The 10 Most Influential Women In Tech, 2022

Joanne Thurlow, Digital Transformaon Senior Advisor/Partner Strategy & Transformaon Consulng GmbH

EDITOR’S NOTE

We Take Our Stake in Tech; let's Celebrate!

Since the dawn of time, when we Homo sapiens established

our civilizations, women have worked harder than men to demonstrate that they are equal in every way, bringing a kind of transformation to every sector they enter. Women have broken down gender stereotypes in every profession and sphere of human affairs, but technology is the sector where they are making their mark.

Industry comes most easily to them, as they have to struggle to survive even before they are born amidst the adverse sociocultural mind blocks and gender-based roadblocks of interpersonal chains. On the similar lines, in previously male-dominated sectors of technology, a large number of women are pursuing professional careers.’

According to a recent IDC report, the percentage of women in senior-level leadership positions in the IT sector increased from 21% to 24% between 2018 and 2019. Furthermore, despite enormous challenges, hardships, opposition, obstacles, adversities, and adversaries, those reaching executive-level positions such as (CIO, CXO, CTO, CISO, VP, CEO, managerial and directorial levels, etc.) are increasing in these new normal times of rapid digitalization and technological advancement. The more admirable aspect is that organizations in which women hold half (50%) or more of senior leadership positions enjoy higher job satisfaction, retention, and equal pay rates.

CIOLOOK has created this special edition to commemorate the positive change brought about by the 10 Most Influential Women in Tech, 2022 , and we have highlighted their enchanting sagas for your inspiration.

We hope you will join us in celebrating these leaders' achievements, accomplishments, and success stories by reading and enjoying the following pages!

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Shellie

Featured Person

Harita Gupta Head of Asia Pacific at Sutherland

Janice Rae CEO and Founder

Sutherland sutherlandglobal.com

Sutherland is an experience-led digital transformation company. Its mission is to deliver exceptionally engineered experiences for customers and employees today that continue to delight tomorrow.

TechTalent Academy partners with businesses to identify talent solutions that directly impact their future growth and success. TechTalent Academy techtalent.academy

Jennifer Lauretta CTO

Joanne Thurlow Senior Advisor/Partner

360 HealthTech Ptv. Ltd. 360healthtech.com

Strategy & Transformation Consulting strategy-transformation.com

360 HealthTech offers health care technological related consultation to healthcare organizations, institutions and works on bringing innovative technology.

Transformation Strategy helps clients to navigate challenging times by creating and implementing strategies that are built on a foundation of sustainable innovation.

JPMorgan jpmorganchase.com

Nick Atkinson CTO

Malviya Data Analyst

Patel \ SVP of Product & Engineering, Conversational Intelligence

Visa visa.com

GroupM groupm.com

LivePerson liveperson.com

J.P. Morgan is a leader in financial services, offering solutions to clients in more than 100 countries with one of the most comprehensive global product platforms available.

Visa is a trusted world leader in digital payment technology that connects and enables individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive.

GroupM is the world’s leading media investment company responsible for more than $50B in annual media investment.

LivePerson is a leading Conversational AI company creating digital experiences that are Curiously Human.

Somya

Sonny

Marissa “Reese” Wood Executive Director for JPMorgan

I focus on working holistically and consultatively across an organization to implement a ‘Collaboration & Integration’ framework that provides a technical and functional foundation for more collaborative and integrative working across the business.

Joanne Thurlow Digital Transformation Senior Advisor/Partner Strategy & Transformation Consulting GmbH

Today, women are successfully marking their

prominence in any sector, especially in the everevolving industries like Tech; however, there remains an eminent gap between women in C-level positions in the same sector. Not being able to take up space for a very long time in such industries has led to a deficit in the availability of women with experience who provide not only diversity but also bring different perspectives to the table.

Accounting to this and marking a significant presence in the industry of Tech is Joanne Thurlow, Digital Transformation Senior Advisor/Partner at Strategy & Transformation Consulting GmbH . Joanne possesses years of extensive knowledge of today's IT industry and innovations enabling digital transformation on a global level. Her primary focus is on digital business transformation through tech-enabled sustainable solutions.

To know more about her accomplishments and advocacies as a resilient woman in the industry of Tech, CIOLook had an interview with Joanne.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Briefly describe your professional journey up until now.

With 25+ years in the tech industry, I have witnessed the transformation from the Dot.Com of the 90s to today’s IoT and Industry 4.0. My professional journey has transformed in parallel, enabling me to break through many perceived ‘glass ceilings’ enroute.

Originating from Canada, I live and work internationally for/ organizations of all sizes and types on a global level. I have been in multiple roles, including sales, support, training, Head of IT, Consultant, Director of Product & Project management, and ultimately Global Head of IT within Siemens Energy Solutions – a 1B€ company with a footprint in 40+ countries.

I recently transitioned to a Partner & Senior Advisor role with Strategy & Transformation Consulting. This German-based company helps corporations to

Our

successfully exploit the business potential of digitization and to actively manage the necessary changes. I bring my expertise in digital and sustainability transformations to large multinational organizations. In parallel, I consult with SMEs facing similar challenges but limited resources.

