Founder in focus

The following interview is an extract from our fourth annual Top 200 Women-Powered Businesses Report, produced in collaboration with Beauhurst.

Click here to read the full account.

How does it feel to be recognised as one of the fastest growing women-powered businesses in the J.P. Morgan report for the second year running?

I’m honoured that we have been recognised in this prestigious cohort. More importantly, I hope this recognition will help to raise the profile of women-led businesses and inspire future women entrepreneurs. A critical step towards motivating the next generation and achieving greater gender diversity and equality is to create a level playing field to share ideas and put points across, knowing that they will be heard, valued and have an equal voice.

What have been the biggest drivers of Speechmatics’ growth over recent years?

Our innovative offering continues to be best in class, with 50+ languages and unmatched accuracy and speed. It is key for us to continue innovating and to move at pace to deliver the best speech technology in the market. We work across industries such as media, contact centres, education technology and government as these strong relationships have driven growth, with use cases specifically centred around captioning, media monitoring and AI Assistants. Value led partnerships are also key for us in growth.

What do you find most exciting about your business now? What is exciting about the future?

In recent years AI has dominated the tech business agenda with fast-moving AI transformation. We see conversational AI assistants as a key driver in the future speech technology arena and we are best placed to take on a significant market share as AI agents proliferate across many industries. With speech moving towards being the most natural form of interaction with technology, we see significant potential for our technology into the future.

As AI continues to gain speed in the business world, our focus at Speechmatics remains on taking a human-centred and inclusive approach. Having diverse perspectives helps generate new ideas, awareness of bias and to identify areas requiring disruption, helping us work with our software provider customers to develop effective and world-leading solutions.

Has the challenging funding landscape of the last few years affected your business and how can the UK’s business community better acknowledge and improve accessibility to finance for women and women-powered businesses?

I was fortunate to secure significant Series B investment in 2022. However, it is evident that we need to tackle the wider female funding gap and the lack of progress in this area. We need to encourage more women to think about investing, highlighting the vehicles and options available to them and to support female leaders on their investment journey. We also need to see more phenomenal women in board roles, because balanced boards are better for business.

There is also a distinct lack of diversity in funding circles and we need the VCs themselves to push for greater diversity and representation of women, not just in the portfolio businesses. Whilst there continues to be disparity, it is encouraging to read that the total capital raised by female-founded European startups in H1 2024 has increased slightly.

Could you share the journey that led you to leading Speechmatics?

Having started my career at Unilever on the Fast track Graduate programme, I worked over 14 years in leadership roles across the Home and Personal Care Division. In 2015, I joined Transversal Corporation, one of the first AI companies in Prescient Knowledge management. As Finance Director I co-led the acquisition to Verint Systems Inc.

I joined Speechmatics in 2019, a portfolio company of the same investors of Transversal Corporation. The opportunity for Speechmatics was huge given the strength of the technology and ability to outsmart the huge global players despite being a small Cambridge based team. I saw the importance of tackling inclusion and bias in AI and was fascinated by cultural, organisational and transformational change needed for the company as it embarked on the next stage of expansion. My wealth of experience in leading teams through transformation to scale was key to successful leadership. As a trained accountant, it serves as a backbone to drive data driven decisions and stakeholder management.

Maintaining energy and a sense of team was key across the business: providing the required support and keeping the bar high - moving the ‘could’ to the ‘should’, ‘must’ and ‘will’.

How have you navigated any gender biases within your industry?

As a female CEO, I have been to many events where I am the only female amongst 50 male CEOs which I have found shocking. Since joining new forums, I have met more female CEOs, but something needs to change.

At work, as in life, grace and humility are key. I aim for a human-centred leadership style, remaining authentic to my personal values and embracing a communication style that I also expect from others. As a female CEO, I have often experienced times when I have been advised to be more directive and lead with fear, but I have remained steadfast and committed to being the best version of myself rather than trying to emulate someone else. What is key is to know one's destination and purpose and to accept that there will always be uncertainty. Regardless of gender, good leaders are both predictable in their style and lead with passion towards a defined outcome.

Are there any specific challenges for women-powered businesses like yours that want to grow rapidly and where is support needed the most?

Women are underrepresented in management, director and C-suite level roles across the technology sector with only a quarter (25%) being women. Whilst female representation in AI engineering has grown in recent years, diversity within AI leadership remains challenging, with even less female representation at under 20% with under 5% securing funding.

Seeking gender parity in the workplace is essential, not only for women themselves, but also for the health of the global economy. We need solutions and actions that businesses must take to support women as they move through their careers to open doors which might otherwise be closed. Fair hiring practices and an inclusive approach to upskilling and career growth, training and mentorship schemes, especially in pre and middle management roles, will help drive more women in senior positions. Upskilling employees so that women are given the same opportunities as men to learn and progress, especially in high-growth areas such as AI. It is concerning to learn that women’s careers took a hit during the pandemic in comparison to their male peers as women are disproportionately impacted by care responsibilities. There is evidence to show that flexible working policies also help women and workplaces need such policies to counteract this imbalance.

The soft, interpersonal skills that women are shown to have a higher share of help us work well together and are becoming ever important for team and strategic leadership and collaboration. Inclusion and diversity are at the core of our culture and the business we’re driving at Speechmatics and at the forefront of everything we do.

Our technology is built to offer to many in society that other tech simply isn’t available to, for example those who speak minority languages, non-native English speakers or those who have hearing impairments. We are really opening up that potential to those who have previously not been able to be heard in the market and to understand every voice.