>>Yeah. Hello and welcome to the Cubes Presentation of Women in text. Global event Celebrating International Women's Day I'm John for a host of the Cube were with Sally E. Senior Policy Advisor Global Foundation for Cyber Studies and Research. Sally, great to see you. Thanks for coming on the cue for International Women's Day. Appreciate it. >>Pleasure, John. Great speech again. >>Love your title. Global Foundation for Cyber Studies. Um, global is a big part of the theme this year. Uh, cyber studies. We're seeing a lot of cyber activity all around the world, networks, communities coming together, the role of data. I mean, everything is touching our lives. There are no boundaries anymore. What does it all mean? There's so much to talk about your in the middle of it before we get into it. Tell us about your career and your history. How you got interested in tech and what you're working on. >>Absolutely. I love it. Kind of this age of convergence coming together right now, isn't it? That's how I would describe it. And that's kind of a bit like my career. I think in many ways as well. So for the audience, really great to be here and share about that today, and I kind of say, three main palace, so one would be emergent technologies. So, you know, I started off right through from coding to advisory to CTO type roles as well also change management. And now I'm more advisors right across from a I to five G to to Iot and security, for example as well. Also passionate about education checking education for me. They always go hand in hand, some a professor at a number of universities and in my non for profit, we really do a lot of outreach around educational opportunities as well. And that third pillar opponent hinted at it already will be social impact. So really passionate about how we can use tech as a force for good things around sustainability right at the heart of that, but also around diversity equity and inclusion. So we do a lot of pro project your locally and globally around kind of reframing what a tech career looks like, giving people more democratised access. Those tech opportunities outside of that a bit like yourself, you know, podcast host and writer and speaker and things as well, so very much going to building that community around key tech topics. >>Well, folks watching should check it out on Twitter. She's that great content you mentioned Mobile World Congress. Before we get on camera, you mentioned convergence. I mean, we're at a time now. I got to ask you while I got you here before we get into the whole schools and career tech thing, we've seen this movie before, but never at this scale. The convergence and the confluence of education and scale of cloud computing, the ability to level up and get, um, I won't say democratised. That's kind of overused. But I'm just talking about like with cloud computing could be educated and in market with a job instantly. Um, the barriers just seem to be moving away because of the the openings and the roles are changing. So, more than ever, this whole new tech scene comes together in a way. Can you share your thoughts and vision because to me, we're seeing this happening at such a scale unprecedented in my career? >>It is. And that's one of those words that the part had been overused, unprecedented, but right now it really, really is. It's not just a speed of change. I think it's a scale of change as well. You know, I think previously we've talked about disciplines in silos to a certain extent. Haven't we know in terms of like, an AI special is, um or five g one or other disciplines as well? But really, now that convergence about what one tech enables another, it really is that smart technology coming together for more and more different use cases, but that residents around how important education is alongside that alongside process alongside culture and shared values as well it really is. It's kind of holistic integration of everything that matters at the moment. And it's evolving business models as well. You know, shared values rights centre stage around that MWC just come back from that, And the key topics there weren't just by G, it was the importance of ecosystem collaboration. For example, there are less tracks that were isolated on one technology. It was more this conflation of these different technologies coming together and what we can achieve from that from business but also for society so really exciting focus areas now things that maybe once or a few years ago, more than periphery. They're now absolutely centre stage. So it's good to see that progress in that area. And I love to advocate around that. >>And the education piece is so important, and we always stay here in Cuba. It's a data problem, right? Everything's a data problem when you look at schools and education is structured and unstructured data kind of our our systems right, So structured as schools, institutions, those kinds of career paths or education pathways. And then you haven't structured freeform communities, seeing a lot more education going on within groups. Um, off structured environments like schools, Can you and you do a lot with schools? Can you share more how you're doing? Um uh, work with schools specifically on the structured side to get girls into careers faster and tech? And then can you also comment on the other side? What's going on in the communities because it's it's kind of going on in parallel, but they're not mutually exclusive. >>No, absolutely community, absolutely key word that I love that, and I think when we're talking about diversity and technology, it's not just what we're doing now with what we're looking at is looking ahead, but also looking at future pipeline as well. So for me, I use this express a little bit. But change the narrative. That's what springs to mind for me when we're talking about that, and particularly for girls going into technology but also more broadly, diversity of experience. More broadly, we do have these drop offs, so UK is one example, but it is really representative of the global trends that we're seeing. Now. We get a drop off of girls in particular, taking ice subjects at GCSE level so kind of that subject choice choice at 12 to 14, that kind of area. We get the same thing at a level that's equivalent of 16 to 18 and then even safer university or even apprenticeships, whichever both equally valid. But even if people are taking those types of skills, they're not then choosing to apply them in their careers. So we're seeing these kind of three pillars where we need to intervene earlier. So for me, the more that we can do things you know from dedicated educational offers, but equally partnering with tech companies to do outreach around this area. We need to go in younger and younger is so important to address that. Why? Why are people thinking they can't? Why is his career not for me, for example, so addressing that is huge. And that's one of the things we do with my nonprofit that's called aspirational futures. We go into schools and two universities, but equally do things with older adults and re Skilling and up Skilling as well. Because again, we can't leave that behind either. There's something for all different kind of age groups and backgrounds here, but specifically, I think, in terms of getting people interested in this career, curiosity matters. You know, I think it's an underrated skills. So it's changing the narrative again. And what the tech career actually is, what skills are valid? You know, I mentioned, I have a coding background as a starter. But not all tech careers involve coding, particularly the rise of low code or no code, for example as well. So really valued skill. But so many other skills are valid as well, you know, creativity or emotional intelligence problem solving skills. So for me, I like to drive forward. All those skills can make a difference as an individual, as a team, so your you know your tech career. All those skills are valid and you can make a huge difference. And I also think, you know, just kind of really bringing to the fore what different types of projects you can be involved in in tech as well. And I found really resonating when you can talk about tech for good projects and show how you're making a difference about some of those big challenges. Um, that's kind of really kind of resonating responsible people as well. So again, the more we can show tangible projects where you can make a difference and the whole range of skills that are involved in that it really helps people to think differently and gain that skills confidence. So it's like, >>Well, that's awesome insight. I want to just double click on that for a second, because one the drop off. Can you just repeat the ages where you see the drop off with the drop offs are >>absolutely yeah, no problem, John. So it's kind of when you're making your first choices around your first kind of qualifications. Between that 12 to 14 age group, 16 to 18 and then 18 to 21 I think we've really got to tackle that So again the earlier we can go in the better and again supporting people within organisations as well. So I do a lot of work like internally, with organisations as well people looking to up skill and re skill. You mentioned about data and the importance of data literacy earlier on in the conversation as well. For example, going into organisations and really helping to support people in all roles, not just tech facing roles develop that skills, confidence as well. So for me it's access to skills really bringing forward the difference. You can make that holistic range of skills that makes a difference, but also the confidence to apply them as well. You know, we talk about agility, of organisations, a lot areas, one of those kind of words in the last 12 months. But maybe we don't talk about personal agility and team agility as well. So I kind of talked about it. This little toolbox, if we can give people more and more things to draw from it, the only constant is this rate of change. If you've got more things in your