CIO OPINION
In the initial stages of my career , I found it very hard , with many people having difficulty accepting a female CIO or CTO .
Chetna Bhatia , CIO , PE
From CIO to the boardroom : What ’ s the tech sector like for a woman ?
Chetna Bhatia , CIO , PE , discusses her journey to becoming a CIO and outlines what benefits women can bring to the technology sector .
As a senior executive , serving as both CEO and CIO , I have almost 30 years ’ experience in energy trading , derivatives markets and risk management , industries of which are notoriously challenging for women to break into and excel . in the initial stages of my career , I found it very hard , with many people having difficulty accepting a female CIO or CTO . Over the years , I ’ ve been undermined , with some even suggesting that someone ‘ did me a favour ’ by giving me the position !
I joined the tech industry in India back in 1995 , where it was extremely difficult for women at that time due to it being a male dominant sector . Things have only really started to change and improve in the past decade or so , as increasing numbers of women enter the tech industry . However , even with these improving statistics , there are still very few women in senior positions , with CTOs and CIOs remaining predominantly male .
Although I ’ m one of a minority of women at CIO level , my journey to get here has been challenging . Certainly
Not only do these kinds of examples put young girls and women off entering the tech industry , for those that do enter the sector , often they feel pressure to work harder to constantly prove themselves .
As CIO at PE , I oversee our SaaS , PaaS , IaaS , cloud applications and managed services . Thankfully , PE is a big advocate for inclusivity , so the fact I am a woman plays no bearing on how people interact with me , or their belief in me as a senior team member . This enables me to focus on my job and deliver the
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