Women in Tech | STEM Careers | Role Model | Software Engineering | Talent | CXO | Leadership | Professional Growth | Advice | Working Mother |   In our interview, we explore the multi-facets of running an international organization as a technical leader and the need for more representation in STEM. Anne-Sofie shares her experience from starting her career in web development to leading teams and continuing to bring innovation to large organizations. Looking back, the business world still needs to advance the mission of diversity and representation.  Anne-Sofie Nielsen leads the development of the Peakon employee engagement platform in her role as VP, Software Development at the global HR & financial SaaS company Workday. She is incredibly passionate about leadership, changing the world with technology, and building inclusive organizations. Before joining Workday, she was the CTO of the Danish startup success Peakon that Workday acquired in 2021. Before that, She was the CTO of the Danish online supermarket nemling.com. She led a charge to rapidly revamp the IT landscape of the growing company, including a whole new customer-facing experience that went on to win multiple industry awards. She’s also on the board of the Alexandra Institute that specializes in consulting organizations on how to take cutting-edge IT research and apply it to real-world projects. Follow Anne-Sofie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/femalenerd/ Episode Timeline: 02:05 Representation of women in STEM 03:15 What do you consider are the barriers for women in technology? 05:09 When did you know you want to pursue to a career in tech? 06:53 What is the view of the future of representation in tech? 09:00 What changed in terms of encountering bias at work? 10:30 What do you advise leaders that do not see D&I important? 12:00 What do you advise women who do not see themselves in the team they are part of? 13:50 What advice do you have when recruiting tech talent? 16:02 What reflections can you share for graduates looking to start their tech careers? 17:48 Is there any reflection from the start of your career? 19:45 What is a piece of advice you always emphasize? 20:30 Do you have some advice for new moms? 22:10 How do you tackle confidence?  24:00 What do you advise women who have challenges at work? 26:05 What lessons did you take from your CXO career? 28:10 What is the most rewarding part of your CXO role currently? 29:30 Looking back would you have done anything differently? 30:45 Fire 5 Final Questions