In the world of digital modernization, especially in the public sector, the last few months have been a bit of a “Conferencepalooza.” After 3 years of canceled, hybrid, and down-scaled events, many of the major technology cloud and platform providers came back big in 2023. Looking to drive post-pandemic innovation, and perhaps stave off recession concerns, these companies threw large-scale events from San Diego and Las Vegas to New York and Washington, D.C.—and in just about every city in between.
With two decades of management consulting experience, I have a fair share of these conferences under my belt. Typically, sponsors host key notes, client projects are highlighted, and vendors compete for distributing the best conference swag and hosting the most memorable post-event soiree.
This year, however, two things felt different. Nearly every conference’s theme, and many of their sessions, focused on human-centered design, with the word “empathy” echoing through convention center halls. How did a seemingly soft-skill topic like “leading with empathy” end up featuring prominently alongside rapid-fire technological advancements, like generative AI?
And the other thing that stood out? There were women delivering keynotes at the helm of podiums, facilitating tech discussion panels, and working the crowds at the after-conference events. This was notable: While women make up 47% of the total workforce, they only represent 27% of tech leadership roles.
Has there been a deliberate shift to highlight more women in tech leadership? And is there a connection to the increased focus on empathy-led design?
Women’s empowerment is digital empowerment
I turned to my colleague, Tahera Zamanzada, vice president of digital transformation at ICF, who also hit the conference circuit this spring, to get her take. With her signature knowing grin, “You’re not wrong,” Tahera said. “The concept of ‘empathy first,’ historically found in therapy, customer service, and the like, is now fully baked into IT. And this is the time for women to shine.”
“Look, women are typically effective communicators, great at translating information, and reading between the lines,” Tahera explained. “A design-led or empathy approach allows an organization to understand where its customer is coming from, and how to design solutions that truly benefit from them.”
She further explained that the exponential growth in low-code/no-code technology platforms—which use tools that are more accessible to non-IT professionals to minimize the need for traditional code-writing developers—has allowed more soft-skill oriented professionals to enter the equation and reshape how IT is delivered. Including women.
When asked how more women who don’t consider themselves technologists can enter the tech workforce, Tahera started with, “Get a certification!” She then elaborated, “It doesn’t matter if you have an English major, or even no degree at all. Find a technology that you’re passionate about and pursue those certifications. They are wide-ranging, often on demand, and can result in immediate job opportunities.” Design-led transformation means creatively examining how to solve problems. Human beings are at the center, technology is the enabler. “Music majors, philosophy majors, these people are very successful in today’s technology environment,” added Tahera.
It starts and ends with the human
For organization leaders still skeptical about the benefits of this new approach to technology problem solving, Tahera urges them to engage in human-centric design.
When leaders don’t start with the point of view of the people who will interact with a technology solution, they often create solutions that have low adoption rates and unhappy customers—and can end up spending more money to reengineer solutions based on faulty assumptions. Tahera argued, “When organizational leaders spend money without empathy-led design, they end up with technical debt, the implied cost of future reworking required to eventually solve the intended problem. Empathy-first asks you to think less about immediate cost savings and instead how will this app be valuable and sustainable in the long run.”
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