Amazon's Worldwide Specialist Data Team is managed by Deirdre Toner, an experienced executive who has led sales, technology, and go-to-market activities for both start-ups and Fortune 100 companies. Deirdre became part of Amazon in March 2019, having previously held executive positions at DataStax and SAP. She has also led high-growth sales teams and business development at Aster Data, Business Objects, and Sybase.
Take a look at Deirdre's session "Data & Analytics Skills Every Company Is Looking For"
⚡️ Save the date: Women in Tech Global Conference 2023 will take place on May 9-12!
Are you excited to speak at the Women in Tech Global Conference and what motivated you to join our community of 100 000 women in tech, minorities, and allies?
Some of my most career-enriching experiences have been Women in Data networking events, which have afforded me an opportunity to help others with my story and have enriched my own life and work by hearing from the experiences of others. The Women in Tech Global Conference is a fantastic opportunity for women to collaborate, find new opportunities, and make a global impact while networking with others. I was motivated to join this community because of my belief that we should be enabling and empowering all women to thrive and succeed… at work, at home, and in the communities that we are all a part of.
Share with us about your background, your journey in tech, and what inspired you to develop your career in this direction.
I began my professional career knowing that I wanted to work in technology. At first, my roles were very focused on sales and business development. These opportunities afforded me new skills, particularly how to identify customer needs and transform them into technology-driven solutions. After working in sales as an introduction to customer pain points, I shifted to helping customers go-to-market and implement solutions globally. This afforded me the opportunity to really see how a business could thrive once it had a keen understanding of the data at their disposal. At AWS, I’ve been able to take my 25+ years of experience and really focus on the power of data and how it can truly transform a customer’s business. I’m inspired by the unique and diverse needs of our customers, and working with others to implement long-term, data-driven solutions is very rewarding for me.
Why is the topic “Data & Analytics Skills Every Company Is Looking For” important to you?
Data and analytics are such an important part of doing business. I work with companies every day who are trying to operationalize their data and use it to their competitive advantage. Doing so has shed light on all of the skills and multiple areas of focus that can help companies achieve their goals. From the standpoint of a technology vendor trying to help customers, I’m responsible for rounding out my team’s skills to best serve our customers. From a customer’s standpoint, I see where they struggle most to find employees with the right skills to help them launch and maintain their data and analytics solutions. Working backward from our customer’s data needs to identify solutions that make sense for them is very important to me, and it’s a big reason why I’m so passionate about what I do.
Who would you advise to attend the Women in Tech Global Conference and why?
The Women in Tech Global Conference is an event that caters to all levels and all focuses – from students who are still figuring out their focus and career interests to senior executives that are responsible for revenue goals and product ship dates. I also very much appreciate that Women in Tech addresses both hard skills related to technology and soft skills focused on people management. Beyond listening to speakers, this conference has so many opportunities to meet other like-minded people in the technology industry. Building a strong network of women is key in the technology industry. I look forward to meeting many women from around the globe and hearing about their unique life experiences at the conference!