armoury to cope with that and be an agile to that. It takes that fear away about what happens next because you feel you've got more skills to dip into it and to apply. So for me, it's that that confidence, not just the access to the skills >>and the other thing, too, I thought was insightful. I want to just reiterate and bring to the surface again as skills, right? So you don't have to be a coder. And I see I have two daughters just with my family. Yeah, I do python. They kind of put their toe in the water cause it's cool. Maybe that's a path, and they kind of don't like, maybe get into it. But it's not about coding anymore because you said low code, no code. Certainly. Maybe AI writes the code. We all see that happening. It's problem solving. It's you could be in health care and you could be nerd native, as we say, as on some of the other interviews of that year at the problem, solving the aperture of skills is much broader now. Can >>you share more than >>more than because with your with your programme and your nonprofit, I know you're in the middle of it, and this is important to get that out there. >>Absolutely so skills. You know, I think we need to change the focus on what skills make a difference if you see what I mean. I think you're absolutely right. There's some misconceptions about, you know, you want to go into tech, you need to be a coda. And you're right with the upscale around low Skilling. Sorry, Low code and the code opportunities. Um, I think the niches around being a specialist. Koda. We're gonna get more roles in that area, but in other areas, we need to look at different skills gap. So I'm advising people to look at where the gaps are now. So cyber security is a key example of that testing architecture. Those gaps are getting bigger. Their amazing skills, opportunities. They're so focused on a particular discipline. But it's all those skills that surround that that make a difference as well. So as I mentioned, you know, e Q creativity, communication skills, because it's not just about having the skills to build the future, knew that imagination to refocus about what that could even be. You know, that was one of the MWC 20 to refrain, reimagine and I love to kind of galvanise that spirit and people that you can be part of that, you know, wherever you are now. And I actually run a little series called 365, and you mentioned something right at the start of our conversation about International Women's Day being such an important focus area. But also we need to think about this beyond that as well. So hence that's the title of the series that I run because it's a focus on that every single day of the year. You know, I interviewed people that could be a C suite roles, but equally I've had some amazing interviews with 12 to 14 year olds, even younger, the youngest of the seven year old. He's doing like an amazing project in their kitchen with a three D printer working with local school or a hospice doing something around Ukraine. Another project we're doing at the moment, actually, and it's so resonating it's trying to show people wherever you are now, wherever you want to be, there's somebody relatable that you can make. You can see whatever sector, in whatever age, whatever background, and I think it's to give that inspiration. Hey, you know what I can do that that can be me. So visibility of role models, it really matters. And to really broaden out what role model looks like, you know? >>And then I think people out there you see yourself. I mean, this is what we been >>proven right? >>It's proven I want to get into the aspirational futures thing that you have going on, and I know this is important to you, but also something else you said was, is that there's more jobs open and say cybersecurity than ever before. And you're seeing this trend where all these new roles are emerging because of the tech that weren't around years ago, right? And so we've been having conversations in the Cube saying, Hey, all these roles are new, but also problems are new to these New new problems are surfacing because of the this new environment we're in. So these new roles still have to solve problems, so we need people to solve those problems. This is the future. This is the conversation that people are trying to get zero in on misinformation, cybersecurity, you name it. Society is changing with >>new. You >>have new new problems and new opportunities. Could you share your aspirational future? How you vector into that? >>Yeah, absolutely. And for me it's just again that we're convergence around people in technology and partnership, and that's what we aim to do. We do projects at a very local level, but equally we do them at national and international level as well. And one of our kind of people assume I'm talking pillars a lot, but I like it as a framework. So one of those esteem learning. So putting an equal value on the arts as well as science, technology, engineering, mathematics because I think they are. You know, as I mentioned before, hand that imagination, creativity, curiosity, collaboration, skills. They're equally valid as a different types of tech skills as well. We need an equal value and all of them. I think that's hugely important, important today. I think over the last 5 to 10 years, maybe there's been less of a focus within curriculums on the arts area than the other areas. So for me, putting that equal focus back is hugely important to navigate change, you know, I think that's that's that's absolutely key. So we focus on that area and we do a whole range of tech for good projects, and that's the way we help people to learn, you know, for example, data 90% at the moment of data isn't touched again when it's archived after three months. How can we turn that into a learning opportunity? For example? Some of the projects we use some of this is not going to be used again. We do it in a very safe, secure way, but we use that as one of our training aids, and then we apply them for local projects. We have initiatives from hackathons and ideation right through to very tangible hubs that we've actually built out where people can go, learn up skill and kind of learn through play and experimentation as well. Because again, I think that sometimes under explored that type of value and that freedom to be able to do that. And we also do things, change management skills. We talk about agile learning, agile technology need agile change management as well. So it's a very holistic skills. Look at what you need to navigate that future and have the confidence to apply them. So steam is very much our focus, applying them for tech for good projects and doing that externally, but also within organisations as well. So that very much is shared value approach to good business, but good for society as well. So yes, that this toolbox, that technology I applied earlier we really try and give people that support. To be able to do that, to move forward with confidence and optimism. >>I think adding the aid to stem really for steam is really smart because entrepreneurship or any problem solving creativity is the spark of innovation. >>And that's a super >>important skill. And we've seen it, whether it's startup or in a big company or in society, so super, super insightful. So I got to ask you, as a policy senior policy advisor on cyber studies globally, what are the core issues you're looking at right now? What are you shutting the light on and what's the most important thing you're working on? And then what's the most important thing you're working that people aren't talking about, that people should pay attention to >>Absolutely so. One of my key roles of the foundation is is kind of share of global trust. Essentially, um, and again trust is that one of the key issues of our time? One thing that people are talking about so much that relates with that actually is there's there's research from a group called The Woman. They've been looking at this for about 17 years or so. The research that came out most recently and I've got some original research that kind of support this as well is that for the first time ever, consumers are looking at organisations like tech organisations and other large organisations, in particular the enterprise level, really, as the bastions of trust to a bigger extent than NGOs or even governments. And that's the first time we've seen it at that level. So trust really really matters. It's one of the biggest differentiators of our time, so we're trying to help people. How do you establish trust? How do you build transparency, commitment and accountability, particularly in areas where there's currently confusion, so as one example going back Security zero Trust That phrase is used an awful lot, isn't it? But it's sometimes causing some confusion. Actually, it against what it's trying to deliver if you see what to me. So now I just do something recently with SMB s in particular and there is a confusion that effectively, you know, you could You could buy off the shelf and it's once and done. Um, And then we're sorted for the zero Trust security. And obviously it's not like that. It's an ongoing journey, and there's so many different constituent parts. So there's some things I'm seeing at the moment in the market with there's confusion around around certain language, for example. So again it goes back to backing things up with the technology but also research and awareness so we can see where those skills gaps are. You can see where there's awareness gaps are we can help to fill them. So that's an important part of that particular role bringing the technology in the culture and the education hand in hand together. So it's something I'm really passionate about, and for me sort of related to this, Um, I do a lot of work around S G, um, to the sustainable development goals. In particular, environmental and social governance is something that's becoming much more of a bigger kind of centre stage conversation. I'm an action point in a moment which is fantastic because this is something