Hi and welcome to our series on the Women of Axway,
in honor of International Women's Day,
and we're starting today with Astrid Fischer,
she's joining us. Hi Astrid.
Hey, how are you?
Good! Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
And maybe tell us also what you got interested in what you do at Axway.
Yes, of course! My name is Astrid Fischer.
I am working as a product manager for one of our products…
…with the largest customer base here at Axway.
That's kind of exciting.
I’m with Axway since...
...11 years now.
Initially, I joined Axway in Germany...
…as a consultant in our professional services team.
And then only…
…about two and a half years later, I was offered to continue my work…
…from the headquarters.
That's when I moved to Arizona,
around seven or eight years ago.
During that time here I got to travel a lot.
I met with a lot of customers all over the US.
And then after a few years,
I became the practice lead for the PSO team in North America,
and since summer of last year, I started my role as a Product Manager.
The question is how did I actually end up…
…at Axway in the first place?
I remember as a teenager,
my dad and I would build Lego robots,
and then we programmed them on the computer.
It's probably…
…normal now, but back then that was pretty cool.
And…
…I also went to a girls-only high school,
so not many of my friends were really interested…
…in that topic.
So, I was happy that my dad…
…was willing to play with me about that.
And then…
…one of my teachers told me about a college program that offered…
…a dual study.
which combined on-the-job training,
and studies at the same time.
I liked the program,
and it was only offered for…
…a technical degree.
Choice was easy, I go the technical path.
After I finished my college,
I’d already worked several years…
…for a big tech company.
And that allowed me to build my professional network,
very early on.
And that, actually,
connected me to Axway.
I was asked to…
well, offered a job to work for Axway,
and I really liked the idea of working with various customers across…
…all kinds of industries,
being exposed to…
…a lot of different technologies,
and integration points.
I was all in,
and that's how my journey with Axway and…
…a job in the tech field started.
That's a really neat story about your dad, because…
…it's interesting in doing some of these interviews with women in tech,
you're not the only one that says their dad was kind of part of what…
…sparked that interest, so…
…parents have a big role to play in that for sure.
And that kind of leads into our next question, because, some numbers from 2022,
women are almost half of the global workforce,
but in the tech industry,
maybe only about a quarter…
…are women, and so,
we are still quite outnumbered.
From your experience and in general,
what can we do to encourage women…
…to join the tech industry,
and want to be a part of that?
I want to start answering this question…
…by sharing a small anecdote if that's ok.
As a runner, this is very dear to my heart.
Everyone…
probably most of us know the Boston Marathon,
as the oldest marathon event,
and probably also one of the most popular races.
Everyone wants to participate.
Over 50 years ago,
this was an all-male race.
It took one woman,
who registered under a false name,
and that sneaked into the race,
and completed the race, even though while she was running,
she was attacked by several officials, trying to pull her out of the race.
But she finished,
and then only five years later,
it became official that women can…
…register to the race and participate.
In that same year, nine women finished the race.
And now in 2021,
it was actually more women…
…that finished the race than men.
That story shows that…
…it actually takes one inspiring person,
to start that kind of movement,
and change our perspective.
What can we learn from that,
and encourage women to be part of the tech industry,
I think the most important thing…
…is to really share success stories.
Also sharing what impact…
…a role can make,
what a position can make…
…for people, for the community, for the environment.
Because it's difficult sometimes to link…
…a technical degree, to actually a real job,
and what impact you can make.
And I think especially the generation today,
wants to make an impact.
And even if there might be some challenges and hurdles,
but for young people, I'll just say,
I am happy to take those challenges,
because I know it would be rewarding at the end.
And then, I think we can always support each other as women, by…
…participating in various organizations, communities, events,
that are supporting women in tech.
I know at Axway we do that.
We just recently had…
…a young group of students,
actually, in the office. And we were sharing…
…some of our experience, answering some of their questions.
And that helps them, we can…
early encourage them to build connections.
We linked. And really encouraged…
…those young people by connecting.
Yeah, that was a powerful example you shared.
All it takes is one role model to show what is possible, right?
So, we're talking about,
getting more women into STEM fields and in tech.
What are some of the opportunities for women in tech,
and what would you say are some of the skills that are really needed now in the field?
I think the question is rather,
why would a woman not want to work anywhere in the STEM field?
Because I think there's literally endless opportunities…
…to grow and to learn.
And no matter the size of a company, there is potential everywhere.
Because in fact, in my job,
I see it in every industry, in every company,
it's the need for digital transformation,
the need for technology is key.
In order to be competitive, that's what it's needed, so…
we need the people to support that.
In my experience working with dozens of customers,
I've seen women across all functions,
all positions, from very pure technical developing role,
to heading up IT departments,
and taking or participating…
…in taking major decisions.
I think...
…there's really no limits in the opportunities there are.
It's not a question of…
…what are the opportunities for women, but what are the opportunities?
And then, more difficult to answer, I think, is what skills are needed?
Because the tech field is so wide, that we cannot say…
…if you know A, B, and C, you'll be good. And that'll change tomorrow.
Exactly! It will change tomorrow.
In my position, for example,
it's really important that I have some skills,
on understanding about software development methodology,
having some kind of background on coding,
hands-on experience, in order to be…
…understanding around some challenges,
and speak similar language to people working in that field.
But at the same time,
I also need to understand the business,
the market, our competitors, our customers,
how we can be profitable. And of course, like…
…communication is key.
In my job, many times…
…it's not even important what I say, but how I say it.
It's really the most important thing.
And then also, at least working on a vendor side,
I think if you always have in mind,
what do we need to do in order to help our customers,
then we are on the winning side.
And I think you can apply that to many other positions and jobs.
Having the end goal in mind, the why. Yes.
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Astrid.
We really appreciate your time. It was really interesting getting to know you a little bit,
and some of your advice for the next generation of women in tech.
So, thank you so much.
Thank you for having me. Yeah. It was fun.