About Melinda
Melinda is a former senior figure at IBM with 28 years
experience in the technology sector.
Originally from the US, Melinda moved to Scotland in 2007 and
was the Vice President of Commerce Partnerships at IBM. She has
been deeply involved in bringing a range of new product offerings
in Cloud, SaaS, eCommerce and Digital Marketing to the marketplace.
She joined CodeClan in 2017.
Melinda is a former senior figure at IBM with 28
years experience in the technology sector.
Originally from the US, Melinda moved to Scotland
in 2007 and was the Vice President of Commerce Partnerships at IBM.
She has been deeply involved in bringing a range of new product
offerings in Cloud, SaaS, eCommerce and Digital Marketing to the
marketplace. She joined CodeClan in 2017.
What inspired you to pursue a career in tech?
It's funny because when I took programming classes
in university, I was not really interested to be honest. But, I
have been surrounded by STEM all my life; my dad was a scientist
and my mum was a teacher, so there was so much STEM around me! We
would play logic games, build our own board games, I was fascinated
about stars and planets and cooking (which is maths and chemistry
at its best).
It was when I got my first tech job that I started
understanding how computers worked. It opened my mind to "If I can
think it, it can happen!" Software was what was making the world go
around. I learnt so much about so many different things. So,
curiosity is what really got me into tech.
What would you say has been the biggest change in
the technology sector since you started?
I think the biggest change was when everything went
from systems to apps on a phone; around the 2000s when you could
start downloading apps on the first Apple devices. Prior to that,
you did not do much with your cell phone, you could only store
contacts, calendars, those types of things.
At IBM, I started seeing technology do really cool
things; voice recognition, digital pictures being stored in masses,
content management systems, cloud computing and then Artificial
Intelligence came out, predictive analytics, cognitive analytics; a
huge leap that we would trust a computer with our lives. It was
overwhelming and exhilarating at the same time.
How do you feel about the current landscape of the
tech industry in Scotland? Are there any trends that we need to
watch out for?
I hear a lot about the leverage of data analytics
in companies, robotics and AI. And I would also have to say
e-commerce, which is still running the world when you think about
it. Most companies would have been under when COVID hit if it
wasn't for e-commerce. And I remember being part of the team that
launched ecommerce at IBM, which makes me very proud.
The tech landscape in Scotland is nice and broad,
from agriculture to creative industries to space. But that is
technology at the moment, you know, from fintech to sustainability,
companies like McDonalds that allow you to round up your order for
charity for example.
But in Scotland, I think we just don't have enough
people. The net, the innovation, the knowledge, everything is here,
we just need more people to go bigger!
What is the best advice that you could give to
women that want to start a career in tech?
Tech is an enabler. That's it. You don't have to be
a programmer or a PHD in quantum computing. Understanding
what the technology does is really important.
That is the key to today's world. The next
one is learning, always learning. Be curious. Ask why?
And then ask Why Not?
The tech industry is male dominated (changing
slowly) and confidence is very important. I always tell women that
are apprehensive of going into tech - you have a right to be
there. 50% of the world are women and our ideas, needs,
voices need to be heard in the tech world. Leverage
facts, figures, data to be confident in your work and your insights
will be heard and you potentially could be part of something bigger
that humanity needs.
What inspired you to pursue a career in
tech?
It's funny because when I took programming classes
in university, I was not really interested to be honest. But, I
have been surrounded by STEM all my life; my dad was a scientist
and my mum was a teacher, so there was so much STEM around me! We
would play logic games, build our own board games, I was fascinated
about stars and planets and cooking (which is maths and chemistry
at its best).
It was when I got my first tech job that I started understanding
how computers worked. It opened my mind to "If I can think it, it
can happen!" Software was what was making the world go
around. I learnt so much about so many different things. So,
curiosity is what really got me into tech.
What would you say has been the biggest change in the
technology sector since you started?
I think the biggest change was when everything went from
systems to apps on a phone; around the 2000s when you could start
downloading apps on the first Apple devices. Prior to that, you did
not do much with your cell phone, you could only store contacts,
calendars, those types of things.
At IBM, I started seeing technology do really cool things; voice
recognition, digital pictures being stored in masses, content
management systems, cloud computing and then Artificial
Intelligence came out, predictive analytics, cognitive analytics; a
huge leap that we would trust a computer with our lives. It was
overwhelming and exhilarating at the same time.
How do you feel about the current landscape of the tech
industry in Scotland? Are there any trends that we need to watch
out for?
I hear a lot about the leverage of data analytics in
companies, robotics and AI. And I would also have to say
e-commerce, which is still running the world when you think about
it. Most companies would have been under when COVID hit if it
wasn't for e-commerce. And I remember being part of the team that
launched ecommerce at IBM, which makes me very proud.
The tech landscape in Scotland is nice and broad, from
agriculture to creative industries to space. But that is technology
at the moment, you know, from fintech to sustainability, companies
like McDonalds that allow you to round up your order for charity
for example.
But in Scotland, I think we just don't have enough people. The
net, the innovation, the knowledge, everything is here, we just
need more people to go bigger!
What is the best advice that you could give to women
that want to start a career in tech?
Tech is an enabler. That's it. You don't have to be a
programmer or a PHD in quantum computing. Understanding what
the technology does is really important.
That is the key to today's world. The next one is
learning, always learning. Be curious. Ask why? And
then ask Why Not?
The tech industry is male dominated (changing slowly) and
confidence is very important. I always tell women that are
apprehensive of going into tech - you have a right to be
there. 50% of the world are women and our ideas, needs,
voices need to be heard in the tech world. Leverage
facts, figures, data to be confident in your work and your insights
will be heard and you potentially could be part of something bigger
that humanity needs.
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