I volunteer at local and global community levels as a Digital Isle of Man (DIOM) Non-Executive Board Director, LOVE TECH (IOM) charity promoting STEM to young people and as a global speaker on Women in Tech, STEM, or tech enablers for digital & sustainability transformations.

What challenges did you face along the way?

Being a woman in tech continues to be a challenge, although there has been progressing in reducing the various biases. I am often one of the few women at the table. This continues today mostly due to the low numbers of experienced women at senior and director levels. I often need to establish myself as more than a ‘tick in the diversity box’.

Working with global teams brings unique dynamics of differing cultural behaviors, nationalities as well as

management approaches. Navigating this requires knowledge and sensitivity.

My biggest challenge came in 2006. I made a significant transformation in my life to realize my goal of working abroad by moving to the UK. At this time, I had no visa, job, or professional network. (If it did not work, it was a one-way ticket back to Canada.) This move required stepping back in my career to a mid-management level as I established my professional network and reputation from scratch to move ahead.

I have since reached the Cx level of management, secured my first Non-Executive Director role, been recognized as one of the top 200 Strong Women in IT (2021), and spoken globally on many relevant topics. I have lived in the UK, Norway, Germany, and now on the Isle of Man.

What significant impact have you brought to Transformations Management?

Transformation impact cuts across individuals, teams, organizations, industries, and technology used today. I focus on working holistically and consultatively across an organization to implement a “Collaboration & Integration” framework that provides a technical and functional foundation for more collaborative and integrative working across the business.

Transformation is challenging in many ways. An estimated 80% of strategic initiatives fail because of resistance to change from internal stakeholders. Organizations will only be successful if they can inspire their employees to take on the transformation journey with enthusiasm.

I advocate ultimate success in transformation management as empowering and enabling individual employees through an agile mindset with small teams, a relatively flat organizational structure, ownership, and decision-making driven by team leads. Whether an employee has 3 or 30 years of experience, they bring equal value.

during COVID lockdown. My team (10 leads) had the responsibility to realize this within the Solutions business unit and in correlation with central IT teams driving the carve out across the entire organization.

Speed was of the essence. The scale of effort and challenge was epic—this agile way of working enabled success despite the unprecedented level of transformation in an unprecedented situation.

Tell us about Strategy & Transformation Consulting and its foundation pillar.

At Strategy & Transformation Consulting, our positioning statement is: “Mastering the Digital Age!” We are an integrated group of companies and offer - with a total of over 500 employees at worldwide locationsour customers the conception and implementation of holistic digitization solutions.

We provide strategic advice on digitization from real thought leaders with profound methodological knowledge, extensive transformation experience from successful IT system integrators with many years of industry experience, a high level of technological

understanding, as well as deep expertise in generating value from data - the new gold of the 21st century.

Together with our IT systems house Peterson, our project and transformation expert Tiba, and our business analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) think to tank YaiGlobal; we currently have more than 500 employees. Our headquarters are in Munich. In addition, we are represented with the group at many other locations in ASG, Europe, and beyond.

How does Strategy & Transformation Consulting promote workforce flexibility, and what is your role in it?

Digital Transformation is crucial to the future of any organization. The new digital economy goes far beyond the pure consideration of technology issues and will trigger a new wave of transformations in the way

We provide strategic advice on digitization from real thought leaders with profoun methodological knowledge, extensive transformation experience from successful IT system integrators, a high level of technological understanding, as well as deep expertise in generating value from data.

leading companies do their business. Due to the large thematic scope and many starting points, a successful digital transformation is ultimately only possible with the cooperation of various experts.

We tackle digitization projects in an integrated manner with business and IT experts; thus, our consulting teams are also interdisciplinary. This ensures flexibility in the workplace.

What is your take on technology's importance, and how are you leveraging it?

Technology today integrates into almost every part of our lives. The demand for digitalized services and enhanced content will continue to increase exponentially. Understanding the technology available today and in the future is critical for organizations and tech experts. However, the scope & speed of tech advancements demands a more holistic ecosystem of skills and partners.

Our Digital Transformation Alliance (DiTrAll) ensures we can advise companies holistically and comprehensively on digital transformation and provide flexibility in expertise to meet each client’s unique scenario. We can confidently leverage the combined knowledge of the latest technological developments along with their business impact.

What will be the next significant change in Transformations Management, and how are you preparing for it?

Global climate change is impacting the world at an alarming rate. The need for sustainable solutions has never been more urgent. Within the next 3-5 years, organizations will be required to provide reporting on their ESG targets (Environment, Social & Governance). At the very core of this is data. Reliable, accessible, trustworthy data. And that means the technology to capture, measure, analysis, and report on.

It is here that digital transformation meets climate change - with sustainable technology solutions at the center of an organization. I strongly advocate that today’s IT professionals have the responsibility to work in tandem with management teams to ensure the IT

environment reflects both digital transformation AND sustainability technology solutions. Yet, many business leaders and fewer IT professionals understand the urgency of this.

With a background in technology as well as the energy industry, I am actively promoting sustainability through technology by consulting with clients, knowledge transfer, and educational speaking events.

