At TimeXtender, we strive to be part of the change we want to see in the world. Diversity and inclusion are essential elements of our company culture. We are excited to launch our WomenXTech series, spotlighting remarkable women at TimeXtender whose work is making a significant impact. Through their experiences, we aim to highlight the importance of gender diversity in driving technological innovation and creating a supportive work environment.
Meet Anja, the Chief Product Officer at TimeXtender, a strategic thinker who's passionate about driving innovation and aligning technology with business goals:
"Where to start?
Let’s start with the present: I live in a house in Stavanger, Norway, with my husband Sverre, our two daughters, who are 14 and 10, and a cat. I currently work as the CPO at TimeXtender, but before that, I was one of the co-founders of BI Builders, a TimeXtender competitor. We joined forces with TimeXtender through an acquisition in 2023. By then, BI Builders was over 10 years old and ready for a change to bring automation and data solutions to the global market.
One of my roles at BI Builders was working as a Data Warehouse Developer and Architect for our customers. Working with data solutions as a consultant gives you the opportunity to interact with various roles within customer organizations, experience different challenges across industries, and engage with diverse people and situations. Over the 12+ years I’ve been a consultant, I’ve learned that my strongest skills are translating business needs into technical solutions and identifying the core of user problems to find feasible solutions.
The approximately 10-year journey with BI Builders has been eventful, exciting, and educational in many ways. When building a company, you have to adapt and learn as you go, taking on many roles and being involved in almost everything the organization does, including recruiting, marketing, sales, product development, customer projects, leadership, etc. You must be able to admit mistakes, deal with them, and quickly move on.
I’ve learned that I thrive in a fast-paced environment and work most efficiently when there’s a lot to be done. This also involves learning to manage stress. An important lesson I've learned is that stress is very individual, and it can fluctuate during different phases of your life. You need to find your capacity level—what workload allows you to ‘cruise’. I’ve found that I am cruising when there is a lot going on, with deadlines and tasks in different categories, and (an important AND) I feel in control of the timeline and workload. Stress can be viewed as the difference between the perceived upcoming workload and the time you think it will take to complete it.
Another lesson from being part of a founder team is that I’m not scared of making decisions—a decision, even if it turns out to be wrong, is better than no decision. I also enjoy problem-solving—or what I like to call solution-finding.
All these experiences and lessons have led me to my current role as Chief Product Officer at TimeXtender. As CPO, I work both operationally and strategically. Operationally, I engage in solution-finding, prioritize development, make daily decisions, and plan and control timelines and deadlines. Strategically, I help decide the direction for our product, which involves talking with partners, customers, and users, attending conferences, and conducting research on trends. So right now in my career, this is the perfect role.
I’ve never been able to answer the question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ And I still don’t know. Because of that, I found it difficult to choose where to focus my education. So, I pursued a BA in Business Management, which I found too generic, leading me to seek a more specialized master’s degree. I’ve always been good at science subjects, and my boyfriend (now husband) studied computer science. During my bachelor’s degree, I took an extra class within the BSc curriculum—web development—which I really liked. I enjoy producing and making things, so in that sense, my husband inspired me to move more towards Tech for my master’s degree, which led me to pursue an MSBA in Information and Decision Systems. This education landed me a job at the IT consulting company ‘Ergogroup’ (now TietoEVRY), where I started working in the BI and DWH department as a consultant.
In the workplace (i.e., office environment, day-to-day interactions with colleagues), I’ve had the luxury of never actually experiencing any significant challenges. I think I’ve been lucky in that sense, both in terms of working in Norway and within the Tech industry. However, I’ve experienced being undermined at conferences when I'm at our booth in the exhibitor area. Attendees sometimes assume I am neither technical nor have decision-making power. Luckily, I’ve had exceptionally great colleagues who always refer to me as the tech expert, so anyone wanting a demo or with a question must talk with me after all.
To be innovative and find good solutions, we must create an environment where we avoid ‘groupthink.’ If one team member has an idea, the rest shouldn’t simply say, "Yeah! Great idea!" We need to challenge each other’s thinking and look at problems from different angles to ensure we’ve understood the REAL problem and explored multiple solutions. This behavior is challenging to achieve in a homogeneous environment. Depending on the work’s area and content (we all know the car seat belt scenario and image recognition disasters), it’s essential to ensure that the people solving users' problems represent the users (and future users) of the product or feature. And—to achieve that, diversity is vital.
One might think that having two kids and being ambitious at work doesn’t compute. However, I would say the opposite—having a family actually helps balance my life. I am the kind of person who would struggle to ‘log off’ work if I had nothing else more important to do. Work is an important part of my life, but it’s also important for me that it doesn’t consume all my time. I also need family time, social time, and me-time.
Some tips to manage the work part in a work/life balance are:
It starts with the hiring process. We need to ensure that when hiring, we always consider a diverse range of profiles to build a team with good dynamics and diversity. To get more diverse applicants, we sometimes need to encourage female applicants, either explicitly or by showcasing (like these WomanXTech articles) a currently diverse environment. Women are more likely to apply if they know they won’t be the only one.
Tech is becoming integrated into almost everything we do, and there are many different roles within tech. Find out what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing. Whether it’s developing software, designing a product, managing a project, or implementing a solution, the options are endless. Tech isn’t only about programming, but if you like math, science, and problem-solving—go for it!
I haven’t had an explicit mentor, but I’ve had many people inspire me during my career. These have been co-workers, managers, and other founders.
The most important thing is to treat people with equal respect and provide equal opportunities, regardless of gender or other differences. I think male and female leaders—and all of us—must learn to recognize and address our unconscious biases.
Not as much as I might have expected. But it is improving, and it varies from country to country.
The tech industry is going to undergo significant changes (as any company and industry will) with the more efficient use of, yes, Tech! and specifically AI. How this will impact job roles and workforce demographics will be exciting to see, but there will definitely be change."
Stay tuned for more stories highlighting the contributions of women in tech. Thank you, Anja, for sharing your journey and being a role model for aspiring technologists.