Expanding the intelligent automation workforce – a female perspective

Innovation Nation talks to Capgemini’s Ewelina Kałucka, Vijaya Yellu, and Anuradha Raghuraman about how women bring a unique perspective to IT and automation roles and what Capgemini is doing to attract more female talent to expand its IT and automation workforce.

Innovation Nation: Hello Ewa, Vijaya, and Anu – thanks for joining me today. Could you start by telling us about your role within Capgemini’s Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) practice and what first interested you in a career in IT and automation?

Ewelina Kałucka: Hello, I’m Ewelina and I work as a team leader for our IPA practice. I’m responsible for providing our customers with tailored software solutions that meet their needs quickly and effectively.

My interest in IT started with video games. I remember creating a video game for a final year project when I was 16. This was my initial interaction with IT, and I really liked it, so I enrolled in a computer science course two years later.

Vijaya Yellu: I’m Vijaya and I work as a technical automation architect for Capgemini’s Intelligent Command Center, ensuring our automated solutions are optimized to work as they should.

My journey began when I was waiting for my undergraduate studies to begin. I Joined a C programming training course and quickly realized coding suited my logical personality, as it enabled me to see the results of my efforts and provided transparency around where I could improve. This is where my love for IT began.

Anuradha Raghuraman: And I’m Anu. I’m a techno functional delivery lead for our IPA practice. I help businesses automate their process with the help of various RPA and AI tools and chatbots.

I’ve always been a problem solver, but I didn’t fully realize this until I was in at university. One of my assignments helped me improve some of my academic administration work and saw the benefits of automation. This was where my initial interest in IT came from.

How do women bring a unique perspective to IT and automation teams?

Anuradha: That’s a really important question. Women are empathetic and can understand the needs of others more easily. Women are also influencers, which helps them achieve goals, make people feel more confident in their abilities, and produce better products and services for clients.

Vijaya: Women tend to show a great deal of empathy and emotional intelligence – and we’re also great multi-taskers. We do this every morning while getting ready for work and making sure our kids are up and ready for school. This is something that women bring to any team.

What is Capgemini doing to ensure more women join its IT workforce?

Ewelina: I think Capgemini is already succeeding here. For example, Capgemini recently partnered with the IT Girls Revolution Academy (ITGrA) initiative in Poland, which helps young female high-school students take their first steps into the IT world. I took part in it myself this year, as an instructor, and can honestly say Capgemini is doing a great job getting young women interested in IT, based on my own experiences with this program.

Anuradha: Capgemini offers many engaging initiatives and training programs designed to help women grow their skills. Initiatives such as our Avancer program, which ensures women are given the skills to advance their careers further and climb the corporate ladder.

Vijaya: Capgemini is good at getting the work-life balance right. We have good management that supports women – even if they’ve been with the team for a short space of time – and this is crucial, especially when it comes to balancing team needs with family needs.

What advice would you give to women starting out in IT and automation roles?

Vijaya: I would tell them you need to be comfortable being flexible – even if you have a family. There are times when you have to work with teams in other time zones or work to extremely tight deadlines. So it’s important you train and work with companies that respect your time.

Anuradha: I would also add that you need to keep up with new technologies – even if you work in a managerial role at an IT company. You also need to find ways to upskill, regardless of the size of the company you’re working for. Upskilling is how you truly excel in IT. Secondly, women need to identify the skill gaps in their team or practice, and try to pick up those skills and technologies.

Ewelina: These are all great points, but I would also add that it’s important to follow your passion. If you do this, you’ll find success in any field.

Finally, why would you recommend Capgemini as an employer for IA-focused talent?

Anuradha: At Capgemini, we work with multiple, cutting-edge technologies and explore them to deliver the best possible product to our clients. For anyone who wants to explore the value that IA can bring to businesses across the globe, this makes Capgemini a great place to work.

Ewelina: The initiatives Capgemini offers and the cutting-edge projects we work on is one reason why I would encourage anyone interested in working in IT to join Capgemini – regardless of gender. But the other reason is that, at Capgemini, everyone will find a project that will both interest and challenge them on a daily basis, while giving them plenty of opportunities to hone their IT skills from day one.

Vijaya: I would add more, but Anu and Ewa have taken the words right out of my mouth – if you work in automation and want a challenging experience then Capgemini is the place to be.

Ewa, Vijaya, Anu – thank you for taking the time to talk to us today.

This article is published in the new edition of our Innovation Nation magazine. Read more from our special feature on “Automation and the data-powered organization” and download the full magazine.