Tech Tuesday: Marie Ulikhanyan, Custom Solutions QA Analyst

1. What first got you interested in working in technology?

I started working in tech out of necessity. I thought it was going to be temporary until I found a job relevant to my background. When I got in, I started enjoying the work, challenges, interaction with the people, and above all the culture. I love how tech companies establish values and a culture that is essential for a healthy and happy work environment.

2. What AI or machine learning capabilities are you most looking forward to?

In a wider sense, I hope to witness how AI revolutionizes the medical industry and makes processes like early diagnostics quick and accessible. I am imagining devices as easy to use as a pregnancy test to diagnose conditions that otherwise take months and months to diagnose.

As for our internal projects, I have already seen great results from our developers. They’re applying machine learning techniques to enhance speech recognition bots that handle very specific vocabularies.

3. What was the most challenging aspect of your career, and how did you overcome it?

I am still in the beginning of my tech career, and there is a lot to embrace. Currently the only challenge is the time and the frustration that comes with the understanding that professional development isn’t as rapid as desired.

Technical skills are built through constant learning and hands-on experience or exposure. If you rely solely on the learning part, chances are you will become uninterested. My know-how is to take over tasks that I haven’t done before and be exposed to new technologies and tools.

4. Any advice for women who want to join the tech industry?

Working in the tech industry can be very rewarding in many ways, but to get there and thrive one needs to have the right mindset. That is, you learn as you begin, and never stop learning as you go. There is no being in the comfort zone in tech. Be ready to always run behind a ‘speed train.’

5. What advice would you give your younger self who is just starting in the workforce?

It is ok to be insecure when you have little experience. Be open and bold. Ask questions to peers and seniors. Every embarrassing situation is potentially the breaking point between “I didn’t know this, now I know,” or “let me do some research” and that is ok.