How can you develop better software? Kenza Ait Si Abbou Lyadini is convinced: only in mixed teams. That’s why she’s organizing a diversity hackathon. She provides details in the following interview.
“Diverse teams” are your pet topic. But what actually is a “diverse team”?
Kenza Ait Si Abbou Lyadini: By “diverse” I mean, of course, all aspects of diversity – not just gender. They include age, culture, skin color, specialist skills, sexual identity, and so on.
You’re demanding more mixed teams both in program development and across the company as a whole. Why?
Ait Si Abbou Lyadini: The more diverse the team members, the better and more innovative the solutions they develop. Multiple studies have proven as much. And yet, in many areas – like artificial intelligence, for instance – the teams remain very homogeneous. Then there are the prejudices. Many male developers still think women can’t program as well, simply because that don’t have any women in their direct work environment …
… which, to overstate the case, results in artificial intelligence for facial recognition applications being unable to recognize the faces of people other than white Europeans. So you’re organizing a hackathon to demonstrate how to do things better. The challenge is to develop prototype software for a certain topic within a given time frame. What’s special about it is that the teams working on the problem are diverse.
Ait Si Abbou Lyadini: Exactly. We will focus strongly on having mixed teams of developers. Every team must reflect at least three of the aspects of diversity I just described, with gender diversity being a must. The group members are free to select the other two aspects.
What’s the task look like?
Ait Si Abbou Lyadini: That’s where Deutsche Telekom’s Cyber Defense Center comes into play. At the Center, our security experts follow up on tips about potential attacks and adopt countermeasures. Each team will be given the same data set from the Center. Their task is to use artificial intelligence to analyze the data and identify patterns of attack. Or they may even unearth entirely new findings. It’s going to be a real competition, and the best solution will win.
What result are you hoping for?
Ait Si Abbou Lyadini: Quite apart from the actual programming outcome, we are hoping that the collaboration in diverse teams will bring about some changes: that prejudices can be overcome, for example; that the team members recognize the advantages of such teamwork; that they become more open to other people; and that they demand this kind of diversity from their line managers in their current and future jobs.
Talking of results, what were your experiences when you organized a women-only hackathon last year?
Ait Si Abbou Lyadini: Generally very positive. I was particularly impressed by the winning team’s solution: an algorithm to analyze job advertisements for bias and to highlight such passages in the text. The solution allows job advertisements to be adapted so that they reach a broader target group. The winners had noticed that many IT job advertisements are written by men for men. That lessens their appeal for women and leads to fewer women applying for the jobs even though they have the right qualifications. A man wouldn’t have noticed the problem because he’s not affected by it. We want to change this situation by putting together diverse teams …
… like at the upcoming diversity hackathon.
Ait Si Abbou Lyadini: Yes, last year’s event was designed to actually motivate women to take part in a hackathon. As the event was such a success, the next logical step was to mix the groups, adding in even more diversity. Just like with the best ingredients for a delicious meal. I’m convinced mixed teams program better. And the feedback is already huge – the hackathon is almost sold out.
Kenza Ait Si Abbou Lyadini …
… is senior manager for robotics and artificial intelligence at Deutsche Telekom IT, where she is in charge of the Robotic and AI Solutions unit. Kenza Ait Si Abbou Lyadini is a diversity role model at Deutsche Telekom. She is committed to helping women in the company, especially those in technical professions such as IT and, particularly, in the field of artificial intelligence. In 2018, she was honored with the Digital Female Leader Award in the IT category. She also won first prize in the Engineer Powerwoman Award competition at the WomenPower career congress, which honors women with a strong commitment to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