What are your goals in the upcoming future?

I am very excited about what the upcoming future will hold. As a specialist consultant in the digital and sustainability transformation area, I anticipate this to be a high-growth topic in the next 5 years. Against this backdrop, I am striving to be a globally recognized expert and public speaker in digital and sustainability transformation by bringing my expertise to a wider audience.

The current goals are the ‘go live on my personal website JoThurlow.com in November. Near-term plans include publishing my first book early next year on Team Management and expanding my portfolio career with expanded director roles. The overall target is to be recognized as a global expert, speaker, and leader in transformation topics.

What advice would you like to give the next generation of aspiring business leaders?

Transformation and change are inevitable and will be constant in your lives. Develop flexibility and confidence to embrace change readily. Thus, becoming a lifelong learner. Recognize the impact you can have through sustainable actions to truly impact the world.

Harita Gupta Head of Asia Pacific Sutherland

AI is a concept that enticed everyone with its stance as soon as the idea stemmed into the minds of humankind. It initiated with myths, developed into rumors, embarked as stories of hope, and currently, it is at such a stage that it has proliferated in our lives.

It has entwined in our daily lives to such an extent that we do not even recognize we are utilizing AI to conclude our everyday tasks. While AI has been around for decades, its mainstream adaptation has just been prospering. Thanks to the forerunners of the industry that put tireless efforts and work into enhancing the concept.

Harita Gupta , the Head of Asia Pacific at Sutherland , is a pioneer in the industry—who provided the push to the concept in its early stages. Harita has been diligently involved in the IT industry since her early days. Through her curiosity and long years of experience, she has brought notable significance to the AI industry.

In an exclusive interview with CIOLook , Harita let us know her journey and the reformations she made with her expertise in the industry.

Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader to your current position at Sutherland. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today?

My journey in the world of IT started way back in 1984 – when I Post Graduated from IIT Delhi and joined a Computer Software and Training company called NIIT. It was the very early days of the industry in India, and

the whole mission was the adoption of IT for Business and Govt. And all this needed a trained workforce.

I spent my early years in Software development and Training. Then moved to set up the first Centre of Excellence for Web technologies – focusing on IBM WebSphere, Microsoft .Net framework, Ariba and other platforms. This Technology, Learning and Process Engineering foundation held me in good stead as I moved to Microsoft India and then managed Premier Services for Greater China and India.

Again, the learning was immense, and it was a time when Microsoft pivoted to focus on Cloud and the Azure stack with Satya Nadella leading the company. I was fortunate to be part of the journey.

And then, in 2017 I joined Sutherland – leading the Global Enterprise business and now as Head of the Asia Pacific business. It's been a fantastic journey. If I reflect back on the challenges – I would say that there was an unconscious bias in the early days – that a woman could not succeed in the world of Technology and IT. And multiple times, I dealt with this – but with the

Our AI-Powered Analycs Approach leverages organizaons y enabling faster-contextualized decision-making to improve business outcomes.

confidence and support of my leaders in the companies I worked for its been a great journey.

Tell us something more about Sutherland and its mission and vision.

Sutherland is a unique digital transformation company. We are the engine behind the experience giants of today—the companies best known for the transformative experiences we deliver. We’ve learned much of what we know about great experiences by working with the best.

Like us, the clients we work with care intensely about the human experiences they provide for customers. We work with businesses across various industries, including Banking & Financial Services, Insurance, Healthcare, Retail, Telecommunications, Media & Entertainment, Technology, Travel & Hospitality and Logistics. Our mission is to deliver exceptionally engineered experiences for customers and employees today that continue to delight tomorrow.

For over 35 years, we have cared for our customers’ customers, delivering measurable results and accelerating growth. Our proprietary, AI-based products and platforms are built using robust IP and automation.

Enlighten us on how you have impacted the AI industry through your expertise in the market.

Human-Computer interaction has always been at the forefront of Technology. Once you simplify this – then using AI to do a particular task / use Analytics for insights and prediction based on Data collected/build tools that are business ready – is really the key. Implementing AI solutions is hard unless one focuses on process and process mapping. So, my advice would be –to focus on the process and build AI solutions around the use cases.

Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives Sutherland.

At Sutherland, we respect our employees and value their contributions. We are dedicated to creating a work environment that is professionally challenging and personally rewarding. We believe in teamwork and,

as a team, delivering exceptional results to our clients and their customers. We are committed to the professional development of each person as they progress through their career at Sutherland. An employee is empowered to foster innovation and take personal risks to improve the organization's service offerings.

Integrity, Leadership, People, Clients, and Entrepreneurial Spirit are the 5 core values of Sutherland. Our culture is built around our core values, and every employee imbibes the values and lives by them, reinforcing the commitment towards the organization. Our values provide us with guidelines to help us achieve meaningful results. Our corporate values are signposts to mark the path and outline the behaviors we are expected to demonstrate in our dealings with each other, our clients, and the communities in which we operate; leadership development and succession plans are tightly integrated with the culture of our winning behaviors –100% Accountability, 100% commitment, complete trust and integrity, debate drives transparency and excellence and 100% focus on results.

Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?

At Sutherland, we combine our technical capabilities with deep industry knowledge along with platforms such as AI-enabled Chatbots, Self-help/Heal tools, IoT based monitoring and management tools. These are all contained in a global delivery model to ensure the customer/user experience is the best it can possibly be in today's ever-changing IT landscape. Sutherland leverages AI-enabled tools and technologies to transform the workplace and customer experience. Our AI-Powered Analytics Approach leverages organizations by enabling faster-contextualized decision-making to improve business outcomes. Our omnichannel offer helps to deliver a consistent and frictionless experience for customers across the full range of interaction channels, including contact center, web, mobile, social, kiosks, and stores.

We do this by enabling a single unified view of customers using cloud-based data warehousing

technology, market-leading API management and integration platforms, and Sutherland Connect, our omnichannel communication platform. We help our customers progress on their transformation journey by partnering with businesses to help design, deploy, integrate, and evolve market-leading technologies.

What change would you like to bring to the AI industry if given a chance?

I would like to ensure that whenever we implement something new – which will impact a significant customer set or population/people – we do a rigorous impact analysis and security analysis before going live. And there should be a body like ISO or SEI – which enables the process to deliver fit for purpose AI with the appropriate audit framework in place. Otherwise, we will be unleashing something that may have a potential negative impact over the coming years.

What, according to you, could be the next significant change in the AI sector? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change?

I believe that companies are leveraging the advancements and are becoming very conscious about

ESG and the implementation of AI. This is resulting in exponential growth in the aspects of social and corporate governance as it enables them to become prominent organizations in the niche.

Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for Sutherland?

I envision myself continuing to work with People and Customers and making them successful. I also want to be at the forefront of innovation and aspire to get involved with the startup ecosystem – to learn and adopt the new Digital Tech.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the AI sector?

My first advice would be to learn and read about the opportunities and invest your time in understanding how to use AI in daily life and at work. And connect the dots!

Rae

Driving Digital Change

Fascinated with finding innovative ways of solving

old problems, Janice Rae taught herself Morse code at eight, later discovering her love for computers and gaming, naturally progressing into learning how to code.

At college, while learning code, she came across the sheer inequality and lack of diversity within tech as she was only the female in the class, making her feel awkward and uncomfortable.

Decades later, when Janice pieced together her experiences, she noticed an opportunity to implement change with real purpose . Addressing the lack of diversity that has plagued the tech industry for too long, being at the sharp end of it, she founded TechTalent Academy to help support underrepresented people into great jobs in the tech industry.

TechTalent Academy strives to change the academy model by offering free opportunities for underrepresented people to upskill while providing the best training levels for tech teams equipped as AWS and Microsoft partners.

As the CEO & Founder , Janice is pleased to disrupt the tech industry, shedding light on the lack of diversity and bringing an end to unconscious bias. The company supports businesses to create diverse, highly skilled tech teams through leading-edge tech training and employment services that directly meet the needs of tech organisations.

The Early Days

Janice started as a consultant, which was a significant achievement in itself. Gradually, she began to look at how she could quantify her knowledge through accomplishments.

Janice developed a love of learning and realised that it was transformational. Learning is just like gaining a superpower.

Taking this newfound love of learning, she fused it with tech and diversity (her other two passions) and launched TechTalent Academy to share the in-demand tech skills that employers are looking for and create career pathways in tech for underrepresented groups.

She reminisces: I’m a career changer too – I realised I really wanted to gravitate towards the things that made me happy which were tech and diversity. I understand why people want to work in tech, and if you haven’t had the opportunity to learn or sometimes haven’t had the support to open a role in tech, it can lead to a situation where you don’t feel fulfilled or happy in your role. advising on diversity and inclusion.

Connecting Employers with Tech Talent

TechTalent Academy connects tech employers with aspiring tech talent. It gives individuals and diverse

“ “

Janice Rae, CEO, and Founder TechTalent Academy

groups the skills, confidence, and opportunities they need to access a career in tech through its industryleading tech courses backed by its employability services.

The company then connects these talented and certified people with tech employers looking to tackle the lack of diversity within the industry. Its vision is for a fair and fit-for-purpose tech industry where everyone with talent can thrive.

TechTalent is widening and diversifying the tech talent pool, upskilling and training individuals across communities from all backgrounds to place them in tech jobs. It removes unconscious bias from its selection process, ensuring it only attracts the best and most diverse tech talent.

Janice mentions, "We've seen first-hand how this benefits tech employers by following our learners' journey after graduating from TechTalent Academy and successfully gaining employment. Tracking their impact and keeping in touch to measure their progression. We work with incredible employers who create the roles and support our students to flourish in their new careers.”

TechTalent's vision is for a tech industry where everyone with talent can thrive, closing tech skills gaps, opening up tech opportunities, and bringing more diversity to the tech industry with each learner who passes through its Academy doors. Janice asserts, "These opportunities shouldn't be limited to whether you went to university or not, where you live, your gender, your ethnicity, or any other cultural biases we've been ingrained with. If someone shows promise and talent, they should have access to the skills and opportunities they need to succeed.”

