dr. Yasmine Ndassa defines herself as a data-driven storyteller and systems thinker. In other words, a strategist capable of communicating data sets in a clear and actionable way to drive change. Between scientific research, storytelling, and business—areas that seem unrelated—the Cameroonian has managed to build bridges that allow her to navigate easily between scientific methods, storytelling and the business world.
With a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics from Harvard, she focused on HIV and cancer proteins during her academic years. With over 25 years of research experience, she decided to leverage all her expertise for the benefit of businesses. « I decided to pursue a Ph.D. because I wanted to learn the scientific method for solving problems in a structured way. I chose this way because I am fascinated by science. Business problems are man-made problems, so I designed my career path to test the hypothesis that I could apply this scientific method to other fields. I wanted to ground myself in science, but create tentacles to other fields and industries », she explains to Africa Women Experts.
By the time she graduated from Harvard in 2008, she knew she did not want to become a research scientist professionally, she confides. In 2002, she had the opportunity to enroll in the prestigious university thanks to her brilliant academic and scientific results. « I realized early on that I needed to get the highest degree from the best university that would accept me, aware of the reality faced by Black women in the United States. In most fields, a Ph.D. is the ultimate degree. Even though I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, my aim was to be able to express it clearly when I was ready, » she explains.
After earning her Ph.D., she began her career in data analytics by joining Comcast in 2010, a US telecommunications and media company as director of organizational effectiveness. She built the Human Resources Analytics function, providing data-based insights to key questions related to human resources and business partners. There, she was able to apply her scientific methods knowledge to solve business strategic challenges.
She then held the positions of Senior Director of Business Process and Product Analytics, and Senior Director of National Sales Strategy and Insights. « I worked for Comcast for 11 years and built analytics functions in human resources, business process management, and sales analytics. I basically was hired to set up HR analytics for the company at a time when no one knew what HR analytics was. They needed someone who understood numbers and data, who knew how to tell stories based on data, and who could help them have insights at the fingertip and make better decisions based on data,” she explains.
She later worked at Amazon Web Services (AWS) as an analytics platform strategist, then at Meta from 2022 to 2023 as global head of people strategy and insights. Since 2023, she has been working at Sylvan Road Capital, an investment firm, building and scaling the company’s Data and AI strategy to drive performance and improve decision-making.
Drawing on her experience in large companies, she began reflecting on how data analytics could also benefit small and medium-sized businesses (SMB). “At one point, I wondered whether companies with fewer resources to build a data analytics team had less need for these insights. And the answer was no. I started to think that if the leaders of these SMBs weren’t using data to make decisions, they wouldn’t be as competitive as they could be in the long term,” she says.
She then created Noor AI & Analytics Consulting, a US-registered company whose name derives from the Arabic word meaning « light », and whose goal is to « bring light » to businesses using data and AI and help them become more competitive and efficient.
The company’s services consist of mapping businesses’ internal processes in order to improve them, eliminate and automate certain steps and introduce artificial intelligence into their systems, then supporting them throughout the implementation and monitoring processes.
Through her company, Dr. Ndassa also offers AI training to companies’ teams and individuals. “Sometimes, people simply need to learn, for example, how to use ChatGPT to manage their emails and calendars. I show them how AI can make their daily lives easier, to allow them to focus on more complex tasks,” she explains.
In 2025, she made Morocco her second home, her hub in Africa, while still living in and working for the US. « My involvement with Noor in Morocco came about through Technopark. I am very impressed by the support they provide to start-ups,” she explains. She notably led a storytelling workshop to help startup founders master the art of storytelling and thus improving their pitching to investors.
She also supports small Moroccan businesses in digitizing their operations to foster their growth and facilitate their access to the US market. “My goal is to be a bridge between Africa and the US, where I have lived for 30 years. Today, I travel back and forth between the two continents. The US remains the largest market for businesses. Due to the currency difference, African companies that can sell in the US can benefit from higher profit margins, as prices and the cost of living are lower here than in the US,” she explains.
Beyond her work promoting data analytics and digitalization among SMBs, she is also committed to fostering inclusion in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. She draws on her academic experience as an African researcher in the United States, where she overcame various obstacles, and benefited from mentorship and sponsorship from leaders at the various companies she worked at. « I am committed to ensuring that everyone affected by a system is represented. It is not just about diversity, gender, or ethnicity, but also about the diversity of psychological backgrounds and ways people think, » she explains.
For the next chapter of her career, the Cameroonian aims to keep on democratizing access to and use of AI and data, but also to connect Africa and America in order to promote opportunities between the two continents.
Danielle France Engolo
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