On the third day of Community Summit NA, attendees made their way to the ballroom for the Women in Tech luncheon and panel discussion. Marie Wiese, CEO and Founder at Marketing CoPilot, moderated the panel discussion about the evolving tech landscape, the impact that it has on women in the industry, and the need for rebranding. The panelists included:
- Grace Bolen, Chief Product Officer of FYIsoft
- El Bush, Marketing Coordinator at Marketing CoPilot
- Meron Gebremedhin, Senior Cloud Engineer at Applied Innovative Technologies
- Kristen Sage, CEO of Western Computer
Kicking off the discussion, Wiese prompted attendees to discuss their thoughts on whether tech needed a rebrand. I chatted with attendee Alana Ashurst, Partner Marketing Manager at Dynamic Web, to hear her perspective. “In my opinion, tech needs a rebrand,” she answered. “We need a multigenerational approach to express the possibilities of tech, not just for women but for the next generation.”
She mentioned, for instance, how much room there is for creativity in this space, something she is grateful that this community has encouraged her to tap into. She continued, “If we don’t rebrand properly, we will see fewer and fewer individuals pursuing roles in tech because they don’t know how or that they can bring their creativity into this space. It was so refreshing to have this conversation at a table of peers from other companies in the channel. I am excited to keep it going and see how we can revolutionize tech messaging to grab the next generation’s attention!”
Rebranding the Tech Industry
The technology industry is rarely advertised as a field to be creative – but it is. However, Wiese noted that having areas to be creative can also mean the tech industry can be a little lawless at times. With that in mind, she asked the panelists: “What areas of tech need a rebrand?”
The panelists all agreed: Yes, tech does need a rebrand.
“I want to see more people like me,” Gebremedhin said, kicking off the discussion. As she has been welcomed and empowered by the Microsoft community, she wants to see the rest of the tech industry rebrand so people who come from diverse backgrounds, like people of color and those who speak broken English, have the same equal opportunities. “We can be stronger with the community’s help.”
Gebremedhin also highlighted an incredibly important perspective: No one in the tech industry would be where they are today if it weren’t for women. Every engineer, astronaut, and tech expert wouldn’t be in this world if it weren’t for a woman. “We taught them to be where they are today.” She challenged, “If we can do that, what makes companies think we cannot complete a job?”
As a mother of two daughters, Bolen acknowledged the importance of showing “younger people what technology really is – there’s a lot of different facets in our industry.” She emphasized that it’s important now more than ever for women to be involved with technology. “There are so many sides that people might enjoy that they aren’t made aware of because of the current branding of tech.” There are so many areas in which to get involved and be creative.
Those involved in the technology field now are paving the way for future generations. Bush shared, “I’m from a generation where tech was everywhere – it was integrated at such a level that it was inescapable when I was growing up and it’s inescapable now.” One thing she’s recognized the more involved she has become in the industry is that “we don’t always think about who’s not in the room – who are we making decisions for that’s not sitting at this table?”
Providing a partner perspective, Sage explained that having the right voices in the room is very important, as “it cannot be an IT function.” Companies that “are not challenging the way in which we use [technology] are going to fall behind,” she said. “Leaders need to be firm and say, ‘This is a company-wide decision – not an IT one.’”
The Rise of AI
If you think the internet was a big sweeping movement, just wait for what’s to come with the constant advancements of artificial intelligence. With that, Wiese prompted the next topic: Do you think AI levels the playing field? Will AI open doors?
Bush provided her perspective that AI might do quite the opposite. “If we aren’t careful, biases are going to continue to slip in.” The information used to train systems is created by humans – and humans have biases. She urged attendees to consider how AI can be used more responsibly.
Using AI can be useful in ways that free up time for individuals to focus on higher-level tasks. However, Bolen advised AI users to be cautious to not become overly dependent on AI. She’s hopeful that it won’t take away basic skills that humans need to have, such as the human ability to remember information and problem-solve.
“Men are outpacing women in their use of AI,” Sage stated. It’s vital for women not to be afraid to get hands-on with these new technologies. To prevent another gap in the tech industry, women must be intentional about learning how to use tools such as AI. It can even be in small ways; Sage suggested starting with using AI assistants to draft emails. She also explained how it can be used to identify biases, like detecting which voices are being heard the most during meetings. “That’s what’s going to level the playing field,” she said.
Gebremedhin has found AI useful in her day-to-day. Because English is not her first language, people have thought she is being rude in her emails. So, she has used an AI assistant to help with English grammar as well as prompting it to update her email draft to craft her message in a friendly way. It’s uses like this that AI has the potential to help level the playing field.
Final Thoughts
Wrapping up the session, Wiese asked the panelists a rapid-fire question: If you could change one thing to make the branding of the tech sector better, what would it be?
- “I want to see more women in leadership,” Gebremedhin said. While there many strong women in leadership across the Microsoft community, she wants to see that trend expand across the entire technology industry.
- Having not been informed of all the possible opportunities when considering her career path, Bush wants other women to know that “if you’re someone that’s creative, there’s a lot of room for you in tech.” She also repeated how emerging tech needs to be used more responsibly.
- From an analytical perspective, Sage wants to see “an increase in solutions in reporting that bring the current issues we’re talking about to light in a statistical manner so that people can’t ignore it.”
- With the resources available nowadays, Bolen wants women to know that they don’t have to start from scratch to innovate in the tech industry. “There are tools out there to give you a jumpstart, so just come with an idea” and don’t be discouraged “if you don’t know how to code…just the ideation within tech is what we really need.”
- With a trend in tech being to “go fast” with innovation, Wiese jumped into the conversation and redefined that concept, stating that she wants to “go fast to help make things better.”
Wiese challenged attendees with a call to action as they depart from the session: Tell at least 3 young women about opportunities in tech. By telling more women about these opportunities, the gender gap in technology will make progress toward closing.
