8 Women Stars of the Tech World on How the Pandemic Changed Everything From disruptions in healthcare and finance to new modes of human connection, here is what eight women tech leaders see for the future of technology.
By Entrepreneur Staff Edited by Frances Dodds
This story appears in the October 2021 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
"The pandemic showed us the power of community, and our ability to shift from in-person to digital and social engagement. Digital community accelerates the flywheel of education, facilitates fast information sharing, crowdsources knowledge, and is capable of highlighting and surfacing personal and authentic stories, at scale. Technology leaders can't afford to not think about how to engage their community. This transformation will enable the next generation of great companies to be not only vendors but economic platforms of opportunity." — Linda Lian, Founder, Common Room, a customer journey platform
"Consumer shopping patterns have shifted, and so have expectations of the checkout-and-payments experience. When I first arrived in the payment processing industry, I was constantly told, "That is how things have always been done.' That was music to my ears. I quickly discovered that merchants were lost in the wilderness of payments complexity. So we focused on building a customer service infrastructure that allows us to deliver personalized, proactive service that simplifies the complex payments environment." — Samantha Ettus, Founder and CEO, Park Place Payments, a payment processor supporting women reentering the workforce
Related: 4 Ways to Attract and Retain Top Female Talent in Tech
"During the pandemic, technology that was viewed as a nice-to-have became a need-to-have. In that transition, we learned how technology could bridge the gap and enhance real-life experiences, versus solely being a substitute. Moving forward, it is our responsibility, as leaders, to make sure technology facilitates meaningful experiences and does not take away from them. We need to ensure our products complement the in-person experiences consumers crave with the digital personalization and convenience they've come to expect. Technology should not cause barriers. It should break them." — Krystle Mobayeni, Cofounder and CEO, BentoBox, a restaurant website platform
"COVID-19 catapulted our reliance on technology to stay connected with loved ones. The biggest opportunity for tech leaders is to build products that support deeper connections and strengthen communities. At Babylist, we leveraged technology to bridge the gap between IRL and virtual. We spearheaded virtual baby showers. We expanded video content and digital product discovery to replace in-store shopping. Looking ahead, tech companies will need to create easy-to-use products and services that facilitate meaningful connections across generations and geographies." — Natalie Gordon, Founder and CEO, Babylist, a baby-gift registry and parenting platform
Related: Keeping Talented Women in the Tech Workforce
"I believe we'll see continued transformation in technology that supports a 24-7 world. The pandemic upended our sense of time and so many of our existing routines. At Orum, we have seen great success with a workforce dispersed across the country and beyond, operating on async schedules. To us, it's not acceptable for people's financial lives to only operate on a 9-to-5 schedule, on weekdays, when banks are open. At Orum, we're building the infrastructure for smart, real-time money movement to solve this." — Stephany Kirkpatrick, Founder and CEO, Orum, a frictionless financial-infrastructure platform
"Just as a wave of fintech innovation followed the financial crisis, we are seeing the same with healthcare now. The pandemic dramatically accelerated tech adoption in the healthcare market as patients and providers relied on telehealth, online check-in, mobile registration, and more. These digital forms of healthcare drove operational efficiencies that we will undoubtedly continue to use. The pandemic shifted ideas about what was possible in everyday healthcare, and consumers love the improved access." — Heather Mirjahangir Fernandez, Cofounder and CEO, Solv, a same-day, next-day healthcare platform
Related: Women in Tech: How Do We Stop the Drop
"Consumers will not part with the newfound conveniences they've experienced. Businesses face rising expectations to deliver a perfect digital experience, every time. One in three consumers say they'd walk away from a brand they love after just one negative interaction. Tech leaders' teams are more distributed, and under more pressure than ever. Today's leader is agile, leveraging AI and data science. But with all this technology and convenience comes a need for empathetic, inclusive leadership, a clear purpose, and demonstrable social responsibility." — Jennifer Tejada, CEO and chairperson, PagerDuty, a digital operations management company
"Online communities have proven themselves in a new way in the past 18 months. In times of uncertainty, they're quick to respond to people's needs and provide valuable information and positive emotional support. What's more, it's increasingly clear that the influence of online communities is going beyond the corners of the internet. They are driving real-world action and impact. Whether it's rallying a group of underdogs to disrupt Wall Street or recommending the latest skin-care product, online communities are powerful drivers of action and an integral part of the consumer purchase path. That will only accelerate." — Jen Wong, COO, Reddit, a network of online communities
