Speaking with CTOO & Head of Technology at iptiQ by Swiss Re, Bilge Mert

CIO, CTO and COO, Bilge Mert has quite the resumé. Starting her career in technology as an intern at Mondelēz International she has since held roles at organisations such as Accenture, British American Tobacco and now iptiQ by SwissRe, gaining deep experience in global transformational programs, driving change and business outcomes under challenging environments. 

In this interview, Bilge discusses the challenges she has faced in her career but also the achievements she is most proud of. Holding several leadership positions throughout her career, Blige also shares her insights on what makes a great leader such as “creating a psychologically safe culture where you can fail and talk about failures” and curating diverse teams. 

After enjoying maths and subjects that involved problem-solving at school, Bilge went on to study computer engineering. Although she received a great amount of support from family and teachers to pursue her passion, Bilge recalls feeling a little lonely at this time, being the only female on her course and, in her later career, the challenges she has faced being a female in a male-dominated space and how she has overcome them. From bringing different points of view to finding a mentor to guide you through your career, Bilge shares her insights on navigating this space and also encouraging more women and girls to pursue tech careers. 

Bilge is passionate about professional development and highlights the importance of taking responsibility for your career and finding new learning opportunities. Not only has Bilge developed her skill set through courses and other traditional means, but she also highlights how learning from her team and others in the company and encourages others to do the same. 

It was such as pleasure to sit down with Bilge to discuss her career and her insights for success. Check out the full interview below.