The Evolution of Work, Sarah Cunningham, Vice President, Mastercard, Dublin Tech Hub

Interesting interview with Sarah Cunningham, Vice President, Mastercard Dublin Tech Hub

One min pitch for what you are doing now?

I lead Mastercard’s Dublin Technology Hub – home to nearly 600 talented employees, most of whom are technologists working on cutting-edge programs to shape the future of payments. As we continue to grow our operation here in Ireland, I have been partnering closely with our super Comms, HR and Talent Acquisition teams to build our brand here in Ireland; attract and retain the best tech talent; and continue to be a great place to work with a diverse and inclusive culture. I firmly believe that all types of diversity are crucial to the continued growth of the Tech Sector.

How was the last year, what worked well, what didn’t move as quickly as you would have liked?

Looking back over the past year, I’m so proud of what our teams have achieved. As one of Mastercard’s major global Technology Hubs, Dublin plays a key role in shaping Mastercard’s global future. We are a cyber security and payments security centre of excellence for Mastercard; both our global APIs team and our global research and development division ‘Mastercard Labs’ are headquartered from right here in Dublin; and many key products including our In Control platform and Mastercard’s Blockchain were also built right here in Dublin

What are your plans for the future?

Doing well by doing good is our aim at Mastercard so we’ll continue to innovate, finding new and exciting ways to pay here in Ireland and across the world, supporting programmes in emerging markets and local causes closer to home.

What will you be talking about at this event?

The theme of my talk is ‘The Evolution of Work: Preparing for your next role that doesn’t exist yet’.  We all know that the world of work is changing faster than ever before, and we’re regularly bombarded by media articles telling us that the majority of jobs that will exist 10, 15, 20 years from now haven’t actually been invented yet.

While this pace of technological advancement is exciting, it can also feel quite overwhelming. After all, how can you prepare for a job category or industry that isn’t even in existence yet? I’ll be sharing anecdotes from my own career journey and draw on lessons I’ve learned leapfrogging from declining industries to new and emerging skillsets in growth companies.

What inspired you to attend it?

I’m really passionate about championing women in technology and women in business more broadly so I’m thrilled to be able to share my journey and tips to help others in the industry.

Which influencers and websites do you follow to keep up to date with the latest developments?

I am a big believer in the importance of continuous learning, both formal and informal. I listen to podcasts like The Innovation Show; I regularly read articles in publications like the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and of course Irish Tech News; and I read try to read a few business books and biographies every year.

This year, I particularly enjoyed ‘Factfulness’ by Hans Rosling; ‘Range’ by David Epstein; Humanology by Luke O’Neill; and ‘Becoming’ by Michele Obama.  Earlier this year, I also returned to more formal education completing the Smurfit Senior Leadership Programme in collaboration with the Darden University. I loved the interactive nature of this executive education course, enabling me to learn as much from the experiences of my fellow course participants as from the course syllabus itself.

How can people find out more about what you are working on?

We’re on the hunt for top tech talent so please head to the Mastercard Careers page to find our more on what it’s like to work at Mastercard. And if you are attending the Women In Tech Summit, please pop over to our Mastercard stand to say hello!

More information about Irish Tech News and the Business Showcase

FYI the ROI for you is => Irish Tech News now get over 1.5 million monthly views, and up to 900k monthly unique visitors, from over 160 countries. We have over 860,000 relevant followers on Twitter on our various accounts & were recently described as Ireland’s leading online tech news site and Ireland’s answer to TechCrunch, so we can offer you a good audience!

Since introducing desktop notifications a short time ago, which notify readers directly in their browser of new articles being published, over 16000 people have now signed up to receive them ensuring they are instantly kept up to date on all our latest content. Desktop notifications offer a unique method of serving content directly to verified readers and bypass the issue of content getting lost in people’s crowded news feeds.

Drop us a line if you want to be featured, guest post, suggest a possible interview, or just let us know what you would like to see more of in our future articles. We’re always open to new and interesting suggestions for informative and different articles. Contact us, by email, twitter or whatever social media works for you and hopefully we can share your story too and reach our global audience.

Home

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at [email protected] or on Twitter: @SimonCocking