20 years in tech: how Infobip’s regional manager fell in love with the industry

This article is part of “Break the Bias,” Tech in Asia’s campaign for International Women’s Day 2022. Through this initiative, we’re shining the spotlight on the women who are breaking barriers and achieving success in Asia’s tech and startup ecosystem.

When Vivien Ang first entered the tech industry 20 years ago, she came from a different world.

As a fresh engineering graduate, Ang had initially begun her career as a quality assurance engineer. However, she soon realized that the industry was not her cup of tea and that she preferred a different working environment.

“I didn’t want to talk to machines, and I’d rather talk to people instead,” she says.

That desire for human interaction eventually led her to a customer service role at a telecommunications firm in 2003. