Riddhi Sen 
Capco
Excellence in Innovation
Riddhi Sen has always been an individual who strives for professional excellence but notes, "Upon reflection, it has paradoxically been a situation where I chose my personal priorities over my professional goals that most helped me become a better leader. Just a few years into my corporate career, all my efforts were being put into achieving my professional goals and I was focusing on quick progression. During this time, an individual in my direct family was diagnosed with a major illness. When the promotion was discussed with me, after much thought, I requested that the milestone be postponed until the next performance assessment cycle. My leaders empathized with my decision, for which I'm grateful to this day."
"I realized that even though my performance on paper hadn't been affected, I was excessively stressed and didn't feel up to taking on a new challenge professionally, where I would likely have to set myself stretch goals. Reflecting back, I am very proud of the self-awareness and maturity that decision took.
Later on, as a leader, this decision made me realize that I had a responsibility to inculcate a balanced outlook in my team towards managing personal vs. professional goals. Indeed we should all be focused on what makes life more wholesome over the long term."
Sen met her greatest challenge four and a half years ago when she left her base in Canada and risked a triple pirouette – changing company, industry, and continent all at once. "I had secured a role as a technology consultant specializing in Financial Services at Capco. Technology, consulting, and financial services by themselves are male-dominated fields and at the intersection of all three, the gender ratio was even slimmer. I faced a lot of dissuasion for my career choice and was at the receiving end of 'well-meaning' advice about reconsidering my decisions.
"However, for each naysayer, I have received support from my family, my friends, my peers, and my partner to follow my passions and ambitions. I am fortunate to have an incredible female mentor, who showed me rather than told me how to pave the way to the upper echelons of large technology companies. I was privileged to work amongst leaders who gave me opportunities, investing in me even when I perhaps hesitated."
Having faced the aforementioned challenges, she is passionate about mentoring other women within tech roles at Capco and was recognized as a 'Mentor of the Year – 2020'.
She counts this among the best advice she has received — "Match the technology to the client problem and not the other way around – clients buy solutions, not fancy tech."
Q&A: What does winning a Women Leaders in Technology award mean to you?
"Winning a Women Leaders in Technology award is very humbling – it is a huge honor to have been chosen amongst a field of incredible pioneers. I will look at this award as a platform to bring more diversity to STEM careers such as Data Science & Analytics. Diversity has proven to be of immense value and benefit to unlocking new ideas and innovation, yet many companies resort to being satisfied by meeting industry averages. There is still much work to be done to provide equal opportunities to all and I'm committed to being a catalyst in the next wave of progress."
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