Women in tech: Méliné Eolmezian-Soulie, VP – Marketing and Development at Obvious Technologies

As a business development and marketing intrapreneurial leader, I’m always looking for added-value technology. I believe innovation offers more to an industry, organisation, or category of people than the practical aspects of technology, which is precisely what we strive to showcase at Obvious Technologies.

At Obvious Technologies, we are extremely fortunate to have matured in the GCC region, which offers a highly competitive, tech-driven market.

Digitalisation has been a core element of regional strategies and visions, along with significant projects and budgets. This acts as a massive boon since offering a fantastic R&D laboratory for tech players in the region, where operational and technical pilots are stimulated and converted into permanent deployment once thriving.

Challenges
As a female in the industry, I don’t think my gender has prevented me from reaching my goals. I believe it is easy for a woman to build her way through the industry, considering that there aren’t many women in the tech space.

Once you demonstrate your expertise and professionalism, it becomes easier to stand out as people remember you for your capabilities rather than your gender. Although the tech space is still a male-dominated industry, I consider it to be my ecosystem.

Compared to the last five years, we’ve already witnessed some progress regarding female participation in the sector.

The tech industry needs women as we bring a unique prism to the sector. In fact, the new generation of developers is significantly inclusive of women.

The ability to pay attention to detail, the commitment obsession, the structured approach and valuable inputs provided in user experience or customer journey are now recognised as tangible qualities for women in tech, enabling more female leadership roles over the next five-to-10 years!

As the only woman in our leadership team, I have found my place and seen where I can make a valuable difference and demonstrate women’s positive impact in tech communities.

For other aspiring female tech enthusiasts, I want to say that keeping and nurturing our assets is essential. Our skills make us unique, enabling us to stand out in the industry.

The year 2023
Meanwhile, with the region’s strategies and visions growing every day, 2023 will be another promising year for the industry! I am interested in catching how digital twin technologies support the development of emerging smart cities, especially in Saudi Arabia.

I’m also keen to learn how digital strategies will help process the tons of multi-source data and automate complex workflows, supporting the command chain of a venue, infrastructure or city to make smarter and faster decisions.

Another aspect I have been looking out for, as a board member of the French Tech UAE, is the role of tech startups in market disruption. I expect 2023 to witness the creation and rapid growth of upcoming tech unicorns within the blockchain, artificial intelligence, metaverse spaces and more.

As part of the X generation, I’ve witnessed a time without smartphones and the internet, which makes today even more fascinating. I just hope technology doesn’t replace personal interactions, substitute human decisions or generate unethical situations. At Obvious Technologies, we expect our technology to disappear and enhance efficiency.

Read: Women in tech: Muna Issa, sales director – High Velocity, UK, Ireland, MEA at HPE