The rapid pace of change in tech has become a trend welcomed by businesses and consumers alike, all eager to remain on the cutting edge of the latest in software and gadgets. For many, this level of innovation is mission-critical, but the race for tech dominance can often neglect those within organizations who are slower to keep up.

“The tech stuff that we’re all excited about has a lot of socio-technical components in terms of the interactions. Every single technical choice you want to make has … gravity to it in the way the other people feel. … Maybe they’re not sure what their place is in the exciting new world where you changed everything,” said Bridget Kromhout, principal cloud developer advocate at Microsoft. Throughout her career, Kromhout has worked to maintain and share an empathetic perspective on the effects of tech.

Kromhout spoke with Lisa Martin (@LuccaZara), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the CloudNOW 6th Annual Top 10 Women in Cloud Innovation Awards on the Google Campus in Mountain View, California. They discussed how Kromhout’s background has inspired her to focus on human experiences in tech, as well as how she works toward bridging the gap between empathy and the digital world.

Be technical, but be human

Kromhout wasn’t always interested in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The developer didn’t even have regular access to a computer growing up and wasn’t interested in computer science until a college programming class inspired her career path. This unique experience gave Kromhout perspective on the many different backgrounds of people working in tech, and it sparked her empathetic approach to the industry.

While pursuing the field at the University of Minnesota, Kromhout found curriculums focused primarily on algorithms and data structures, yet they neglected the skills development necessary for tangible problem solving.

“It’s good to have that theoretical background, but it’s also really important to focus on the observability and usability of systems. … Learning how to isolate variables and observe accurately helps a lot in terms of solving problems in production systems later,” she said.

Kromhout’s holistic perspective on tech in academia has influenced how she explores her professional work, and it motivated her to maintain a focus on improving processes on the cultural side of the industry. She’s shared her message through talks with titles like “Containers Will Not Fix Your Broken Culture and Other Hard Truths” and “Computers Are Easy; People Are Hard.” Much of Kromhout’s focus is around supporting industry talent at all career levels.

“We have to be empathetic and understanding of everyone’s perspective along the entire spectrum, because there’s a lot of benefit to exciting change. And there’s also a lot of benefit to contextual knowledge of your local environment,” she said.

Kromhout found her voice through the encouragement of a mentor and has dedicated her career to providing that same type of encouragement for others in the field. “Whatever it is you’re putting out there in the world, people aren’t looking at it to judge you. They’re looking at it because they need something,” she said.

For Kromhout, a focus on the empathetic side of the industry is key to driving the change so many businesses aspire to. “It’s great to be technical, but we also have to be human,” she concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the CloudNOW 6th Annual Top 10 Women in Cloud Innovation Awards.

Photo: SiliconANGLE