My advice to anyone looking to work in tech is …. Be Bold

Meet Jennifer, Chief Strategy Officer for Digital and Technology. She advises and leads end-to-end transformations for large, global corporations. She adds value to her clients by using her entrepreneurial background in core Technology, Media and Telecom sectors such as cloud, mobility and digital.

How long have you worked at PwC and how did you find your way into this role?

I’m originally from the US and moved to the UK to work for  BT leading their technology transformation, focusing on three main principles; radically changing the customer experience, introducing agile ways of working and replatforming the estate. I joined PwC in 2016 to harness the opportunity to build out the digital and tech practice, with a particular focus on cloud-enabled transformation. 

What were the driving factors for choosing a career in tech? 

Tech wasn’t even on my radar in University. In fact, corporate life in general was not in my experience. Everyone else in my family is self-employed and works in their passion, e.g. we have an artist, a musician and a minister. I didn’t have any role models in the corporate world when I started out. 

I studied History and Education at University and after doing a student teaching placement I quickly realised that teaching wasn’t for me either. But I did have an opportunity to open a retail store in a rapidly gentrifying area of Boston, which fortuitously was located across the street from one of the largest industry analyst firms in the US. One analyst would often visit during her lunch break and share her ambitions to open up her own business. After sharing some of my ideas, she hired me as a Consultant. Our first project involved convincing 100 Chief Information Officers (CIOs) to come to the EU (funded with their own money) to give their requirements for open source standards. The only problem was I didn’t know a thing about tech! So I simply began by cold-calling CIOs and talking to them about how they were using leading-edge tech to solve the major problems of the day and I was hooked. In just weeks I was the co-founder, and we built an amazing business which has been the foundation of all my subsequent success in the application of technology to business problems, whether in my bootstrapped startups or in major corporations and consultancies. 

What advice would you give to anyone looking to work in tech?

Perhaps because it’s the road I didn't take, I always recommend starting your career in a big firm. There’s a foundational grounding that you don’t get when going to boutiques or startups.

Another piece of advice, and one I also say to many members of my teams and my client stakeholders, is “give it a go”. This is even more important when the internal teams have not done it before or when the client is facing change fatigue or skepticism. People’s first instinct is to hide and I always say to do the opposite - be as enthusiastic as you can because you never know what may work out for you. The more first hand experience you have, the more credible your opinions.  

How do you support the development and growth of women in your team?

We support growth and develop using family style mentoring both across Consulting and also while we’re on long-term engagements. In this way everyone is continuously learning. Our clients really support this too, and often join in, providing support and mentoring to our teams, especially the junior grades - ensuring that they are heard. Everyone’s opinions are valued, no matter your grade.