Women and Leadership at Versent: Isha Marwah

This blog post forms part of our series, ‘Women and Leadership at Versent’. Stay tuned for more interviews from our female leaders over the next few weeks where we enquire about their careers and current role, how they balance their work and life, and the values that they see to be most important in leadership and future workplaces.

Isha Marwah is a Principal Engineer at Versent Australia. After graduating from her Masters of Computer Science at Delhi University, Isha has held a variety of senior IT roles throughout her career. She lived in London prior to relocating to Sydney, where she currently resides.

Isha is passionate about the endless possibilities of coding and enjoys helping clients with their API migration processes. We sat down with her to chat about her typical day at work, her leadership philosophy and some great initiatives she’s seen in her workplaces. She also talks about supporting women in their careers, and some of the advice she would offer to someone looking to start their career in tech.   

What does a typical day for you look like?  

“My weekdays start at 6.00 am, and get my kids ready for school. I aim to start work at 9.15 am. This is easily manageable now that I work from home more often, and my husband does the drop-offs. Then it gets really busy. I have client engagement meetings throughout the day to understand my client’s new requirements. I run workshops and meetings and my team and I then devise the technical solutions that need to be implemented.   

“I like to be hands-on, so I’ll also pick up some technical tickets to work on with my team or peer review code with other engineers. This helps me to ensure firsthand that the quality of our solutions meets or exceed our standards. I enjoy coffee breaks during the day to take a moment to myself.  

I finish at around 5 pm, where I launch into home-mode and commence school pick-up. After preparing dinner for the family, we spend time with our children and be present with them. This means catching up with them on how their day went, highlights at school, assisting with homework and reading. Then, we get them ready for bed, read them a story, and sneak out of their rooms once they doze off. I take time for myself by catching up on the daily news, reading, or planning my next day before I fall asleep at around 11.”   

How would you describe your leadership style and philosophy?   

“My motto is, ‘have you tried your best yet?’. If I don’t know how to do something, I will leave no stone unturned in trying to figure it out. I encourage my team to explore all of the possibilities and use all of the resources available to their full extent. I pride myself on being a leader and being part of a team; we work together to build code or provide others with the chance to learn. This is a very technical role, so the learning never stops even if I am a leader. I believe that it’s important to recognise whether or not people are engaged in what they’re doing; that they’re feeling happy and well challenged and they are fed opportunities to grow.”   

What are some of the best initiatives you’ve seen from workplaces that have been implemented to promote diversity and inclusion, particularly in supporting women in their careers?   

“I have really enjoyed the flexibility of work at Versent – I think this is slowly becoming more commonplace across many tech organisations. I have never felt pressured or obliged to sit there from 9 to 5, with the only time I get up is when I go to pick up my kids. Additionally, at Versent, our collaborative relationship with our clients means we work with clients who are empathetic and open to the new norms of working from home and flexible working. All of this enables greater productivity, and we don’t waste time as a result.”  

What’s a piece of advice you would like to leave for someone beginning their career in the tech industry?  

“Always show up and make the most of every opportunity that presents itself to you, especially those that focus on uplifting women in STEM; there are now many of these in Australia. Be ready and willing to upskill at all times as this industry constantly moves and changes so quickly. Read a lot of tech columns and complete more courses in your relevant field; go beyond your relevant field if you have the time.

“There is always room to learn more. Challenge yourself with coding exams, scope out what technology is new in the market, and most importantly, help others. A little goes a long way when you lend a helping hand to other people, and they will show their appreciation in their own way. “

Looking for your next big thing? Come and join us at Versent Australia.