I've been involved in kind as long as I can remember. So I work directly with organisations like, um Unesco, lots of different professional bodies. It's kind of a huge driver for me. So one thing to kind of look out for that's coming very soon. I'm seeing an issue around around measurement in this area. You know, we're seeing consumers becoming more and more conscious and employees, you know you want to work for by from advocate organisations that have that same value alignment that you have personally and professionally, hugely important. We're seeing some great reports coming out around better e S g measurement. But it can be hard to compare between different organisations, so we are getting more transparency. But it's difficult sometimes to make fare comparisons. Um, so what I'm trying to do a lot of work on at the moment is how you go beyond that transparency to commitment to accountability and that deeper level and that comparability. So I would say kind of to the audience moment, Look out for a bit of a new index. It's going to help people, I think, make those conscious choices make informed choices. So it's something I'm super, super passionate about. I want to try and take that to next level in terms of its actualisation. >>That's awesome. And certainly we'll link to it on our site. All the work you're doing on interviews will put links there as well. We'll make sure we'll follow up on that. Great to have you on. You're such an inspiration. Amazing work, cutting edge work. And I'm I'm super impressed with the cyber studies, and I think this is really important. I have to ask you a final question because you're in the middle of it again with covid and the unfortunate situations we've been living with Covid. And now, obviously with this Ukraine situation that the cyber has been pulled to the front of the agenda and you're seeing a cultural shift. You certainly got Web three. Cyber is now part of everyone's life, and they can see it. They've been seeing it living it. Everything's been pulled forward as a cultural shift happening, okay, and and it's really interesting right now, and I want to get your thoughts because this now people are now aware what cyberwar means cyber security cyber. At home, I have remote work. Cyber has become front and centre or digital. However you want to call it in our lives pulled forward. >>So I'm not even sure in some >>cases, maybe rightfully so, and others. What's your view on this whole cultural cyber being pulled forward? >>It is. It's really, really interesting. And so one of the things I do is I am now ready to a Cyber Insights magazine as well. So we're developing a lot of content pieces around this and lots of things I'm seeing here. So your covid point, I think one of the most interesting things there is around literacy. For example, you remember when we went back to 18 months ago? We're having daily briefings, whether that's from from UK Parliament or the U. S. Equivalent. And different phrases were coming into everyday language driven by the curve or driven by the data. And they're coming into everyday life and people family kitchen table. It was something that hasn't been spoken about before, but suddenly it was driving everyday decision making and what you could and couldn't do. And that's raised awareness. And I think it helped people to ask better questions and to challenge things that they're seeing. And where has that data come from? How has it been presented to have seen that there? I think similarly, where we're having that same understanding and raise of questioning around what we're hearing around cyber as well. You're looking at where that source has come from, and how can we look at that in a different way? So again, I think it's raising that awareness, which is really, really crucial, >>the >>other thing as well around cyber security in particular. And again, I don't think this is talked about as much. When we talk about aspects around inclusion, we talk about diversity equity. Um, I'll see inclusion. I talk about belonging a lot as well. I think there's other aspects around sustainability that Inter relate as well, because when we find, for example, communities that are not included, they tend to be more adversely affected by, for example, climate factors as well. There's an interrelation. They're equally We find that people that haven't got, for example, the same level of cybersecurity protection are also in that same. There's an interrelation across all those elements were not talking about that either. So that's the other thing. I want to kind of bring attention to their again. They aren't separate conversations is a huge crossover between these different conversations and actions that we can do to make a difference. So there's some positive aspects about things that have happened over the last period of time and also some challenges that if we're aware of them, we can work together again, that collaboration piece to be able to overcome them. You know, I've got I've got a book coming out, all for charity called Tech for Good and one of my kind of tag lines. There is around contagion of positive change. Again, let's reframe the language around what's been happening. And let's kind of put that together is something that's far more positive. >>Language is super important, great >>content here. So >>thanks so much for coming. I really appreciate all the great insight and taking the time out of your busy day to to join us here in the Cube. Women in tech Global Event. Thank you so much. >>My absolute pleasure. Thank you. Thank you all for watching. >>Okay. The cubes presentation of women in text. Global event Celebrating International Women's Day. I'm John for a host of the Cube. Thanks for watching

(upbeat music) >> Hello, welcome to theCUBE's presentation of Women in Tech, Global Event, celebrating International Women's Day. I'm John Furrier, your host of theCUBE here in Palo Alto, California. We got two great guests. Cindy Polin, head of Solution Architects for Public Sector in Mexico for AWS. And Fernanda Spinardi, who's also the head of Solution Architects for Public Sector in Brazil, both with AWS. Thanks for coming, appreciate your time. >> Thanks for the invitation. >> Thank you, John. >> So we're celebrating International Women's Day this week, and this month, and pretty much every day, I think we're going to be doing a lot of good stuff. But today's a special day. And talking about people's careers, their roles, the gender gap, is a big theme this year. These are all the topics that are going on and being discussed. So, it's a been a lot of fun when learning a lot, I have to ask you guys with AWS, Cindy we'll start with you. How is AWS addressing the gender gap in its technical teams? Because solution architects, they're technical. And we need more women in there. How is AWS addressing the gender gap with its technical teams? >> Yes, for sure, thank you very much. Let me start with a quick note about what is the situation in Mexico. Let me go first into a report published by IMCO, and this is talking about this gender gaps in a STEM career. So let me tell you that three out of 10 professionals who choose careers related with the STEM, with the science technology, engineering and mathematics, are women. So, can you imagine this difference, It's really critical because for sure, we have few women. And in the moment that you try to reach people, to be part of the company, it's difficult. So it's important for AWS to be very very supportive in this initiative and also to be supporting diverse teams. So, that's why we are very supportive in bringing diverse talent in the company. >> There's a lot of focus on getting people early into the pipe lining. Is that some another big area? Did the study show anything there? >> Well, basically it's that we are studying to push harder, to bring more information to the ladies, to the women in general. And also to start developing the technical skills. Because it's really difficult and in the moment that you try to do this, it start like seeing these behaviors or stigmas about this is only for men, it's not for women. So we are trying to start breaking this point in general. >> Fernanda, we had a great chat about Latin America reinvent on theCUBE with your leader over there and, we were talking about the broader community and how you guys are partnering with external organizations and customers. How is Amazon Web Services, AWS, aiming to foster better balance and gender balance and technology partnerships in Latin America? >> Sure, so while the situation in Brazil is not different from the situation that Cindy was mentioning in Mexico right? Our research shows that women only represent around 37% of the workforce where in the country we have over 51-52% of women as part of our population. While we can take this from a gap perspective, also, we can take it from an opportunity perspective. There is such a huge unexplored workforce that we can bring to be part of AWS in the technology world, right? So for us on AWS and Amazon, it's part part of our day one culture. So we are still learning, right? And we are still trying, experimenting to see how we can bring more women to the tech world. One of the things that we are investing in Brazil and in Latin America, are the early in career talent programs. This is something that we have the opportunity to work with the students. And in LATAM, it's a little bit different from the US. We have the opportunity to work with them for one year sometimes for two years in a role while they work they are still in the university and we prepare that talent really early in their career and bring them to be part of Amazon. So yeah, I'm super excited with those programs, I can, talk more about it, but this is one of the initiatives that we are betting that will maybe be a game changer for us in the technology. >> Yeah, those are very interesting stats, 37% of the workers in country where women represent over half of the population. So definitely a lot of work to be done. I got to ask both of you. Amazon has a leadership principle that says that they want to strive to be the world's, or earth's best employer earth being, Earth Day and all that sustainability as well. Diversity, inclusion and equity is a big part of that mission more. And also Amazon's also known for high performing work environment. So, so having the best diversity and inclusion you know, is a, is a, as some say and many are saying is a force multiplier in performance. How is that going in your areas? Can you talk about how the culture that you're in, the countries that you're in and the Amazonian leadership principles tie together? Can you share your thoughts and experiences? >> Sure. I can, I can get started maybe with that one. So, although we have a new leadership principle from my perspective, we have we have always had leadership principles that foster diversity and, and inclusion, right. Pick up, earn trust as an example like it says, listen carefully, right. And speak candidly, this is for me it's the baseline for any, any inclusion conversation. Right. And also you have things like have backbone, disagree and commit. Like you are empowering people to actually have an opinion and bring back that opinion and be heard. Right. So it was already there. I think the thing now is that we have a very specific leadership principle so that there is no, no room for interpretation. Right. It's right there saying that there is a mission a mission to, to be the best employer. Right. And, and I'm, I'm very excited about it. >> John: Cindy, share your thoughts too. I like that comment because you know, Amazon culture's known for, you know, debate then align. Okay. And now you got that cultural factor. Now it's in the leadership principle. What's your reaction? >> Yes. And, and let me add a comment on that about Fernanda's point is that this LP is giving us like the empower to give this environment to prepare, to to give this space to the team and also to be more creative. And also to be more diverse is really important for us to have this space with a lot of empathy, with the in the space to have a lot of fun. And it's important to keep all the time in mind that are we doing the right thing for our employees? Are we are empowering them to be the best of, of the world? So, that is something that is critical for us and, and well that is something that we are right now working on it. >> Okay. So first of all I'm very impressed by both of you. You're inspiring. And I can also tell you that being a solution architect is not an easy job. But it's also in high demand. A lot of people want to, they need solution architects. It's one of the most coveted positions in the industry right now. So how do we get more women in that role? What ideas do you guys have besides being great role models, yourselves? How do we get more solution architects? Because it's super valuable and everyone wants to hire them. >> Fernanda, did you want to start? >> It's you guys. >> You touched a very important point, John. It's about having, having good examples. Like, I mean, it's about you seeing yourself in the role right? You, you believing that it's, it's possible. It's for everyone. If you have a spirit where you, you want to build things if you have this spirit of exploring new possibilities if you like to experiment, well, then you have all that we need in a solution architect, right? It's just then a matter of, you know, know learning technical, learning technology, technical stuff. But this is, this is about having fun on your journey as as a solution architect as well. >> And, and let me tell you something that we are also investing in trainings. Training is online for the for the women that they are, that has this interest that they want to learn more about the technology. They want to have a deeper knowledge about the technical stuff. So we are supporting these initiatives and that is something that they can do background and in their own pace. >> And this is an important role because they need the leadership as head of solution architects. It's a good thing. Is, is there any ways that you found that's a best practice for identifying or advice for people to know if they have what it takes or they have an affinity towards technology? Sometimes it's math. Because cloud is great levels it out. I mean, cloud is new, is more jobs open now that didn't exist years ago, couple years ago. So anyone can rise to the top. >> Yeah. I think that's the beauty of the cloud. There is so much space when we say technology I think this is such a, a broad word, right? It means so much, right. It can be someone that likes to develop code. It can be someone that likes to work with infrastructure. It can be someone that likes machine learning or databases or someone that is inspired about applications for the education world or to research genomes or cure cancer. So, yeah, I don't think that there is like any more like a specific profile. I think it's very open for everyone to explore what they love doing. And even from a technology perspective AWS is working to simplify access to the technology. If we take our services on machine learning. For instance, they are for people, for business people like you don't have to know much about algorithms, right. To use some of the AWS services. So I think we're experiencing the democratization of the technology, and with that more opportunity for people to join us. >> A lot of people are changing careers into cloud. So Cindy, I want to ask you guys also if you can share how the mentoring process works there. Is there mentoring? How does that work? Do you match people? Have you found a nice formula for providing some mentoring and some pathways as people come in? >> Yes, we have many ways but one is very important, is that we have user groups. That is a way that we have like a community with internal and external people, and we share advices, guidance, best practices for the people that is interested in this matter. So for one side as I already mentioned, we have training online that you can reach. We have a lot of free courses. Maybe you can start jumping into artificial intelligence. IUT whatever you want to, to, to want that given them. But in the other hand, we have this option to have this kind of support. We have AWS Girl Chile user groups. We have AWS women, Colombian user groups girls in Argentina, we have many of them. We have four hundreds of user communities. So, that is the way that we can keep in touch. >> Any other programs? I mean, Amazon Web Service and Amazon has very strong representation of women. There's a lot of pockets of women groups in all over the world. How does it come together? Because you also have customers in the user groups. You have partners in the partner network. You have technologists learning. So you have this ecosystem of people. It's not just AWS. How are you guys extending that gap into those areas? >> Exactly. And those conversations are getting more and more constant with our customers, right? So we used to talk about technology, we used to talk about business problems, now we talk about diversity. We talk about improving representation and improving the sentiment of inclusion within our customers as well. And one of the things that I can bring, we have been working with a number of our customers in Brazil just to mention New Bank, one of our customers there in building programs. between AWS and the customer, where we train people, and we expose that people to the market, even if it's inside AWS, inside New Bank or any other partner in that ecosystem. So we are building talent not only for us, but for for the entire ecosystem to benefit from. >> Okay, so I have to ask you guys How did you guys get into the tech, Cindy? What was your way? Did it just jump at you? Did it grab you? Did you kind of discover it early? When did you kind of get into the tech? >> That's a good question. I was remembering this moment that when I was seven years old I just started like working with cars and also with that kind of companies, literally companies. And in that moment say, "I want to be part of this technology work." And after that in high school, I have the opportunity to touch a computer. In that moment I said, "This is the thing that I want to do in the rest of my life." >> Yeah. that's it right there. You got the diction, you taste it. Fernanda, what about you? What's your story? How did you get into it? What was the moment? Was there an exact moment or did it just surround you? >> Yeah, I think I was always curious about how things work. I was not thinking about a career in tech honestly. I was thinking about becoming a lawyer, but at some point in time just clicked, right? And I had actually to fight my way into the technical world literally because, I had this very important university close to my house, like maybe 15 minutes from my house. But at that point in time in Brazil, that particular institution was not accepting women. And believe me, it was not like a hundred years ago. Like it was.... (laughing) >> Yeah, you're young, it's just recently. >> Yeah, so I had to move out out of my hometown, back to the city, to Sao Paulo, which is our biggest city in Brazil to find a place for me on an university that would take women. So yeah, I had to fight my way into technology, but I am very proud of that I was able to. >> Yeah, you know what's great now is you have YouTube, you have all these resources, these videos are going to be going everywhere. We're going to put this out there. There's communities where people can learn and see people like themselves out in positions of leadership and technology. So more and more contents being out there. And I think hopefully no one will have to fight to get into tech. If they like it, they're in it. One of the leaders at AWS she said, "We're in a nerd native environment now, the young generation is natively technical." And, I believe that, I see that. I think that's going to be a really exciting trend