Technology? IT’s a girl!
On Tuesday, May 20, ALTEN Polska had the pleasure of hosting a unique event held in Gdańsk on the 34th floor of the Olivia Star skyscraper. The second edition of the conference “Technology? IT’s a girl!” – as it was titled – brought together female leaders in tech business, IT industry experts, representatives from academia, and most importantly, inspiring women.
The aim of the event was to create a platform for idea exchange, discussions on the latest tech trends, mutual support, and inspiration. Although the issue of diversity has become important for many organizations, women still represent only 27.6% of those employed in the technology sector (Source: StrongDM, 2024), and just 14% hold senior leadership roles or serve on company boards (Source: Revolent Group, 2024). Increasing women’s presence in the tech world today seems to be a necessary condition to ensure the future of this field is inclusive, comprehensive, and aligned with contemporary realities.
From past to future code
The conference was opened by Ewa Gumula, Managing Director at ALTEN Polska, who shared a personal story about two strong women from her family history. Despite class differences, both her grandmothers shared a determination to claim their rightful place in a patriarchally structured world. She spoke about Stanisława and Maria: one, illiterate, whose persistence allowed future generations to attain higher education; the other, a professor of botany at the Polish Academy of Sciences, who earned respect at a time when women at universities could only be assistants or professors’ wives. “Thanks to their strength, I stand here before you today,” Ewa concluded.
She also emphasized that mutual support among women is key to success in the tech industry, and that empathy in interpersonal relations enables ethical and sustainable business practices.
Code and context
Next, Wirginia Przepióra (Traded Risk Senior Analyst at ALTEN Polska) delivered a talk exploring the behind-the-scenes work of a risk analyst in the financial sector. In today’s volatile world, many crises are hard to predict, and market fluctuations have become the new normal. To meet these challenges, analysts increasingly turn to programming tools, developing specialized algorithms to better forecast complex scenarios.
Wirginia also shared her passion for aerial acrobatics, noting that such sports foster supportive micro-communities of enthusiasts, which could serve as models of cooperation beyond athletics.
Efficiency technology in a female key
Agnieszka Grubczak (Business Project Manager at Nordea) then spoke about Lean Methodology and how it can be applied in everyday life. “The essence of Lean is reducing and simplifying processes, tasks, and activities within an organization by eliminating unnecessary elements,” she explained, introducing the 5S, PDCA, and 7 Strategic Alignment Steps tools. Importantly, this method emphasizes continuous improvement and process optimization, which can easily be applied to areas such as sports training, space organization, and personal time management.
Perceivability, Functionality, Understandability, Robustness
After a short break, Aurelia Kurczyńska (Software Tester at ALTEN Polska) took the stage to present on digital accessibility. In line with new legal regulations, more and more digital service providers are required to ensure accessibility for users with disabilities, in accordance with WCAG guidelines.
“These are recommendations for designing websites and applications accessible to users with various disabilities – visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive. Implementing them not only improves accessibility but also usability for all users on both computers and mobile devices,” said Aurelia. She also highlighted the importance of involving people with disabilities in service design: “The success of your organization is based on the success of end users, not the other way around.“
It’s not a bug. It’s a feature.
The first part of the conference concluded with a presentation by Iwona Polak (Senior Penetration Test Specialist at ALTEN Polska), who emphasized the importance of communication in the work of a penetration tester. As an ethical hacker, Iwona performs investigative work to find vulnerabilities in websites or applications that make them susceptible to attacks. Unfortunately, clients do not always appreciate the value of identifying such flaws, which is why empathetic and clear communication about potential risks and improvement recommendations is essential. “I try to be patient and describe all vulnerabilities and recommended remedial steps in my report as clearly as possible,” Iwona stated.
Can intelligence be artificial?
The highlight of the day was the panel discussion “AI vs. Human: Who Shapes Whom?” featuring five women: Tatiana Rudac (Nordea), Alicja Wilczyńska (ALTEN Polska), Aleksandra Krupa (INTEL), Madina Turava (HSBC), and moderator Katarzyna Wiśniewska (HSBC).
What is AI and should we be afraid of it?
The panelists unanimously agreed that AI is now an integral part of many professionals’ work, especially in the tech industry. “At our company, developers use AI when coding, but we must remember not to feed it confidential information,” noted Aleksandra. She added, “At Intel, we already have internal tools we can safely use locally.“
The discussion also explored the nature and limits of intelligence in the context of AI development. “What can’t AI replace? Let’s remember that intelligence is the result of consciousness, which AI lacks,” Madina pointed out. “Our biological intelligence is fascinating. AI can mimic and even evoke emotions, but it cannot feel them.”
Tatiana added, “It’s worth noting that we still can’t definitively define human intelligence. There are many types of intelligence, and not all of them can be replicated by AI.“
AI risks
In addition to optimism, panelists addressed potential risks. “AI can make us lazy. Let’s remember it sometimes hallucinates and provides false information. That’s part of its creativity, but we must verify its outputs,” said Alicja.
Tatiana raised the ecological concern: “The servers powering AI require massive amounts of water for cooling, not to mention the energy they consume.”
Katarzyna brought up privacy issues: “AI-based tools collect vast amounts of data about us. Whether we like it or not – we are being watched. This prompts reflection on our online behavior.“
Skills for the future
The discussion also touched on future skills. “First, test as many tools as you can, compare responses. Learn how to talk to chatbots,” advised Alicja. “The next step is building agents.”
Tatiana added, “These are very useful tools you can create as personal assistants. No developer knowledge needed – you can do it in a few to several hours.“
Madina noted that future jobs will develop along two tracks: “One involves tech roles like agent creation and prompt engineering, as well as cybersecurity, data protection, ethics, and regulation. I also see huge AI potential in Med-Tech. The other path will focus on human needs, including tools supporting spiritual development.”
Tatiana highlighted the growing need for high-quality data to enable further AI development.
Aleksandra emphasized the importance of infrastructure: “Hardware and infrastructure for AI will continue to grow,” she said, adding, “Soft skills will become increasingly important; technical skills won’t be the only focus.”
The panel ended with Madina’s reflection: “The most important quality will be the ability to be human.“
Summary
The “Technology? IT’s a girl!” conference organized by ALTEN Polska in Gdańsk was an inspiring gathering of women working in the technology sector. The event highlighted the role of diversity, support, and empathy in the IT environment, as well as the need to create spaces conducive to women’s presence and professional growth. The speakers covered topics ranging from personal stories and practical Lean methodologies to digital accessibility and the ethical dimensions of cybersecurity and AI.
The final panel discussion showcased both the potential and the challenges of artificial intelligence, while stressing the importance of soft skills and a human-centered approach in the future of technology. The conference confirmed that women not only write code but also shape the future of the industry.