Steering the Wheel Janice believes that the most challenging part is the hiring process. Hiring great tech talent is difficult; costly recruitment processes, time-consuming administration of hiring, not enough talent with the right tech skills, candidates accepting multiple offers - the list goes on.

This is where TechTalent comes in. The Attract > Train > Deploy Model connects organisations with experienced tech specialists through a highly scalable and innovative hiring solution for organisations looking to

access experienced tech talent without traditional overheads. It handles the entire administrative process of recruiting and training individuals, helping reduce the risks and costs faced by organisations that want to grow and improve their technical capabilities rapidly. What Comes Next?

Janice says, "I'll be in tech forever or as long as they have me! I have huge plans for TechTalent – we are driven, ambitious, and keen to grow globally. We're looking to grow tenfold over the next five years, seeing us in a global space. That is super exciting for us and a journey we're enjoying.”

Bequeathing Brilliance

Janice advises budding entrepreneurs aspiring to venture into the tech sector to learn as much as possible about business beforehand; business coaches are great for learning the fundamentals. "Look for someone who has been on the same path as you. Having a positive mindset is critical; it's not just hard work; there can be months where you'll be tested beyond what you think is possible, and being positive will get you through.”

"The key is really to be persistent, consistent, and agile. If you map out your journey, it will change, giving you a roadmap of where you're going. That will then help you to achieve your goals. It will keep you accountable. Having a business coach will keep you accountable also - all these things are super important. Being agile is non-negotiable –you need to keep ahead of what's happening and be ready to navigate or change course at the drop of a hat (the pandemic was one of those events!). Positively embracing these areas makes it second nature and not a burden at all," Janice concludes.

Marissa “Reese” Wood, Executive Director JPMorgan

“Reese” Wood

Building Roadmaps to a Secure Future

As you are browsing the net and looking random

things up, do you worry about all the website cookies that are following you, peering over your shoulder, and making notes on your weird behavior online? Nobody likes being tracked, especially when it can lead to loss of data, money, or even identity.

In 2019, Mozilla Firefox implemented changes in their browsing protocol which made blocking third-party cookies and crypto mining a default – and working on this project with her product team was Marissa “Reese” Wood.

Reese Wood is a cybersecurity professional with over thirty years of experience in high-tech industries. She has just as many years of experience working with charitable organizations, which she loves just as much as her 'real job'. Currently, Reese is the Executive Director for JPMorgan within the Digital Platform Team. She has a history of managing teams in large organizations such as JPMorgan or Mozilla Firefox, and she has been a leader in multiple successful start-ups.

Reese's LinkedIn bio states, “I'm a visionary executive who delivers the strategy and road maps that align enterprise goals, investments, and capabilities with emerging markets and customer needs for high-tech companies. With the proven ability to develop and communicate clear direction and goals across functions. I partner with engineering, business, and external stakeholders to sustain focus and achieve milestones.” She laughed when we read that, saying, “I just wanted an incredibly professional way to say I'm someone who has worked their fingers to the bone.”

Reese has successfully run her own company providing cybersecurity consulting and managing entire program

implementations of many large cross-organizational systems. Organizations and boards that Reese has served on from a charity standpoint include IDEAS Worldwide, In the Looking Glass, Colorado Edge Soccer, Coaches Aid/ASBN, the Denver Rescue Mission, and others.

From Small Town to Fortune 500

Reese's journey from a small town in the mountains of Colorado to becoming a leader in one of the largest financial companies in the world has been an interesting one. She served clients in a variety of industries including technology, communications, financial services, utility, retail, healthcare, insurance, mining, and cybersecurity; and worked successfully with some of the best-known Fortune 500 including Hewlett Packard, Seagate, IBM, Dell, Maxtor, Sony, Oracle, Newmont Mining, etc.

I'm a visionary executive who delivers the strategy and roadmaps that align enterprise goals, investments, and capabilities with emerging markets and customer needs for high-tech companies.

While Reese was president of Tabernus, it was named as one of Deloitte and Touche's top 50 Fastest growing technology companies in Colorado. The company was later acquired for more than 15x valuation. Her leadership efforts in assisting the launch of one of Colorado's most successful IPOs have also left a significant impact on the technology market in Denver.

When we asked about the biggest challenges she faced on the way, she graciously states, “When I started in the high-tech industry, it was 80% men and only 20% women. I was fortunate to be surrounded by many exceptional people who were incredibly supportive and helped me steer through adversity. However, that didn't prevent me from experiencing all of the stereotypical challenges of being a young woman in a largely male-dominated industry in the mid-90s. Things such as sexual harassment, misogyny, greed, the 'no girls allowed' clubs, etc. were all part of the culture that has since changed a great deal. Through it all, I have learned that if you can lean on the true leaders around you, persevere, hold true to your values, work hard, and focus on always learning the latest / greatest thing, change and evolution come. In this case, we've seen such fantastic growth and shifts in the high-tech field – I love it. I wouldn't change a thing and am so grateful for the friends that I've made throughout my career journey.”

