Hey guys!. In this post, I’ll be discussing a list of Top 10 Women Powerful in Tech Today. In tech today, many women whom are powerful activists working for greater diversity and representation in their fields. So, Let's get started.
10. Saumya Bhatnagar (CTO and Co-Founder, InvolveSoft)
A portfolio company based in San Diego, InvolveSoft has managed to streamline communications from executives to employees, allowing the organization to gain AI-driven insights from the field while simultaneously aligning their mission and vision with worker sentiments. It was co-founded by Saumya Bhatnagar in 2015, an Indian national who went on to earn her Masters in Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Before InvolveSoft, Saumya also founded a start-up back in New Delhi that provided technology that reduced gender-based abortions in the country. Their software was later acquired by the Indian government. In addition to InvolveSoft, she's also a staunch advocate for female representation in the tech industry, founding a non-profit organization in India geared towards empowering young women.
9. Amy Hood (CFO and Executive Vice President, Microsoft)
Before she joined Microsoft in 2002, Amy worked at Goldman Sachs & Co. as part of teams and departments that handled its investment banking and capital markets divisions. At Microsoft, however, she's responsible for leading its many finance-based activities from acquisitions to tax planning, and from internal audit to investor relations. Her imprint on Microsoft is massive, leading the organization's transition to the Office 365 service and helping fine-tune the strategies that eventually led to its acquisitions of the world-renowned platforms, Skype and Yammer.
8. Radhika Kakkar (Vice President of Global Operations, Snap Incorporated)
She has been a mainstay in the tech industry for years now, with her resume boasting of stints at Accenture's Management Consulting practice, which has allowed her to work with clients in the Communications, Media, and Technology sectors. As the Vice President of Global Operations at Snap Inc., however, Radhika focuses on managing the various teams that enable and protect the company platforms, ranging from Revenue Operations to Support, and from Policy to Platform Safety. Radhika has played a crucial role in Snap Incorporated, so far, helping the organization transition from a start-up to a public and internationally-operating business. Besides that, she also acts as a mentor and advisor to early-stage start-ups, helping and supporting their own transition strategies, allowing them to grow their own companies even more.
7. Maggie Wei Wu (CFO, Alibaba Group)
Wu Wei, known professionally as Maggie Wu, has been with the Alibaba Group since 2007, becoming its Chief Financial Officer a mere six years later. Her responsibilities include cloud computing and commercial operations, handling the company's novel retail strategy that hopes to integrate e-commerce with traditional retail operations. Under her leadership, the Alibaba Group experienced a record year in 2018, experiencing a 61% annual revenue growth, which far outpaced all its competitors. Industry experts largely credit this robust and unprecedented expansion to the company's core commerce and cloud computing business, both of which are under her purview. In 2010, she earned the title of Best CFO in FinanceAsia's annual poll for Best Managed Companies. More than that, though, she was included in Forbes Magazine's 50 Asia Power Businesswomen in 2015.
6. JoAnne Kennedy (Vice President of Technology, Nordstrom Incorporated)
While Nordstrom may not be a part of the tech industry, JoAnne's role within the fashion retailer makes her a powerhouse in the field. She and her team are primarily responsible for managing and implementing software to allow multiple departments within the organization to reach new heights of success. Before joining Nordstrom in 2014, JoAnne was the Vice President of Technology at NBC News where she manned its digital properties, including NBC News, the TODAY Show, and MSNBC. In addition to her day-to-day responsibilities at Nordstrom, JoAnne also passionately advocates for diversity and inclusion, especially in the mostly homogenous tech industry. Moreover, she serves on the Board of Directors at the Asian Counseling and Referral Services, as well as at the Seattle-based consulting firm, Slalom Client Advisory.
5. Kirsten Green (Founder and Managing Director, Forerunner Ventures)
Forerunner Ventures is one of Silicon Valley's leading venture capital firms, geared towards partnering with entrepreneurs meeting the challenges of today, introducing revolutionary products, services, and strategies in their respective fields. Launched in 2010, the company helmed by Kirsten has managed to raise more than $300 million from various investors, backing more than 50 companies across a whole host of industries. Besides manning Forerunner Ventures, Kirsten also serves on the Board of Directors of their various portfolio organizations, including Glossier, Ritual, Faire, and Inturn, helping them dominate the rest of their competition. As one of the women responsible for breaking the glass ceiling in the tech industry, Kirsten has dedicated herself to helping other female professionals achieve the same. She founded a mentorship collective, All Raise, focused on providing support and guidance to young women working in conventionally male-dominated industries. Her work has led her to earn a ton of accolades, included in Times Magazine's 100 Most Influential People, named by The New York Times as one of their Top 20 Venture Capitalists, and was also in Forbes Magazine's World's 100 Most Powerful Women.
