By Ramya Nirmal, CEO, CI Global Tech
Every year, around International Women’s Day, organizations celebrate the growing number of women entering STEM fields. It is an important milestone. Representation matters. But representation alone does not change leadership tables.
The real question today is not how many women enter the technology field. It is how many rise to shape its direction.
After more than two decades in software product engineering, working across roles from developer to CEO, I have come to believe that the most significant shift women in technology must make is not about capability. It is about positioning. Many highly capable women remain invisible to leadership pipelines because they stay anchored in operational excellence long after they have outgrown it.
Technical mastery can open the first door. It does not automatically open the next one.
Early in our careers, the formula for growth appears straightforward. Learn the technology. Deliver consistently. Solve problems. Become the most reliable person in the room. This approach works very well for the first stage of a technical career. You become the expert others depend on. Your work speaks for itself.
But leadership operates differently.
At the next level, the question changes from How well do you perform your role? to How do you influence what the organization becomes? This transition is often where many talented women hesitate. Technical expertise becomes a safety net. It is the shield we use to prove we belong in the room. When you are known as the person who never makes mistakes, who always delivers, and who understands the system better than anyone else, that identity feels secure. Stepping beyond it can feel risky.
But leadership requires setting that shield down. It involves moving from solving problems within a defined task to questioning how the system itself can improve. At some point in a technical career, the most valuable shift is learning to question not just how something should be built, but why it should exist in the first place. It requires shifting attention from individual output to organizational direction. And that means being willing to step into conversations that are less about code and more about decisions.
Many women fall into what I call the perfection trap. We believe that if we continue to perform flawlessly in our current roles, the next opportunity will naturally arrive. Sometimes it does. But often, organizations promote people who demonstrate readiness for the next challenge rather than mastery of the current one. More often than not, opportunities do not look like promotions. They look like unfamiliar responsibilities. Learning to recognize those moments and step forward is often what changes the direction of a career.
Being the best developer on a team does not necessarily mean you will be seen as the future head of engineering. Leadership visibility comes from a different set of signals. It comes from thinking beyond your immediate responsibilities.
Do you ask questions about how the product can evolve?
Do you contribute ideas that improve processes?
Do you connect technical decisions to business outcomes?
Do your teammates see you as someone who helps them succeed?
These signals create influence.
In many organizations, there are professionals who produce extraordinary individual output. But leadership is rarely about individual output alone. It is about relational capital: the trust, credibility, and influence you build with the people around you. Relational capital is often undervalued in technical environments. Yet it is one of the strongest predictors of leadership potential.
It shows up in small ways. When a colleague from another team needs help, you step in. When you take the time to understand how another function works. When your team feels comfortable reaching out to you during a crisis, because they know you will stand behind them.
I remember a day when I was out for a lunch meeting and received a call from my team. There was an issue in production. The fact that they called me was not surprising. But what mattered more was the comfort level behind that call. They knew I would respond. They knew I would support them. That kind of trust does not develop from authority. It comes from consistency.
Leadership begins when people trust that you will show up for them. Long before the title appears. It shows in how colleagues experience working with you; whether they see you as someone who supports, guides, and strengthens the team.
Another important shift is learning to think across functions. Many women in technical roles build very deep expertise in a specific area. That depth is valuable. But leadership requires breadth as well. Some of the most valuable learning happens outside your immediate role. Working across functions builds perspective and helps you understand how different parts of an organization move together. Understanding how a solution connects to customer needs, business strategy, and organizational growth allows you to contribute in a very different way. You stop being seen only as a technical specialist and start being recognized as someone who can help shape direction.
Sometimes this means stepping outside your defined role. It means saying yes to projects that involve unfamiliar territory. It means collaborating with teams you may not normally interact with. In the early stages of a career, we often focus on building competence. Later, growth depends on building perspective. My own journey was shaped by moments where stepping outside the expected path created unexpected opportunities.
I was also fortunate to work with leaders who saw potential in me before I fully recognized it myself. Early in my career at TVS Electronics, leaders like Sundaram V, who headed IT Operations, encouraged me to look beyond the immediate technical problem and understand how technology decisions connect to business outcomes. Later, conversations with Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman of TVS Capital Funds, reinforced the importance of thinking strategically and building with a long-term view. I am also grateful to Vince Hogan, CEO of Sengen, whose belief in building data-driven organizations and empowering teams to think beyond technology has influenced my own approach to leadership.
These influences mattered. Leadership rarely develops in isolation. It grows when experienced leaders take the time to challenge your thinking and trust you with responsibilities that stretch you beyond your comfort zone. True progress in our industry is measured not by the number of female engineers we hire, but by the number of women in STEM leadership who are empowered to shape the future of global technology.
After taking a maternity break, returning to a full-time role immediately was not the right choice for me at that time. Instead, I started taking on smaller technology projects. I worked on website development for temples and volunteered where technical help was needed. At that stage, these projects were not about career strategy. They were simply ways to stay engaged and continue learning.
But those experiences expanded my network. They exposed me to new technologies. They created relationships that later opened professional doors. More importantly, they reminded me that learning does not stop when your career pauses. Careers are rarely linear. What matters is how you use every phase to continue growing. One must develop cross-functional leadership skills that bridge the gap between complex software engineering and high-level business objectives.
Another lesson I learned during that period was the importance of delegation. Many high-performing professionals struggle with this. When you have built a reputation for doing things well, letting go can feel uncomfortable. You want every detail to meet your standard. But leadership requires trusting others to grow. When you begin managing teams, your role shifts from perfect execution to enabling others to perform. That means adjusting expectations. It means accepting that different people approach problems differently. It also means recognizing that a team’s success matters more than individual perfection.
This is often a difficult mindset shift, especially for professionals who have built their careers on precision and reliability. But it is essential. Leadership is not about doing everything yourself. It is about creating an environment where others can succeed. For women in STEM who aspire to leadership roles, the roadmap is not mysterious. The path exists. But it requires conscious choices.
Continue building technical excellence, but do not stay confined within it. Contribute ideas that shape the organization’s future. Build relationships across teams. Take on responsibilities that stretch your perspective. Be willing to accept opportunities even when they feel uncertain.
Sometimes the most important step is simply recognizing the door when it opens. Many women wait until they feel completely ready before stepping forward. Leadership rarely waits for perfect readiness. Often, someone sees potential before you see it yourself. When that moment comes, the question is not whether you have already mastered the role. It is whether you are willing to grow into it.
Moving from operational excellence to strategic influence requires a deliberate roadmap for women in STEM that prioritizes relational capital and visionary risk-taking over the safety of technical perfection. The tech industry does not lack capable women. What it needs more of are women who see themselves not just as participants in the system, but as architects of what the system can become.
Technologies change constantly. What matters more is the ability to connect technology choices with business goals. Leadership in STEM also requires a product mindset: thinking about the full lifecycle of what we build and the value it creates for customers. And as more women make that shift, breaking the glass ceiling will no longer require special conversations about representation. It will simply reflect the talent that has always been there.