Project: Safe and Secure

The culture at JPMorgan is one that supports innovation and encourages leaders to think out of the box. The company is also committed to diversity, environmental sustainability, and community development. This fosters an environment of innovation and giving back among the teams of JPMorgan.

At JPMorgan, Reese and her team have contributed to major efforts such as Project Bloom which is “a digital network for JPMorgan clients that will match start-ups with investors, helping them in fundraising rounds.” She and her team have also been part of projects that heavily leverage cyber security advancements, such as Fusion.

Some of the most interesting and impactful work that Reese has done was with the Firefox web browser. She shares, “Working with my product team, we wanted to really make privacy and security a felt experience. Fast forward and you'll see a protections dashboard that evolved from a privacy report that my team and I worked on.

Another incredibly interesting project that my team was part of was Firefox's initiative to Block Third-Party Tracking Cookies and Cryptomining by Default.”

Thoughts of a Cyber Expert

We asked Reese, “ What is the one change she wishes she could bring to the industry? ” to which, she responded saying, “If I could change anything it would be to mitigate the risks associated with remote working. More than ever, individuals are using their personal devices. It is critical for the cyber industry to focus on the difficulties of large, distributed teams. This includes methods for improving systems, streamlining security controls, ensuring monitoring without compromising privacy, and (most importantly) creating a seamless experience for the end user.”

Talking about future risks in cybersecurity - one of the most significant areas of focus, according to Reese - is the Post Quantum Cryptography era. She states, “There is an opportunity for massive exploitation of data with the evolution of supercomputers. We are seeing incredible investments in this area to get ahead of the problem, and I think that spending is well justified. JPMorgan is getting ahead of this by building cutting-edge technology and using a Quantum Key Distribution Network to secure data and applications.”

Changing the Fray of High-tech

Reese sees herself finishing out her career in high tech. She loves the challenges and unforeseen things that come up and make her job interesting. It keeps her excited about logging in each day. In the longer term, she looks forward to contributing further to complex technology problems that haven't yet been seen, seeing her twins graduate from college, and a home filled with grandkids.

Her advice for budding cybersecurity entrepreneurs is – “Dream big! My career has been amazing largely because of the great people, rapid evolutions, and world-changing inventions that have come out of high tech. I look forward to seeing what the next generation brings to the table.”

I envision myself delivering AI solutions that, first and foremost, everyone finds useful. Because ultimately, I think the role of AI is to free up our time so that we can use it to do things we enjoy and are more meaningful, like spending time with friends and family.

Sonny Patel

Delivering Cutting-Edge Conversational AI Solutions

We don’t ask for directions anymore or memorize the route to get anywhere. If stranded in an unknown place without access to the internet, we would inevitably get lost for hours – leading us to wonder – how did people do this before? The emergence of technologies like Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and others have brought advancements that make life unfathomable without them. Such are the AI solutions that Sonny Patel, SVP of Product & Engineering, Conversational Intelligence at LivePerson wants to deliver to people.

Sonny is an established tech executive who believes in building products that have a far-reaching impact. She loves working with teams that consistently raise the bar with their results, and she leads a 200+ global, crossfunctional team consisting of developers, product managers, TPMs, QA & UI/UX professionals across ten different time zones who do just thatCurrently, she is . pushing the boundaries of human and digital conversations at LivePerson, with the aim of creating the world’s best AI-powered conversational platform that helps brands initiate and maintain warm, empathetic, and long-lasting relationships with their customers.

In an exclusive interview with CIOLook, Sonny Patel shared her STEM journey, her mission to create AI solutions that change the world, and what she wishes to change about the IT field.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader up to your current position at LivePerson. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today?

I have been fascinated with computers ever since I got one as a present in the 90s, and this sparked the curiosity that led me to pursue both an undergraduate and a graduate degree in Computer Science and ultimately turn it into a lifelong career. Over the past two decades, I have had the opportunity to learn and grow at some of the world’s best technology companies: Dell, Microsoft, Amazon and now LivePerson. It has been an amazing privilege to be trained by the very best.

During the first few years of my career, I decided that I wanted more out of it. I wanted to learn more about building and leading world-class teams, which is the single-most important skill to harness technology and build life-changing solutions. About a decade ago, I got a business degree from UC Berkeley. Since then, I’ve taken on increasing responsibilities and delivered consistently against my objectives. As a result, I got the opportunity to lead teams of increasing size even as I switched companies.

I started with leading a team of four about 12 years ago, and now I lead a global, cross-functional organization of over 200 engineers that helped build LivePerson’s core platform offering, called the Conversational Cloud. I have always liked challenging myself, and I feel that being strategic and resilient helps me deliver results regardless of the number of distractions that we all face on a daily basis.

I also thrive when I work with team members with extraordinary work ethic and high integrity because such people raise the bar for everyone around them. For that reason, I am particular about the talent that I surround myself with.

I’m proud of my career journey so far, and I want to acknowledge that I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for mentors who were willing to take a bet on me when the opportunities arose.

Tell us more about your company and its mission and vision.

