Jessica Mowatt, Senior Software Engineer at 8x8, is a Rising Star finalist in this year’s Women in Tech Excellence Awards. As a recognition of this achievement, we caught up with her to discuss her nomination, the progress and hurdles facing women in the sector, and her achievements over the past 12 months.

8x8: What's it like working at 8x8?

Jessica Mowatt (JM): As a senior front-end software engineer for 8x8’s contact centre, I’m working on new features or enhancing the existing ones daily. Our team has excellent communication and processes, which helps to make sure we’re always performing to our best.

I’ve had two rewarding years at 8x8 because it’s allowed me to hone my core skills while also expanding and challenging them. At an organisational level, our environment is supportive with many internal initiatives to promote learning and development that demonstrate the passion of my colleagues. It’s one of a few places where I’ve felt there’s a good diversity of demographics across the company.

8x8: Do you have the career you envisioned for yourself?

JM: Yes and no; but the ‘no’ isn’t negative. Towards the end of university, I realised I wanted to be a developer. I was using a supercomputer to simulate galaxies for my MPhys thesis and realised I was more interested in the programming than my actual research. So, when I first transitioned into tech, I had a short-term view. I just wanted to be there. But over eight years, having held roles in the full software lifecycle, and I’m now embracing more leadership responsibilities I can see where I want to go next.

8x8: What's been the biggest surprise for you in the last 12 months?

JM: The growth and success of our training initiative, “Training Club” has been a pleasant and rewarding surprise. I’m the unofficial chair of the club, so I get people to contribute. We’re building an organic network of SMEs and giving employees agency around their skills and learning. If you think, “I understand this thing, everyone else would benefit from knowing it too,” then you can train others.

8x8: What have you achieved in the last 12 months that you are most proud of?

JM: During a period where I had to temporarily lead our team, we were told by product and marketing that our end-of-life migration emails to administrators averaged a 26% unique daily read rate, with zero insight into whether end-users were then getting the message too. We needed to improve, so we devised an in-app notification system which gave information directly to the end-user. The challenge was a tight deadline and a lack of resources for a huge infrastructure. We pulled it off by making a reliable, easily maintainable solution that saw unique reads go from 26 to over 4,700 per day.

8x8: Are there barriers for women wanting to work in tech/SaaS?

JM: Yes, and they come in three stages: before you start your career, during your career, and towards the end. At the start, the issue is access to education and uptake for women and people from minority groups. The most recent report from Engineering UK shows that 12% of those working in engineering are female, compared to 51% of the working age population, and only 9% are from ethnic minority backgrounds. That shows we’ve still got a long way to go.

In-work barriers are the imbalance of paternity and maternity leave, having to choose between work versus family, and the opportunity and paths for progression to senior roles. Toward the end of women’s careers, education and awareness about the menopause, which can be a debilitating condition that goes largely overlooked.

8x8: What more could/should men be doing to ensure it's a level workplace?

JM: It’s common sense, and it’s not just men, but we should be supportive, treat everyone equally and with respect, and be sensitive to other cultures and backgrounds. Having worked with men and women, their gender was never a problem, it was their behaviour. Anyone can make an environment toxic.

8x8: In terms of equality, have things progressed in the last 12 months, gone backwards or mostly stayed the same?

JM: There’s a micro and macro level to confront. Looking at the Engineering UK report, it’s disheartening because there’s been little progress at the macro level over the last few years. Zooming in, at 8x8, things have improved. Our female workforce has increased by 15% this year, compared to a 7% male increase. The mean pay gap has also fallen by 9% to 17% since it was first reported in 2019. From my position, I see 8x8 as being committed to making things fair, inclusive, and supportive for women while continuing to find ways to make it more so.

8x8: The four pillars of the Women in Tech festival are diversity, innovation, community, and empowerment. In your experience, which has resonated with you the most during your career?

JM: Empowerment and community. Coming out of university, I dealt with a lot of imposter syndrome. I had zero confidence. It took some time to build that up. But the people around me were supportive and patient. They gave their time to help me learn and understand. By them giving a little, I gained a lot. After that, I had the means and confidence to say, “I know what I’m doing. I have good ideas.” And through my career that’s made a huge difference. That’s how we elevate people. And that’s how we bring more women into tech.

8x8: If you could click your fingers and tomorrow it’d be different, what one thing would you change in the tech sector?

JM: I’d get rid of stereotypes. They’re the real reason why we think people can or can’t do something. They’re baked-in and limit what anyone can achieve, including ourselves. Although we can’t cut them out so easily, we can be mindful and do our best to unlearn the biases that arise from them.

8x8: How do you feel about being a finalist in the Women in Tech Excellence awards for 2023?

JM: I feel very humbled and honoured as well as validated. I’d also highlight that several women at 8x8 have been nominated, and I think that by itself demonstrates that there are many inspirational women here. They’re massively deserving of their nominations too.

8x8: Your nomination is very prestigious. What advice would you give to women starting their careers who wanted to make a similar impact?

JM: Be bold. Speak up. Don’t be afraid to share your ideas. The only times I’ve had negative experiences of sharing were when the environment was toxic. If you’re in the right environment, it’s win-win; you and your colleagues benefit from your contributions. I’d also suggest being authentic. Don’t invent a mask or try to be something you’re not. When I’ve done that, it just meant that I didn’t give something my all.

8x8: What do you think women (and men) should be doing to upskill to advance their careers in 2024 and beyond?

JM: A lot is happening in AI and machine learning (ML), so there are powerful opportunities to upskill there. Pursue them in your current roles, as there are many tools to help people with their jobs and get involved in any local groups. Exercise caution too. Our use of AI needs to be responsible and ethical. This means the data shouldn’t replicate biases. It means we need to be cautious when crafting prompts. And it means being watchful for plagiarism to ensure we can track and give proper credit to people.

Read more in 8x8’s Women in Tech series