FIVE MINUTES WITH ...
KATIE NYKANEN
KATIE NYKANEN , CTO AT QA , ON BEING A ROLE MODEL FOR GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN AND HER HOPES FOR THE FUTURE
Q . DID YOU ALWAYS WANT TO WORK IN TECH ?
» I certainly never set off with a plan for a career in Tech and to become a CTO . I am not sure that it ’ s possible to plan out a career as many opportunities present themselves along the way , and the outcome depends very much on the choices you make .
If you ’ re open to new opportunities and want to learn new skills , then you unlock roles you wouldn ’ t have previously considered – that ’ s what happened with me and my career in IT . It was never something I sat down and mapped out .
In terms of me joining QA , I was drawn to the work we do across the board to help address the digital skills gap , the so-called ‘ great resignation ’, and the redundancy of many nontechnical roles in industries .
These are topics I could personally relate to as a CTO , and are subjects that are so visible and present in the UK and around the world . For me , working for a company delivering solutions to these problems was a great fit . QA ’ s real commitment to education and ensuring that digital skills are accessible to all was additionally something I knew I could feel incredibly passionate about . Our programmes for people impacted by the furlough scheme , for young people leaving school without further education options and actively finding ways to encourage people from all ethnic and social backgrounds , as well as dedicated schemes to get more girls and women into tech , make me genuinely feel that I am working
22 December 2022