In Her Words: Eva, EVP Customer Digital Innovation at KPN

What do you love about your job and your employer?

KPN is an employee-centric organization where you can create impact and feel connected with your colleagues. There is always room for personal growth which is one of my key beliefs. My job is creating the most (Customer) value and doing that, on our journeys and our digital products (web, app, conversational), makes it possible to act really fast on customer feedback. Digital is where craftsmanship of UX, CX, Digital, IT and Processes collaborates and this is what gives outstanding services to our customers. My colleagues really make a difference.

Have you faced any barriers as a woman in tech, and how did you overcome them?

Tech is a broad scope which requires for example customer-centric thinking, data driven and growth mindset and IT and TI development. I think barriers arise when people look at tech through one specific lens and underestimate the rest of the scope. I have faced barriers in the sense that I needed to prove I could understand IT and TI and could give them direction. Overcoming this obstacle lies for me personally in openness to learn, respecting the specialists and combining experts to create the best value.

How do you advocate for diversity and inclusion within your company or the tech community?

For me, it’s creating awareness and proof that experts from different backgrounds, which can be in skill, character, age, gender, ethnic background etc, give the greatest solution power. Being able to look at the customer's point of view is crucial in tech development which needs a diverse mindset. That said, it’s not easy to create an environment that is fit for everyone. A company has ways of behavior and patterns which is always good to be explicit about when selecting the community. KPN provides various ways to make everyone feel at home within the company. I emphasize the strength of all different team members, together building new rituals, giving focus and direction, and personal attention.

Can you share a story where you or your employer helped to create a more inclusive environment?

KPN offers mentoring programs. I have been a mentor for three years offering my mentorship to someone in the organization who wants to learn. Together with HR we proposed extending this program to our call centers, retail and engineers. Within these skilled employees, we see they come from a different backgrounds and educations, they are less close to the head office, therefor mentoring programs often are not top of mind. It’s amazing to see how mentoring can give a new frame of mind and can boost potential.

What changes do you hope to see in the tech industry regarding gender equality in the next five years?

With the development of tech going at its current rate and the exponential growth, human and tech need to find their new balance. Jobs will change, analytical power will be used to prompt, and business and tech will be more hand-in-hand. It will require a combination of hard and soft skills and clear business & human behavior acumen. With these changes and transformation it will require a different skill set and give more space for gender equality.

What needs to happen in the tech industry to contribute to building a more inclusive industry?

I think as a tech industry it needs to be aware of these big transformations and foresee that different skill sets are needed. Searching for the right person for the job is much more about a learning mindset, building experience and being customer and data-driven. If that’s the case, then recruiting and communication about the company needs to be more inclusive. And I believe education needs to be attuned to the human and the tech side of things, making it more attractive to a wider audience. I would have loved to have had a tech module in my Neuropsychology master.