Tikue Anazodo, the CEO of Kudos Technologies, joins Forbes senior writer Jabari Young on The Enterprise Zone at the Nasdaq MarketSite. During the interview, Anazodo discussed how he built the shopping assistant startup, raising $20 million, growing up in Nigeria, and the future of AI.br br Subscribe to FORBES: br 0:00 - Introduction: The Smart Wallet That Maximizes Your Rewardsbr 1:44 - How Kudos Works: Online, In-Store, and on the Appbr 2:48 - What Data Does Kudos Collect?br 3:37 - The Intersection of FinTech and Commercebr 4:47 - Addressing the "Psychological Traps" of Credit Card Rewardsbr 7:06 - What Our Data Shows About Your Shopping Habitsbr 8:54 - My Biggest Surprise: Our Core Customers Are in Middle Americabr 11:20 - My Biggest Negative Surprise: The Dangers of America's Debt Culturebr 13:30 - My Journey: From Nigeria to Columbia Universitybr 14:48 - The Biggest Misconception Americans Have About Africabr 18:28 - My Path Through Microsoft & Googlebr 21:18 - Navigating Silicon Valley as a Black Entrepreneurbr 23:25 - Why We're Not Hiring Right Now (The Answer is AI)br 26:22 - The 2 Keys to Raising Money in This Marketbr 28:50 - The #1 Trait Every Entrepreneur Needs to Succeedbr 31:40 - What is Agentic AI? The Future is All About Contextbr 33:14 - The 3 Books That Taught Me About Persistencebr 35:28 - The Difference Between a Good and a GREAT Rewards Programbr br Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:br br br Stay Connectedbr Forbes newsletters: Forbes on Facebook: Forbes Video on Twitter: Forbes Video on Instagram: More From Forbes: br Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.