and seeing leaders like yourselves out there is really wonderful, so thank you for spending the time with us here on theCUBE. Final question I'll ask you, what's next for you Cindy and Fernanda? What's next in your journey? >> Okay, I think the next for me is to keep pushing the women in Mexico to keep installing and also to start thinking into what is the next step in my career? Where should I go? So I think that is the point that I want to do. >> Cindy, what's next for you? >> I feel I'm just starting. (laughing) So much to do, so much to do. I mean, there is a big business for us to make happen in Brazil right now, and we are looking for talent. So, if the video's going to go on YouTube, I would like everybody there to know that yeah, we are looking for talents in Brazil with opportunities all over the world actually. And yeah, that's building, building and building. >> And there's some rig twitch channels by the way too on some developer programmings, tons of programming, it's all out there. Congratulations, and we're looking forward to following up with you both in the future to get an update and thank you for spending the time and sharing your your stories here on theCUBE I really appreciate, thank you. >> Thank you too. >> Thank you so much. >> Okay, theCUBE presentation of Women in Tech, Global Events celebrating International Women's Day. This is the beginning of more programming. We're going to see more episodes from theCUBE, I'm John Furrier, your host. Thanks for watching. (upbeat music)

>>Yeah, yeah. Welcome to the Cubes Presentation. Women in Global event Celebrating International Women's Day It's amazing showcase of great people and entrepreneurs, executives, really serious women in the industry, in the countries all around the world sharing their stories on International Women's Day. I'm your host of the great story here, an entrepreneur founder and C e 03 riders. Tanya A. I from New Zealand from all the way down under. Thanks for coming on. Appreciate it. >>Thanks for having me. >>I love your story. Let's stop. Let's start by. Just sit at the table about your story. Where your background from How you got into the business. Take us through quickly. That origination story. >>Sure. Um, look, I come from a low socio economic area. I grew up a new Plymouth. Um, and we didn't really have a lot of money. My mother did struggle to put food and milk on the table. And so, uh, what we did do, though. Although we didn't have money, we have the ability to drink. And so we would every day I remember as a child dream about what it would be like to one day have enough milk and bread, have enough money to be able to buy a car or even catch the bus. And so what we did was we dream about how I could achieve that. Um And so what I did was I got educated because we knew that if I got educated, then that would enable me to get a job and become financially independent. Um, but one of the key things she also made me promise Was that not only what I get educated and have enough money, um, to support myself. But then once I did that that I would give back their knowledge and understanding so that I could strength and others. >>I love this. I love the story again. Entrepreneurship is a lot like picking yourself up. Failure is part of the process. You got a grind. You got to do the hard work. And the idea is to make it happen. You've done that? You've got a building. The business is hard. Never mind for doing it as a woman as well. And you're conditions. What a dream. You found your dream. What's it like? Right now? >>It's hard work I'm not gonna do. I know that around the world of runs excited and they said, I'm going to leave my job and you know, I've had enough. And now I'm gonna stand up my own business. We've been working on my eye for almost three years now. Running standing up a business and then running it successfully once you've started up is actually a lot harder than what people think, especially being a woman as well. And a Maori, which is essentially an indigenous person of New Zealand. Um, it is a little bit harder to do that, especially when when you choose the industry to do that and which is technology, you don't have a lot of other woman. Um, there are some women coming through from indigenous background, uh, paved the way for us, but there's not a lot of us around, and so it does make it a lot more tricky. But I had a dream, and I had a vision that I was going to be able to give back what I had learned about business and about money to help others. So uh, was where it was going to be. >>Well, it certainly inspiration for many. I love the success story and entrepreneurship hard enough as it is, like I said. But being a woman and even harder, what are some examples can you give when you were coming through? Because you've got a really kind of push through and break down walls to get things done in any startup and with the corporate world with his biases. And there's also, um, people's preconceived mindset of who's who should be in a position, what founders are what entrepreneurship is. What was it like? Can you give some examples of situations that you broke through? >>Um, look, I think that immediately people underestimate you when you're a woman, especially in indigenous woman. And so, um, what I was So basically what I would do is I didn't think about what they thought. Um, what I focused on was actually where I needed to go. And so all those people didn't believe that I could get it done. They thought I was dreaming. I know people said, um, at one point they said, Are this company looks like they're doing something similar to that. Just waste $2 million. What makes you think that you're going to be even come close to being successful like they are, um, and And my response to them was that that they aren't me. They don't have money in their organization. And I think that's something really critical. Um, that woman has to understand when they're standing up an organization, especially one of the technology. We, as a woman are unique. We bring to the table a different set of values and different principles that potentially others don't also bring to the table. We have a different level of work ethic, and so I actually think that through those experiences, I was able to be more resilient and follow through in terms of what I believe it was possible. So it doesn't matter what people thought. It doesn't matter if someone was richer or had more money than we did. Well, they had more. Exactly. I remember the other thing was with They've got all these, you know, really high high performing executives from love organizations in New Zealand. Who do you have again? My response was, Well, they don't have me right, And so that makes a significant difference. Um, it's not that I'm a unicorn, but it's that I have a very strong belief system, and I have a have a dream that I've been following for almost 40 years and trying to make come through. So those two things are things that you can't underestimate. And sometimes they are actually a lot more productive and valuable than money or positional executives within your organisation. >>Yeah, that's a great, great insight. And then again, congratulations again. Great inspiration. People worry about what everyone else is doing. Like what they got. They don't focus on what they're doing, But I love the confidence, the conviction, um, preparation, education. These are all themes that are coming out of this international Women's Day around how to be successful, how to raise your hand, how to drive through how to drive, control your career, control your own destiny. This is the theme. Education plays a big part of it. And obviously you're building a company. Amazon. You're involved with Amazon. You've got education now at your fingertips on the internet. Education is out there now. You can get it instantly, and you could level up with cloud and and really factor and compete >>at any time. Yeah, absolutely. I think if you look at a W s, they gave us the opportunity to be global instantly. I mean, without that, you know, without their infrastructure and they're back in and for us to turn that on in any country that we wanted, um, we wouldn't have been able to go global. And so, you know, I really do appreciate all of the different platforms and the technologies that we can access as a c e o of attack organization so that it actually enables us to be a global and have a global footprint. >>You know, you're a great example of what I always say about cloud computing and these platforms Is there agnostic when it comes to talent? If you can write good code and you're talented, yeah, the world is yours. There's no real degree you can get from a pedigree college or university. If you have what it takes, just plug it into the cloud and your instantly global. This is this is new. This wasn't like this years ago. >>Look. And to be honest, when I first started, I I chose voice Alexa voice as one of our channels to through which I I would provide financial updates to organizations. Now I didn't know what no one in New Zealand or Australia even knew what it was three years ago. And so, essentially, you know, the the ability to have access to people around the world to build your team, um, and to have infrastructure like Amazon, it just enables us to achieve great things. It enables us to give back more than we ever thought possible. So I think it's being able to know where you need to play the gap and then plugging that with infrastructure, which is strong and enables you to continue to grow and can really help you go forward. >>So talk to me about your current situation as a leader, as a woman in tech. Now, you have a company you're giving back, fulfilling your dream. You have a life, you gotta live your life and your life, and you're doing it all. What's it like being a leader and being a high-performance entrepreneur? >>Yeah, I love being able to give back and give back and industry, um, where it's just growing every day. The the environment is changing. We