For more than 25+ years, LivePerson has been at the forefront of technology advancements that help humans and computers communicate with each other. Rooted in human emotion and powerful AI understanding, our sights are set on pushing the boundaries of digital conversations. This vision is built on a foundation of passionate, driven employees who embody our mission to create Curiously Human™ digital experiences.

We are honored to be recognized among our peers as an industry leader. Enterprise brands across the globe use LivePerson’s AI-powered customer engagement solutions to have conversations with millions of consumers as personally as they would with a single consumer. With our Conversational Cloud, brands can:

•Engage with consumers across the communication channels they already enjoy

•Gain real-time insight into 100% of conversations they have with consumers across digital channels

•Automate conversations with Conversational AI, built on one of the most impressive data sets of consumer conversations

•Empower agents with AI to drive cost savings and customer satisfaction

•Connect our capabilities into their backend systems to bring their full power to their customers and agents

How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions even more impactful?

We are a global leader in Conversational AI, the tech that lets AI communicate with humans through naturalfeeling conversations. Our AI is powered by over 20 years of conversation data we’ve accumulated, helping thousands of clients, including the world’s largest brands, a message with consumers at scale. We now power a billion conversational interactions a month, giving us a unique dataset for building AI.

Unlike more generalist AIs that aren’t specialized to handle any one thing, we are laser focused on AI for customer engagement. We work with the biggest brands in the world to build the AI and automations that let them talk to their millions of consumers at scale.

How have your company’s solutions impacted your customer brands?

Brands use our Conversational Cloud platform and Conversational AI to have two-way conversations with customers based on what they are doing or asking in real time. This reduces labor-intensive customer care and personalizes sales interactions. With LivePerson, brands have reduced customer care costs by up to 50% and increased annual sales by hundreds of millions of dollars. We unlock these benefits because our modern approach to customer engagement runs on AI but feels Curiously Human™.

When you get into the numbers, LivePerson’s customer brands have seen up to:

•2x increases in employee efficiency

•10x conversions vs. traditional digital experiences

•20% boosts in customer satisfaction

•90% automation containment rates

•50% decreases in agent attrition rates

I’m also proud to share that Fast Company recently named LivePerson the #1 Most Innovative AI Company in the World. And Aragon Research recently published a report ranking vendors in the Conversational AI space, naming LivePerson a Leader!

Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization.

At the heart of everything we do, from the way we connect brands to their customers to how we partner within our teams, four values guide our growth as individuals and as a global organization:

1. Dream big: We are agents of change. We solve problems creatively, all while introducing, welcoming, and delivering new ideas. We start with intent, welcome diverse perspectives, and look to the data to improve outcomes.

2. Help Others: We advocate for others and proactively engage to make a difference in the world. We are team players who approach every single task and conversation with a collaborative spirit.

3. Pursue Expertise: We strive to improve—hone our expertise. We believe that there’s always room to grow and that the pathway to deeper understanding comes out of vulnerability.

4. Own it: We are accountable. Period. We see our work through, prioritize appropriately, act resiliently, and even say “No” when we need to. As individuals, we’re empowered to take charge and become leaders at every stage.

I lean on these values on a daily basis to guide the decisions I make and to guide how I lead my teams to achieve our objectives. In particular, I’m a big believer of taking complete ownership when taking on a responsibility without worrying about which job duties fall within my direct responsibilities. This is where building strong partnerships and trust plays a big role in being successful.

What change would you like to bring to the IT industry if given a chance?

I truly wish we had more women leaders in the IT industry. I know I share the desire for more diversity in the tech sectors with many of my peers, and it is a difficult challenge to solve that needs to begin at a high school level and encourage more girls to take an interest in STEM.

The other aspect is retaining women in the workforce so that they don’t leave the industry after spending years being trained. At every single company I have worked at, it has been heartening to see that there are groups of individuals who are passionate about solving this problem. I have actively participated as much as I can in recruiting and mentoring more women.

I wish I could wave a magic wand to make the gender disparity disappear, but realistically it will likely take us years to ensure we have more women entering and staying in the workforce. That is why it’s important to keep shining a light on this problem and working on it continuously.

What, according to you, could be the next notable change in the AI sector? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change?

We have a real opportunity to utilize AI to overcome some of the limitations in human decision-making that have proven to be extremely difficult to eradicate - such as subconscious bias.

We know that subconscious bias impacts many decisions that we as humans make on a daily basis and this, in turn, has broad implications on our society. These could be decisions about school admissions, hiring for jobs or credit card applications. Imagine if AI could help us make all of these decisions - we’d then have the opportunity to build a truly bias-free world and give everyone an equal chance at achieving success.

This idea is extraordinarily enticing, and this is an excellent opportunity to showcase the potential AI can have on our lives. It does, however, require that the underlying data that we use to power the AI needs to be as free from bias as possible in order for us to build and use data models to power better decision-making.

For this reason, I’m very proud that LivePerson is a founding member of EqualAI, a nonprofit organization focused on reducing unconscious bias in the development and use of artificial intelligence. Together with leaders and experts across business, technology, and government, we are developing standards and tools, as well as identifying regulatory and legislative solutions, to increase awareness and reduce bias.

Where do you envision yourself to be eventually, and what are your future goals for LivePerson?

