Tech is all about building human connections.
I always tell women to use the fact that we offer a different point of view in a room full of men, to their advantage. Because we often stand out, we gain a unique platform to demonstrate our knowledge and capabilities.
I think social media, it in a way forces companies to be more authentic or more transparent because it gives a voice to the consumer and a reach to the consumer that they didn't have before.
When I present or speak, I write the slides myself. And regarding time, I would like to be able to publish more than I do.
While technology empowers us to remain connected all the time, it's up to us as people to decide when is it not appropriate to be connected... to opt out when you need to.
For the user, it doesn't matter whether he is getting access on Wi-Fi, 3G or 2G networks. What matters is good connectivity, and as a technology provider, our job is to hide the complexity of the technology.
If you think about Cisco's offerings like TelePresence, where it's an immersive way to communicate for businesses to connect and have conversations in a real-time immersive mode, how that will change health care, how that'll change retail business, how that'll change actually travel. There's lots of changes that we will see going forward.
I'm thrilled to be joining Gap Inc., a company that understands the importance of integrating technology and retail in ways that improve the lives of its customers.
I have seen women who are very interested in tech finish their graduate or undergraduate degrees, but then choose not to pursue a career in tech because they're not sure they want to spend the next 20-30 years in an industry that's very male dominated.
I always tell women that the fact that you're different and that you're noticed, because there are few of us in the tech industry, is something you can leverage as an advantage.
When I took my first job, I was among only a handful of women. It was isolating at times. My love for technology kept me going, and I got to where I am today driven by my passion and self confidence.
The first wave of the Internet was really about data transport. And we didn't worry much about how much power we were consuming, how much cooling requirements were needed in the data centers, how big the data center is in terms of real estate. Those were almost afterthoughts.
I think one challenge is that having few women in your work environment makes you feel a little isolated and alone. I'm an extrovert; I like talking to people, and I make friends easily, but if your personality is somewhat different, I think you would struggle to connect with people.
People remember my last name because it's different, and people remember me in meetings because I dress differently from other people just because I'm a woman. Those kinds of things give you an opportunity and a spotlight, so use that to your advantage. Use it as a platform to demonstrate your knowledge and your capabilities.
There is an outdated belief that girls are not as good at science and math subjects as boys. But according to the report 'Generation STEM,' high school girls earn more math and science credits than boys do, and their GPAs, aggregated across math and science classes, are higher than boys'.
For me personally, the technology that has taken the most unexpected turn in my lifetime is what I refer to as 'the device formerly known as the cell phone.' I still remember many predictions that by 2000 there would only be about a million cell phone users. Boy, were they ever wrong!
You go to a technology conference or an engineering conference, there are very few women there. At the same time it's a blessing in the fact that you do get noticed. People tend to remember you as the only woman in the room 'who said that', or the only woman in the room who was an engineer.
In the future, it's going to move from being just a data transport to really becoming a media experience platform. The Internet will be more about media, more about collaboration, much more virtualized and much more green.
If I had to pick three of my favorite magazines, they would be 'Fast Company', 'Silicon India', and 'Smithsonian.'
I've taken Saturdays to be the day I pull back completely. I do things that are more creative, and I've actually found that helps me when I get back into work to be more thoughtful, and I truly believe that feeding your creative soul is really important to being more analytical.