have to keep up to the play with all the new technologies that are coming through all the new capability. So that we don't get left behind. Technology enables you to become more efficient and effective and what we're working on three years ago, that's now changed significantly in terms of what it looks like now, how fast you can go, how much reach we can achieve when we're going out to our other customers and, uh, from across the globe. Also, I think that, um when you look at a woman in both of professional and a personal standpoint, I'm also a mother of four Children, and I'm also a wife. And so what I have to do is be able to balance running a typical organization as well as running the house. Unfortunately, even though I'm a C e o of a technology company, it's certainly doesn't enabled me to turn off the the mother light at the end of the night or at the beginning of the morning, when the kids at school I might be sitting in a meeting and doing a full negotiation for a for a high-value contract and in the back of my head, I'm thinking I have to take out the months later or I have to make sure that my daughter and members to take. It talks to school tomorrow. So we're quite lucky. Woman. We essentially running two parts of our brains, one of those being able to continue to nurture and and be the supporter of their husbands and our families and our Children at home as well as run these tech companies. So we're we're very lucky. I also think it's interesting that the majority of funding that that's made available by J Visas is not to women. I don't know why that is. But if you imagine having a woman who can literally, what run two worlds at the same time and be successful at both, then I think that that's high productivity that you want to be a part of. >>Yeah, that's that's injectable and more women leaders again having role models like you out there. And the story is really compelling and super inspirational. I love the 22 worlds just having to start at the same time. Yeah, talented, Um, but I love your comment also about the underdog, and I know a lot of entrepreneurs and being one myself and even people who are ultra successful, they still have the chip on the shoulder they still have the underdog mindset. So, um, is that true for you? Do you still feel like you're underdog? You always kind of. Is that something you'll never give up even when you're super successful? >>Yeah. Thanks. So, um and it's not an underdog from a really vicious, uncomfortable standpoint where I'm trying to, um, where I'm trying to get back at anybody. What it does do is as an indigenous person coming from low poverty, um, you know, the expectation of where I would end up was really low. If I if I wasn't pregnant or I wasn't in jail by 16, I was successful, and I had one. And so the bar has always been set really low for me. Even when I went and did a degree, Um, the first one was, Well, you should go and do Maori or a bachelor of arts at at University. And I said, Well, why can I go and do that thing over there? There's no Maoris or there's not a lot of women sitting in the finance, um, elections. Why don't I don't go and do a degree in finance. And so, as I've worked through my education and also my career. The expectation that achieved great things just wasn't there. And so that that drive does have to come from you internally. Um, sometimes you're not always surrounded by people who understand your value and what you can contribute to the world. And so what you do have to do is you have to have a personal belief system that enables you to actually leverage that underdog position. And so rather than letting that get you down like oh, they don't believe in me or they don't think I can do this so I can achieve that. Basically, what you do is you use it is like a little stepping stone. You're like, Thanks for that. I'll just put that over here and all it does is just enables you to prepare yourself forward. >>It's motivational. It's also curiosity. So, Steve Steve Jobs once said, Stay curious, you know, and, uh, stay foolish, actually. Say foolish, Amazon says. Be curious. That's the kind of slogan, >>but they >>will be foolish and stay curious. Whatever it is. That's kind of the mindset. And again what I love about the story, and I think this is a trend that we're seeing is that if you are underrepresented or you are the underdog now more than ever, the ability to level up is better than ever before. Anyone can start a company, you can get a cloud computing, and Amazon gives the education for free. If everyone someone stuck, you can just go online courses. So there's now plate paths to go from here to here quickly. Um, this is amazing. >>Yeah, but it is hard work, so right, so it doesn't come easy. Um And so that is one thing I think that people underestimate about the ability to stand up for business. And then it becomes this, you know, apple or Amazon or Google. And so, yes, my vision is that we're on the road trip back. We're focussed on being able to list in the last five years time with a billion dollar valuation and use that as a vision. But being able to be open-minded about what it's going to take to actually get there is really important, and so you can have conviction, but you need to follow through and have action. Um, you need to be open-minded about changing the way you thought it was going to look. I mean, every day, I probably three or four times since we've gone live last year. Um, and that was because she wasn't where she needed to be. We needed to private her so that we can continue to ensure that we ended up with the product market fit that enabled us to meet our vision, but also to achieved financial and strategic >>goals. That's a great point. You've got to do the work. You've got to grind it out. Sometimes you gotta be sensitive to the customers and the market. This is the secret final question for you. What a great conversation. Um, as an entrepreneur, we all know it's the trials. Tribulated the roller coaster. A lot of emotion. Like raising a family. You don't know what you're gonna get. You know, anything is possible. How do you maintain the balance? Emotionally as you go in and continue to build out your business, you gotta take the highs and the lows. >>Oh, look, in the early days of standing out today, I was very naive. Not because I was a woman just because I was new to the game. Um, I had always worked for global organizations that already established that had big bits of money that had resources that I could call on. And so I'd say that first 6 to 12 months was really hard. There was a time there where I had to rebuild i-i. They changed the back end infrastructure. Um, I've spoken to zero and Amazon. Alexa and I had to achieve a certain I had to go through a number of different gates. And what that means is that I had to rebuild build here. Um, I think I cried initially for the first couple of days, but then it was actually, it took me about a month to get over myself. And what I mean by that is I had this vision and this dream about how it was going to be. I was going to do this and then all these steps we're going to follow, and everything was going to turn out how I expected. Um, and then it hurt me within the first three months of trying to get accreditation That it wasn't It wasn't going to turn out how I wanted. I didn't have the resources or the money to execute it. How I wanted. And therefore what I had to do was understand why. Why? Because what happened was I was able to use my why It is the basis for why I was making decisions going forward. So rather than it being just this vision about where I was going to land, it ended up being It doesn't matter the how the pathway we get there. Obviously, we want to do it with integrity, but I don't necessarily know all the steps of how that's going to happen. But I need to be open to the fact that it won't. Now when I get disappointed and things don't happen, how I expect them now, I basically just perfect. Initially I cried and I sit there and complain to my husband, and I feel like, Oh, my God, let me do this. So it was like, I've turned me down and I'm not gonna do it this way. And, you know, I just complain and wind, Um, but three years on, basically, whenever I had a wall or I had a roadblock, I'm just I just step back and go right. I can't go that way. Let's find another way. And so I think you have to be really resilient around accepting that things won't always go away. But there is always another way. >>Don't worry. Great conversation. Building a business and text from your dreams. Getting educated, going out in the arena, being successful again. Once you're successful, you can write your original story The victory. The victor writes the narrative, as they say, so is it can be disappointing. Sometimes when you're learning to grow like that, businesses like that's a great story. And congratulations. And thank you so much for taking the time to to share on the Cube as part of our celebration of International Women's Day. Thank you so much. >>Okay, thanks so much. >>Okay, that's the presentation of women in Tech Global Event celebrating International Women's Day. I'm John for most of the Cube. Thanks for watching. Yeah, Yeah, yeah. Hm. Yeah, yeah,

