Oluwafikayomi Gideon Adeleke developed Dayroom in three to four weeks without external funding. The platform combines virtual office features, team messaging, and AI assistance.
A Nigerian software engineer is taking on established workplace communication platforms with a product he built independently in less than a month.
Oluwafikayomi Gideon Adeleke has launched Dayroom, an AI-powered workspace designed to bring team conversations, virtual meetings and productivity tools into one platform. The product targets the same market as Slack, Microsoft Teams and Google Chat.
According to Technext, Dayroom attracted more than 100 sign-ups and 100 workspaces across 11 countries following its announcement on X.
Adeleke developed the platform over three to four weeks without outside funding. He describes himself as a software and machine learning engineer with experience in large language models, AI agents, and evaluating AI coding systems.
He is also a first-class graduate of Insurance and Actuarial Science from the University of Lagos.
Dayroom Combines Virtual Offices With AI
Rather than functioning solely as a messaging application, Dayroom is designed to replicate aspects of a virtual office.
Users can see which colleagues are available, busy, or open to conversations and initiate calls directly from virtual rooms. Members can also create avatars, with customisation options featuring African-inspired styles and fabrics, including gele, kufi, Ankara and kente.
An AI companion adds another layer to the workspace by summarising conversations and helping users catch up on discussions they have missed. Adeleke also plans to expand its ability to handle routine tasks.
The platform uses technology from OpenAI and Google Gemini to power its AI capabilities.
Adeleke said the idea emerged from the fragmentation of workplace communication across applications such as WhatsApp, Slack and email.
He explained that he wanted to build an AI-native workspace from the outset rather than attach a chatbot to an existing messaging product.
WhatsApp Migration Could Help Attract Users
Adeleke acknowledges that Dayroom is competing directly with established platforms, although he recognises that his product remains at an early stage.
One feature that could help it attract African businesses is the ability to import WhatsApp conversation histories. This allows teams that already rely on WhatsApp for work-related communication to bring existing conversations into the new environment.
The strategy could reduce the inconvenience of switching platforms, particularly for smaller teams that have built their working relationships around familiar messaging tools.
However, Adeleke has cautioned against assuming that Dayroom already outperforms Slack or Microsoft Teams. Its long-term prospects will depend on whether it can deliver reliable features and persuade users to adopt it consistently.
Free Access and Paid Plans
Dayroom offers a free plan that does not expire. It includes messaging, direct conversations, and up to three rooms per workspace.
Its paid subscription costs ₦7,500 or $5 per member monthly, or ₦72,000 or $48 annually. Paid features include additional rooms, voice calls, AI tools, automations, and meeting notes.
Subscriptions are prepaid and do not renew automatically. If a team's subscription expires, its existing conversation history remains accessible.
The platform currently limits workspaces to 20 members, file uploads to 10 MB and calls to six participants.
These restrictions position Dayroom as an option for smaller teams while the company continues developing its product.
Privacy and Security Remain Important Considerations
Despite its AI capabilities, Dayroom comes with limitations that prospective users should understand.
Its terms describe the service as being at an evaluation stage and advise users against uploading confidential material, including client files and health records.
Messages are not currently end-to-end encrypted. Adeleke explained that features such as search and AI assistance require server-side access to message content.
According to him, data is encrypted at rest in a database hosted by Fly.io in Amsterdam. Dayroom is not yet registered with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, although he said the company is working towards registration.
Users can request account deletion by email, while the handling of backups and third-party services remains an area of ongoing improvement.
Adeleke also said desktop applications for macOS and Windows were available but were awaiting verification from Apple and Microsoft.
The Next Challenge Is Sustained Adoption
Adeleke plans to recruit engineers, improve voice calling and introduce additional integrations as Dayroom develops.
Its initial sign-ups demonstrate early interest, but attracting users is only the first step. The more difficult task will be convincing teams to make Dayroom part of their daily operations and continue using it over time.
For the Nigerian engineer, the opportunity lies in combining workplace communication with AI tools in a single environment. Whether that approach can compete with established platforms will depend on product reliability, user trust, privacy safeguards, and sustained adoption.
Source: Technext