Safir Monroe
FOUNDER AT UNDELAY
SAFIR MONROE’S PATH INTO ENGINEERING wasn’t driven by childhood dreams—it started with a Google search. “In high school, I googled which major makes the most money,” he recalled. Engineering came up, and mechanical engineering’s flexibility won him over. During college, however, Monroe’s growing passion for software began to take center stage. Inspired by the mobile gaming boom and titles like Flappy Bird, he began building his own games, developing a foundation in programming alongside his engineering studies.
After graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering from Howard University, Monroe began working as a software engineer at Delta Airlines. There, he gained firsthand experience with the inefficiencies in airport operations, particularly the reliance on radios for ground coordination. This inspired the concept behind his startup, UnDelay.
“We built a customer relationship and fleet management tool for airports,” he explained. “Instead of airports using radios to call different operators, we built a texting analytics tool. The dashboard itself makes a decision of where people should go versus people calling each other.”
“You only fail when you give up. It’s not when you run out of money.”
—Safir Monroe
UnDelay’s system replaces chaotic, manual communications with streamlined, AI-assisted operations. So far, it has been adopted by four airports—and Monroe is already eyeing expansion. “The goal of UnDelay is not only to bring on more airports but expand throughout the travel sector,” he said, listing hospitality, hotels, and casinos as future targets.
Monroe credits much of his entrepreneurial education to self-study. “The best people that could teach you how to be entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs themselves,” he said, pointing to books like Angel by Jason Calacanis, Black Founder by Stacey Spikes, and Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution by Uri Levine as key influences.
His biggest lesson learned? Build for real needs, not assumptions. “The hardest thing we face from a business standpoint is understanding what people want,” he said. Monroe’s guiding principle is clear: Deeply understand the problem you are solving, and validate it with real-world feedback from at least 100 people.
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