>>Yeah. Hello and welcome to the Cubes Presentation of Women in Tech Global Event Celebrating International Women's Day I'm John for a host of the Cube. We had a great guest in Cuba. Alumni Veranda re vice president. Commercial sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa. EMEA at AWS Amazon Web service to great to see you. Thank you for coming in all the way across the pond and the US to Palo Alto from London. >>Thank you, John. Great to see you again. I'm super excited to be part of this particularly special event. >>Well, this is a celebration of International Women's Day. It's gonna continue throughout the rest of the year, and every day is International Women's Day. But you're actually international. Your women in Tech had a great career. We talk that reinvent. Let's step back and walk through your career. Highlights to date. What have been some of the key things in your career history that you can share? >>Uh, thanks, John. It's always nice to reflect on this, you know? Look, I the way I would classify my career. First of all, it's very it's been very international. I was born and raised in India I went to study in the US It was always a dream to go do that. I did my masters in Boston University. I then worked in the U S. For a good 17 years across A number of tech, uh, tech companies in particular, started my career at McKinsey in the very early days and then moved on to work for E M. C. You'll you'll probably remember them, John. Very well, of course, There now, Del um And then I moved over to Europe. So I've spent the last 18 years here in Europe. Um, and that's been across a couple of different things. I I always classify. Half my career has been strategy, transformation, consulting, and the other half of my career is doing the real job of actually running operations. And I've been, you know, 12 15 years in the tech and telecom sector had the excitement of running Schneider Electric's business in the UK Denniston and Private Equity went back to McKinsey Boomerang, and then a W s called me, and how could I possibly refuse that? So it's been really exciting, I think the one big take away when I reflect on my career is. I've always had this Northstar about leading a business someday, and then I've sort of through my career master set of skills to be able to do that. And I think that's probably what you see. Very eclectic, very mobile, very international and cross industry. Uh, in particular. >>I love the strategy and operations comment because they're both fun, but they're different ones. Very execution, tactical operating. The business strategy is kind of figuring out the future of the 20 mile stare. You know, playing that chess match, so to speak, all great skills and impressive. But I have to ask you, what got you in the tech sector? Why technology? >>Well, so you know, in some ways I kind of fell into it, John, right? Because when I was growing up, my father was always in the tech space, so he had a business and fax machines and he was a reseller of cannon. If you remember Cannon, um, and microfilm equipment and I grew up around him, and he was a real entrepreneur. I mean, always super visionary about new things that were coming out. And so as I followed him around, I said, I kind of wanna be him. And it's a little bit about that sort of role model right early in your career. And then when I moved to the U. S. To study again, it wasn't like I thought I was gonna go to attack. I mean, I wasn't an engineer, you know. I grew up in India with economics degree. That's when women went into We didn't necessarily go into science. But when I joined McKinsey in the early days, I ended up working with, you know, the big companies of the days. You know, the IBMs, the E M. C. Is the Microsoft the oracles, etcetera. So I just then began to love, love the innovation, always being on the sort of bleeding edge. Um, and I guess it was a little bit just fascinating for me not being an engineer to learn how technology had all these applications in terms of how businesses advanced. So I guess, Yeah, that's kind of why I still think it around with it. It's interesting >>how you mentioned how you at that time you pipeline into economics, which is math. Of course. Uh, math is needed for economics, but also the big picture and This is one of the conversation we're having, Uh, this year, the breaking down the barriers for women in tech. Now there's more jobs you don't You don't need to have one pathway into into science or, you know, we're talking stem versus steam arts are super important, being creative. So the barriers to get in are being removed. I mean, if you think about the surface area for technology. So I got to ask you, what barriers do you think Stop girls and young women the most in considering a career in Tech? >>I've got to start with role models, John. Right? Because I think a number of us grew up, by the way, being the only not having the allies in the business, right? All of us, all the all the managers and hiring people are males rather than females. And the fact of the matter is, we didn't have this sort of he for she movement. And I think that's the biggest barrier is not having enough role models and positive role models in the business. I can tell you that research shows that actually, when you have female role models, you tend to hire more and actually what employees say is they feel more supportive when they have actually female managers. So I think there are lots of goodness, but we just need to accelerate how many role models we have. I think the other things I will say to you as well is, if you look at just the curriculum and the ability to get women into stem, right, I mean, we need to have colleges, universities, schools also encouraging women into stem. And you've probably heard about our programme. You know, it's something we do to encourage girls into stem. I think it's really important that teachers and others are actually encouraging girls to do math, for example, right? It's not just about science. Math is great. Logic is great, by the way. Philosophy is great. I just love what you said. I think increasingly, the EQ and EQ parts have to come together, and I think that's what women excel at. Um, so I think that's another very, very big carrier, and then the only other thing I will say is we're gonna watch the language we use, like when I think about job descriptions, they tend to be very male oriented languages we look at CVS now, if you haven't been a female in tech for a long time, your CV isn't going to show a lot of tech, is it? So for recruiters out there, look for competencies. Look for capabilities. You mentioned strategy and arts earlier. We have this leadership principles, As you know, John, really well, think big and dive deep, right? That strategy and operations. And so I think we we need to recruit for that. And we need to recruit for culture. And we need to recruit for people with ambition, an aspiration and not always Just look at 20 years of experience because you're not gonna find it. So I think those are some of the big barriers. Um, that I that I at least think, is stopping women from getting into town. But the biggest one is not enough women at the top hiring women. >>I think people want to see themselves, or at least an aspirational version of what they could be. And I think that's only gonna get better. Lots changed. A lot has happened over the years, but now, with technology in everyone's life, covid pulled forward a lot of realities. You know, the current situation in Europe where you're you are now has pulled forward a lot of realities around community, cyber, digital, our lives. And I think this opens up new positions, clearly cybersecurity. And I'm sure the job boards in every company is hiring people that didn't exist years ago, but also this new problems to solve. So the younger generation coming up, um, is gonna work on these problems, and they need to have role models. So what's your reaction to that? You know, new problems are opportunities their new so usually solved by probably the next generation. Uh, they need mentors. All this kind of works together. What's your reaction? >>Yeah, and, you know, let me pick up on something we're doing that I think is really important. I think you have to address age on the pipeline problem, you know, because they're just is a pipeline problem, you know, at the end of the day, And by that, what I mean is, we need to have more and more people with the and I'm not gonna use the word engineering or science. I'm going to use the word digital skills, right? And I think what we've we've committed to doing, John, you know, I'm very proud of this is we said we're gonna train 29 people 29 million people around this world on digital skills for free by 2025. Right, That's gonna help us get that pipeline going. The other thing we do is something called Restart where we actually do 12 weeks of training for the under, employed and under served right and underrepresented communities. And that means in 12 weeks we can get someone. And you know, this case I talk to you about this before I love it. Fast food operator to cloud, right? I mean, that's that's what I call changing the game on pipeline. But But here's the other stand. Even if the pipeline is good and we often see that the pipeline can be as much as 50% at the very early career women, by the time you get into the C suite, you're not a 50 anymore. You're less than 20%. So the other big thing John there, and this comes back to the types of roles you have an opportunities you create. We've got to pull women through the pipeline. We've really got to encourage that there are sponsors and not just mentors. I think women are sorry to say this over mentored and under sponsored. We need more people say I'm gonna open the door for you and create the opportunity I had that advantage. I hit people through my career. By the way, they were all men, right? Who actually stood out there and bang on the door and said, Okay, Tunisia is gonna go do this. And my first break I remember was having done strategy all my life when the CEO come into the room and you said, You're gonna better locks and you're gonna go run the P and L in Benelux and I almost fainted because I thought, Oh, my God, I've never run a PNR before But it's that type of risk taking that's going to be critical. And I think we've got to train our leaders and our managers to have those conversations be the sponsors, get that unconscious bias training. We all have it. Every single one of us has it. I think those are the combinations of things that are going to actually help open the door and make a see that Actually, it's not just about coding. It's actually about sales. It's about marketing. It's about product management. It's about strategy. It's about