Women in Technology Winner – Old Collegian Thasmika Gokal
Since graduating the College in 2015, Old Collegian Thasmika Gokal has continued to develop her career in the world of Technology. Thasmika was recently selected as the winner of the Emerging Achiever Technology Award at the Women in Technology (WIT) Gala Dinner in October.
Thasmika is an AI/ML Cloud Solutions Architect at Microsoft and is empowered to leverage her background in quantum physics and statistics to enable and enlighten people and organisations to innovate using customized AI/ML solutions.
She is an advocate of diversity and inclusion initiatives and is excited to be part of teams that help tackle society’s biggest challenges. Thasmika has presented at several conferences including TEDxUQ and Microsoft events to share her knowledge and intelligence through impactful storytelling.
We recently caught up with Thasmika to learn about her chosen career path and what her future plans are.
Why did you choose the Tech industry?
Technology gives us the opportunity to take the beautiful findings from science and math and apply them to solve real-world problems. In the Tech industry, we have a fantastic opportunity to build holistic solutions that impact access to education, vaccine management or enhancing efficiencies in industrial plant processes, for example. There’s no scope or limitation to what can be solved in Tech and it’s a wonderful space to be in if you’re set on empowering companies and people to achieve more.
What are your career highlights so far?
Applying quantum computing algorithms for financial instruments and joining Microsoft to support tech companies across ANZ in building their data, AI and machine learning solutions on Azure, the world’s computer. By far, being part of my team and having the opportunity to learn from brilliant people.
What advice would you give to our young female students wanting to get into the IT/Tech world?
Focus on yourself, invest into your education and ignore the noise. Adopt a growth mindset and know that there is nothing that you can’t accomplish. Cloud computing didn’t exist 15 years ago and chances are, future career pathways for you will come into existence in the next couple of years. You’re already immensely talented and now, you have the most incredible opportunity to be part of that; the best way to get into Tech is by equipping yourself with a learn-it-all attitude. Immerse yourself in learning programming and other technologies, like the Cloud. Support each other on the journey and create a sisterhood. We need people like you to join the industry and make your impact. Go for it!
What’s next for you?
Working more closely with Microsoft Partners and Microsoft to incubate and develop next-gen AI products for our global customers. The most exciting products and solutions in ML haven’t been created yet and I’m looking forward to contributing towards Web 3.0 solutions.
Read more of our latest edition of Footprints by clicking here.