I believe we are still scratching the surface when it comes to how we utilize AI in our daily lives. The applications are really endless, and because of that, the

competition in this space is intense. I envision myself delivering AI solutions that, first and foremost, everyone finds useful. I want to spend my time building solutions that make people say, “what did we do before we had this?” Because ultimately, I think the role of AI is to free up our time so that we can use it to do things we enjoy and are more meaningful, like spending time with friends and family.

At LivePerson, we are currently building solutions focused on customer engagement. However, in the future, the same technology that we are building could be expanded to solve problems in other sectors. That’s very exciting.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the IT sector?

My advice for entrepreneurs or anyone setting off on a new career journey is to find your personal sources of motivation. What is the thing that makes you so happy that it keeps you going when you inevitably have some hard days? This may take a few years and might involve experimenting with distinct roles, technology areas and companies. But the time spent learning about your own interests and motivations is well worth the investment.

First, what motivates each of us will be vastly different, so there isn’t a standard answer that fits us all. Second, if the motivation is purely extrinsic, it fades really fast, especially on days that are challenging. It took a good chunk of a decade for me to realize what I like the best about my job and what keeps me going. I make sure that no matter what new role I take, I spend more time doing things that fulfill me.

Celia Pool Co-founder DAME

The world is finally waking up to the single-use plastic crisis. Over the last 10 years we have created more plastic than the whole of the last century combined. Half of the plastic we create is used just once, and then thrown away, taking 500 years to decompose. By 2050, the oceans are predicted to contain more plastic than fish. The plastic crisis is now too big for recycling alone to fix.

Global governments, businesses and consumers need to collaborate quickly to make impactful change before it’s too late. However, change is difficult when environmentally damaging habits have become so entrenched and often appear more financially appealing.

Technology is helping in this fight. Reusable water bottles are now widespread, and apps that help you locate drinking water refill stations are now emerging. At the same time, reusable coffee cup technology is addressing the half a trillion disposable coffee cups discarded every year. Such items are gaining increasing social currency with consumers, who are keen to display them as markers of their environmental conscience. This revolution is encouraging, but what about the products that people aren’t so willing to talk about?

100 billion menstrual products are thrown away globally every year. These are single-use, mostly made of plastic and cannot be recycled. You can choose not to have a coffee, you cannot choose not to have a period. Reusable options (e.g. menstrual cups, cloth pads) have been on the market for decades, yet the adoption rate has been slow. The primary barrier to entry is the fear of habit change.

So how do we bring about a revolution? The answer is keep it simple. And take time to consider consumer psychology. As humans, we abhor change. We are creatures drawn

towards the comfort of the known. By keeping habit change to a minimum, consumers are much more likely to adopt a new idea.

This was our philosophy at DAME when we created the world’s first reusable tampon applicator. We ensured the design was familiar and intuitive, so women did not have to compromise on their convenient, established rituals. We knew that hygiene could be a significant barrier to entry, so we worked with leading micro-biologists and medical engineers and used the best medical grade, anti-microbial materials on the market. As a result, the consumer only must rinse the applicator in cold water after use to keep it clean. Simple steps, minimal habit change.

However, it is challenging to tackle an issue that has such little awareness. Menstruation has historically been shrouded in shame, fear and discretion. It is not a topic openly talked about. This is a problem with feminine care as a whole: it is frequently dismissed and the women trying to address it are critically underfunded. In 2017 female founders got 2% of the $85 billion VC investment pot. About 8% of partners at the top British VC firms are women. According to Harvard Business Review, stereotypes about female entrepreneurs persist: women are overly cautious, shy away from growth, have insufficient resources and consequently their ventures underperform. Yet there is no performance data to support these stereotypes.

How are products used by women supposed to change in line with human and environmental needs, when they aren’t given appropriate recognition or have women involved in all stages of the process? Women need to be given more of a voice if we are to create meaningful change. The world of AI is already highlighting the need to diverse away from male, white,

Western coders if we are to avoid unconscious bias in the robots of tomorrow. Amazon had to abandon an AI recruitment tool that was discriminating against women, instead favoring prospects who mirrored Amazon’s existing male engineer workforce. At DAME women have been involved in every stage of the journey, not as a token gesture but as an absolute necessity.

However, our overarching business strategy goes beyond issues of inclusivity to incorporate a wider mission. DAME was founded on the belief that business can be used as a force for good. We use this core value to guide every decision we make in the business, bringing great clarity to our route forward. By communicating our genuine and authentic commitment to this mission, we hope that our message will quickly be picked up by those eager to join a movement for change. To date, we have seen this happen not only with our consumers and the press, but with employees. People are increasingly drawn to companies doing good. 75% of millennials would take a pay cut to work at a socially responsible company.

All this strengthens our resolve at DAME to continue to tackle critical problems that are not openly acknowledged, that are significantly underfunded, and that have historically been controlled by giant monopolies. Today we are focusing on menstrual products, but our vision is to revolutionize the entire bathroom. These are big mountains, but having strong guiding principles makes the navigation much easier.

-Words by Celia Pool Co-founder of DAME

For more information visit wearedame.co