The Women in Tech Show: A Technical Podcast

Product forecasting involves data analytics and making recommendations. Pooja Sund, Data Analytics Group Manager at Microsoft explained the data that financial analysts look at for product forecasting. We talked about what financial models are and how software is being used to help financial analysts. Pooja also talked about management, technical training and diversity and inclusion.

To develop and maintain software we can have systems that allow us to deploy to production and respond to incidents. Hannah Foxwell, Associate Director at Pivotal, explained the impact these systems can have on the developers and their health. We talked about extreme cases where deployments are done overnight requiring the engineers to be at the office. Hannah explained how processes can be improved to avoid this and metrics that we can use for guidance.

In cloud computing one way to develop and deploy applications is by using containers. Kaslin Fields, Cloud Advocate at Oracle explained what containers are and how they are similar to chocolate chip cookies. We talked about the advantages of containers and how they compare to using virtual machines. At the end we also talked about Software Quality and the role of a Quality Assurance Engineer.

Cloud computing enables sharing resources between an organization or with entities outside an organization. Multi-tenancy helps enable this. Tasha Drew, Product Line Manager at VMware and co-chair of the Kubernetes Multi-tenancy group explained what multi-tenancy is. We talked about the benefits of multi-tenancy and how it relates to Kubernetes. Tasha also over scenarios where it is used.

The early days of the internet were very different than what we have today. The internet was primarily accessible only to people in academia or the government. Mitchell Baker, Co-Founder and Chairwoman of Mozilla explained how the internet evolved and made its way to consumers. At the time, Mitchell was working on Netscape, which was the dominant browser for consumers. We talked about the browser wars and how Microsoft later dominated with Internet Explorer. Mitchell also explained why the code for Netscape was released as open source and the impact this had on how the internet is today.

The growth of an application leads to changes in various areas of its architecture. Shraya Ramani, Senior Software Engineer at BuzzFeed explained how the growth led to changes in the microservices architecture and in the way these services were being secured. We talked about Single Sign-On ( also known SSO), and BuzzFeed’s SSO open source project. Shraya also explained the process of releasing code as open source.

In the early 2000s, after the Dot-com bubble burst, it was difficult for and entry-level software developer to find a job. Nivia Henry, Senior Engineering Manager at Spotify talked about her time as a recent graduate during the Dot-com bubble. We then talked about her experience in Project Management, Software Testing, Quality Assurance, and Bias in Machine Learning. Nivia also explained concepts around leading teams and how to prepare for the growth of an organization.

The process of designing a Software Architecture involves different aspects such as the type of project, the organization involved, the people involved and many others. Stefania Stefansdottir, Lead Developer and Consultant at ThoughWorks, explained through a series of examples what Software Architecture Design can consist of. We talked about how one can start tackling a project and the role of the architect and tech lead. Stefania also explained how to validate a solution and the risks of a project.

Security and compliance are two fundamental components of software. Wendy Knox Everette, Senior Security Advisor at Leviathan Security explained what security and compliance are. We talked about the software development cycle and how security can be involved throughout the cycle. Wendy also explained what compliant software means and the process of making software compliant.

Data analysis of the human genome is more accessible thanks to advancements in technology. In this episode I talked to two Senior Product Scientists and Managers at 23andme: Jamaica Perry and Alisa Lehman. Jamaica an Alisa talked about the human genome and areas of research in this. We also talked about data that can be generated from analyzing it and the ways in which this can be presented to a consumer.