4. Susan Wojcicki (CEO, YouTube)
Prior to sharing the video-sharing platform, Susan was the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Google Inc., helping the company streamline its advertising efforts, launching its now-ubiquitous AdSense system, and leading the acquisition of Applied Semantics, all of which transformed the organization into a broker of online display advertising. In 2006, she "worked up some spreadsheets," successfully convincing Google's co-founders to purchase YouTube, which they eventually did for $1.65 billion. Eight years later, she permanently transferred to YouTube and became its Chief Executive Officer that same year, managing an organization that boasts of more than one billion users every month. Considered by many to be the most powerful woman on the Internet, Susan is responsible for turning the fledgling video-sharing website into what it is today, a platform capable of making and breaking the careers of many.
3. Gwynne Shotwell (COO and President, SpaceX)
The 11th employee at SpaceX, a company founded by Elon Musk that revolutionized the field of commercial space exploration, Gwynne was eventually promoted to COO and President, managing its day-to-day operations, as well as its customer and strategic relations to help support its rapid growth. Under her leadership, the organization has evolved from a futuristic and seemingly impossible idea to a company that employs over 6,000 people and with a valuation of over $33.4 billion, having successfully partnered with NASA to send astronauts to the International Space Station, along with a whole lot of other achievements. Due to her extensive work and accomplishments, Gwynne has been honored a load of times, included in 2012 in the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame, as well as in Forbes Magazine's 2018 list of America's Top 50 Women in Tech. More than that, though, she also serves on the Board of Directors of Polaris Inc., the leading manufacturer of motorcycles, neighborhood electric vehicles, and the like.
2. Hooi Ling Tan (COO and Co-Founder, Grab)
A Malaysian entrepreneur best known for founding the Singapore-based ride-hailing company, Grab, Hooi Ling's responsibilities are mainly focused on the company's three key areas, product, human resources, and customer experience. She was also one of the business executives who oversaw its purchase of Uber's Southeast Asian operations in March 2018, which industry experts reported was a deal worth $7 billion. Before launching Grab, Hooi Ling was a business analyst at the world-renowned firm. McKinsey & Company, going on to study at the Harvard Business School where she met her co-founder, Anthony Tan. Their business plan for then-named Grab Taxi won the HBS New Venture Competition in 2011 and the prize money of $25,000 was used by the pair to kick-start their company. Since then, Grab has managed to raise $340 million from some of the world's leading investors, including SoftBank Corp. and the hedge fund, Tiger Global. With a 60% market share in the Asia-Pacific region, Grab was able to raise approximately $2 billion during its most recent funding round, putting its valuation at $76 billion.
1. Jenny Lee (Managing Partner, GGV Capital)
At the world-renowned venture capital firm, Jenny's work is geared towards its investments in radical and future-looking sectors, such as EdTech, FinTech, Robotics, and Artificial Intelligence. Since 2015, she has played a crucial role in helping ten early-stage start-ups go public, and has also launched GGV Capital's offices in China and Singapore. More importantly, she leads the organization's USD fundraising activities, which are instrumental in its operations. Jenny's resume is filled with work experiences in operations and finance, including extensive stints at ST Aerospace, Morgan Stanley, and JAFCO Asia, which is why many of China's leading entrepreneurs are vying to have her on their Board of Directors and pool of investors. Her achievements are recognized across the globe, constantly recognized as one of the top 100 venture capital investors by both The New York Times and CB Insights, and earning Singapore's Business China's Young Achiever Award in 2016. Her most notable investments include Xiaomi, SinoSun, and Huohua Siwei, all of which are companies that consistently top their respective stock exchanges.
That is it from today’s post on Top 10 Women Powerful in Tech Today. If you do not agree with the points in the post and have some of your own opinions, share them with us in the comments section down below.
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