The 2022 Women Leaders In Technology: Carolyn Vo

Carolyn Vo is a Partner and Head of Engineering in the Digital practice group for Oliver Wyman. She brings over 22 years of software and technology experience to the firm, where she leads engineers to approach problem-solving and implementation pragmatically and strategically while adhering to and aligned with best practices in the community and organization. Additionally, Carolyn provides technical advisory, formulates and oversees technical engagements, and blends extensive multi-vertical experience with a variety of technologies and paradigms to collaborate and solve with both clients and internal teams. She has helped establish Engineering as a core capability in the firm and has also helped build multiple Digital hubs in both Sydney and Singapore. Her interests lie in digital strategy/enablement/transformation, technology modernization, IoT, APIs, CX, UX, and making existing technologies play nicely with new ones.

Carolyn is also extremely passionate about empowering diverse colleagues in the firm and helping them navigate their careers and development. Carolyn graduated from the University of Alabama in 1999 with a bachelor's of science in Computer Science and a minor in Mathematics after attending Indian Springs School in Birmingham, Alabama. She serves as a professional mentor for students in the Mentor UPP program and also is a member of the CS Advisory Board at the University of Alabama.

She currently resides in Austin, TX with her dog Joey. In her free time, Carolyn enjoys international travel, skiing, camping, road trips, food and wine festivals, and finding hole-in-the-wall food trucks while riding around on her Vespa.

What do you enjoy most about your career in the consulting industry?

Several things, actually! First, I enjoy the diversity in the work I do and the roles and responsibilities I have. Before joining Oliver Wyman, I had started to embark on my career as a freelance software engineer because I was starved for variety in what I worked on, what companies I worked for, what technologies and tools I used, and the duration I was involved in. I found that variety in consulting quite easily. There's variety in the problems you solve, the clients' industries, the technologies/tools/paradigms that you use to determine a solution, and the teams you get to collaborate with. I can't recall the last time I was bored while working in consulting.

Second, I enjoy the ability to travel and meet both clients and colleagues in different geographies. Being able to do a long haul is one of the most enjoyable ways to get immersed with the locals in a different country. COVID has put a bit of a damper on much of the travel that normally comes with consulting, but I look forward to the day I can do a long-haul engagement again somewhere in Europe or Asia.

What is your proudest achievement to date?

Becoming the first female engineer in our Digital practice group to make Partner while serving as Head of Engineering. It's a huge milestone for both me and for the firm, and I hope to inspire and empower other female engineers to make it their path forward as well.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

My parents told me at a very early age: "Don't let anything stop you from succeeding." That advice resonated with me because I knew their stories of hardship that began with their one-way journey from Saigon to the United States during the Vietnam War. They didn't let any obstacles get in their way or dissuade them from taking their family and loved ones to a better life. It didn't matter that there was no helicopter to evacuate them that there was no room on the boat that there wasn't enough food and water for people that they left their entire lives (including home, property, precious heirlooms and photographs) behind with nothing but uncertainty facing them in a country they knew very little about. They had to escape while they had the chance and they seized upon that chance. They succeeded in not only making it to the United States, they also succeeded in integrating with the culture and adjusting to their new lives as American citizens. I keep their advice and their stories close to heart to motivate, inspire, and drive me to accomplish the things that are most important for my colleagues, for my clients and for myself.