sales operations. It's about really, really thinking differently about your customers, right? And that's the thing that I think is attractive about technology. And you know what? Maybe that leads you to eventually become a coder. Or maybe not. Maybe you enter from coding, but those are all the range is available to you in technology, which is not good at advertising, >>that there's more applications than ever before. But I love your comment about over mentoring and under sponsored. Can you quickly just define the difference between those two support elements sponsoring versus, uh, mentoring sponsoring >>So mentors And by the way they can range from my son is my mentor, you know, is a great reverse mentor. By the way, I really encourage you to have the reverse mentoring going. So many mentors are people from all walks of your life, right? And you should have, you know, half a dozen of those. At least I think right who are going to be able to help you deal with situations, help coach you give you feedback respond to concerns You're having find ways for you to navigate all the stuff you need, by the way. Right? And feedback the gift we need that sponsors. It's not about the feedback. Necessarily. It's people who literally will create opportunities for you. Mentors don't necessarily do that. Sponsors will say you You know what? We got the phone. Call John and say, John, I've got the perfect person for you. You need to go speak to her. That's the big difference. John and a couple of sponsors. It's not about many, >>and that's where the change happens. I love that comment. Good call. I'm glad I could double down on that. Now that you have the environment, pipeline and working, you have the people themselves in the environment getting better sponsors and mentors, hopefully working more and more together. But once they're in the environment, they still got to be part of it. So as girls and young women and to the working sector for tech, what advice would you give them? Because now they're in the game there in the arena. So what advice would you give them? Because the environments they are now >>yeah, yeah. I mean, Gosh, John, it's you know, you've lived your career in this space. It's an exciting place to be right. Um, it's a growth opportunity. And I think that's a really important point because the more you enter sectors where there's a lot of growth and I would say hyper right growth, that's just gonna open the doors to so many more things. If you're in a place where it's all about cost cutting and restructuring, do you know what? It's super hard to really compete and have fun, right? And as we say, make history. So it's an exciting place. Today's world transformation equals digital transformation, right? So tech is the place to be, because tech is about transformation, Right? So coming in here, the one advice I would give you is Just do it because believe me, there's so much you can do, like take the risk, find someone is going to give you that entree point and get in the door right? And look, you know what's the worst that could happen? The worst that could happen is you don't like it. Fine. There's lots of other things than to go to. So my advice is, you know, don't take the mm. The really bad tips I've received in my career, right? Don't let people tell you you can't do it. You're not good enough. You don't have the experience, right? It's a male's world. You're a woman. It's all about you and not about EQ. Because that's just rubbish, Frankly, right. The top tip I was ever given was actually to take the risk and go for it. And that was my father. And then all these other sponsors I've had around the way. So that's that's the one thing I would say. The other thing I will say to you is the reason I advise it and the reason you should go for it. It's purposeful. Technology is changing our lives, you know, And we will all live to be no longer. 87 I think 100 right? And so you have the opportunity to change the course of the world by coming to technology. The vaccine deployment John was a great example, right? Without cloud, we couldn't have launch these vaccines as fast as we did. Right? Um, so I think there's a tonne of purpose. You've got to get in and then you've got to find. As I said, those sponsors, you've got to find those mentors. You've got to not worry about vertical opportunities and getting promoted. You gotta worry about horizontal opportunities, right? And doing the things that I needed to get the skills that you require, right? I also say one thing. Um, don't Don't let people tell you not to speak up, not to express your opinion. Do all of the above be authentic, Be authentic style. You will see more role models. Many, many more role models are gonna come out in tech that are going to be female role models. And actually, the men are really stepping up to the role models. And so we will be better together. And here's the big thing. We need you. We can do this without women. There's no possible way that we will be able to deliver on the absolute incredible transformation we have ahead of us without you. >>Inclusion, Diversity equity. These are force multipliers for companies. If applied properly, it's competitive advantage. And so breaking the bias. The theme this year is super super important. It sounds like common sense, but the reality is you break the bias It's not just women as men, as all of us. What can we do? Better to bring that force multiplier capabilities and competitive advantage of inclusion, diversity, equity to business. >>So the first thing I would say and my doctor used to always tell me this if it hurts, don't do it right. I would say to you just do it. Get diverse teams in place because if you have diverse teams, you have diversity of thought. You don't have to worry as much about bias because, you know, you've got the people around the table who actually represent the world. We also do something really cool. We have something called biassed busters. And so in meetings we have bias borders. People are going to, like, raise their hand and say, I'm not sure that that was really meant the way it was supposed to be, So I think that's just a nice little mechanism that we have here, Um, in a W s that helps. The other thing I would say to you is being your authentic self. You can't be a man and mentioned be women, and you're not gonna replicate somebody else because you're never gonna succeed if you do that, you know? So I would say be your authentic self all of the time, You know, we know. We know that women are sometimes labelled as aggressive when they're really not. Don't worry about it. It's not personal. I think the main thing you have to do is and I advise women all the time Is calibrate the feedback you're getting okay? Don't catastrophizing it right. Calibrate it. Taken in, you don't have to react to every feedback in the world, right? And make sure that you're also conscious of your own biases, right? So I think those are my Those are my two cents John for what they were for breaking device. I love the thing. >>Be yourself, You know, Don't take it too personal. Have some fun. That's life. That's a life lesson. Um, Final question, while I got you here, you're a great inspiration, and you're a great role model. You're running a very big business for Amazon web services. Europe, Middle East and Africa is a huge territory. It's its own thing. It's It's like you're bigger than some companies out there. Your role in your organisation. What's the hot area out there you were talking before camera. That's emerging areas that you're focused on. People are watching this young women, young ladies around the world. We're gonna look at this and say, What wave should I jump on? What's the hot things happening in in Europe? Middle Eastern Africa? >>I think the three things I would mention and I'm sure there's I'm sure, John, as we've spoken to my peers across the other gos, right, there are some similarities. The very, very hot thing right now is sustainability. Um, and you know, people are really building sustainability into their strategy. It's no longer sort of just an E S G goal in itself. It's actually very much part of changing the way they do business. So I think that's the hard part. And that's why again, I think it's a phenomenal place to be. I think the other big thing that we're absolutely talking about a lot is, and you know, this is getting even more complicated right now is just around security and cyber security and where that's going and how can we be really thinking about how we address some of these concerns that are coming out and I think there's There's something. There's a lot to be said about the way we build our infrastructure in terms of that context. So I think that's the second one. I think the third one is. People are really looking at technology to change the way businesses operate. So how does HR operate? How do you improve your employee value proposition? How do you do marketing in the next generation? How do you do finance in the next generation? So across the business is no longer the place of I t. It really is about changing the way we are as businesses and all of us becoming tech companies at the core. So the big thing there, John, is data data at the heart of everything we do data not because it's there in front of you, but data because you can actually make decisions on the back of it. So those are the things, Um, I seem to come across a lot more than anything else. >>It's always great to talk to you, your senior leader at AWS, um, inspirational to many. And thank you for taking the time to speak with us here on this great event. Women in text. Global Celebration of International Women's Day. Thank you so much for your time. >>Thank you, John. Always great to talk to you. >>We will definitely be keeping in touch More storeys to be had and we're gonna bring it to you. This is the cubes continuing presentation of women in tech. A global event celebrating International Women's Day. I'm John for your host. Thanks for watching. Yeah.