Receiving the Future Leader Award at the 2026 GTIA Spotlight Awards felt like the right moment to reflect on how much has changed, for the cybersecurity industry and for me. Two years ago, I wrote with other women on our team about how we entered the sector and what it had opened up for us. Since then, experience has reshaped my confidence, my understanding of leadership and my view of what still needs to change.
I joined the business as a Sales Executive in 2018 and worked my way up to Sales Manager and Content Lead, growing our sales team to 15 people along the way. By the time I wrote that first piece, I had spent six years in the channel and one year managing a team. I had experience behind me, but I was still learning to trust it.
The biggest change since then has been my confidence. I ask more questions, contribute earlier and trust my own judgement. That confidence has come almost entirely from experience, from learning by doing and accepting that mistakes are part of the process.
In 2024, I hosted the first female-led panel at our Annual Partner Conference, an experience that pushed me well beyond what felt comfortable at the time. I also took part in GTIA’s mentorship programme and later became Vice Chair of GTIA’s UK Global Women in Tech interest group. Through that role, I have helped create initiatives and interactive sessions, including one on inclusive leadership and allyship. I have also kept writing, exploring topics from why representation alone is not enough to the five things I wish I had known before entering tech.
Each of those opportunities began with saying yes to something that felt slightly beyond me. That is the advice I would give anyone earlier in their career, particularly women: you do not need to have everything figured out before joining a community, contributing your perspective or speaking up about what matters.
I wouldn’t be in this industry at all without my mum, who inspired me to join it in the first place. Since then, many people have supported, encouraged and challenged me along the way.
The GTIA mentorship programme taught me that mentoring is a two-way exchange: both people bring experience, questions and opportunities to learn. It also reinforced a broader lesson that relationships matter as much as expertise. In an industry built on technical knowledge, it is easy to assume that being good at the work is enough. In my experience, the people who know you, challenge you and are willing to back you can have just as much influence on where you end up.
In 2024, I focused on the numbers: how many women were entering the sector and whether that figure was rising. Those figures still matter, and the latest ones show why. Women make up 16% of the UK cybersecurity workforce (DSIT, 2026), the same proportion as a year ago. That lack of movement is exactly why the experiences behind the percentage deserve attention too.
Over the past two years, though, I’ve become more interested in the people behind them: women changing careers partway through, taking a chance on an industry they weren’t sure would welcome them, finding a mentor and gradually proving to themselves that they belong here.
Some of the most rewarding moments have been small ones. Mentoring a young woman on a work experience placement stayed with me far more than any statistic.
There are signs of progress in the talent pipeline: women now make up 28% of postgraduate cybersecurity students, up from 21% in 2020/21. But that increase has not yet translated into equal representation across the industry. Attracting more women into cybersecurity is only the first step; the sector must also create the conditions for them to stay, progress and lead.
Conferences and events are an obvious place to start. Organisers need to think not only about putting more women on stage and on speaker line-ups, but also about creating events where more women feel welcome to attend and participate. Hosting our first female-led panel showed me how much visible representation matters: seeing women lead the conversation can encourage others to enter the room, contribute their perspective and begin building the networks and confidence that support future leadership.
The same challenge is visible in senior roles, where women hold just 12% of positions. Representation at the top shapes what people earlier in their careers believe is possible, which is why male allies have a practical role to play: championing women on their teams, putting their names forward for opportunities and making space for their voices to be heard. That connection between visible leadership and active support is why allyship was the focus of one of the sessions we ran through GTIA.
Being named a Future Leader has made me think about what leadership actually means to me. I now see it less as a title and more as the responsibility to create opportunities for others. I see that most clearly in my own team, where watching people gain confidence and progress in their careers is the most rewarding part of the job. I’m proud of the award, but the part I want to build on, both at Elovade and through GTIA, is helping to create a channel community where more women and people from underrepresented groups can see leadership as open to them, too.
If you’d like to hear more about my journey, you can read my Q&A with GTIA and my earlier women in tech blogs on Elovade’s news and articles page. If you’re involved in women in tech initiatives across the channel, or are thinking about taking that first step, I’d also love to connect, share ideas and learn from what others are doing.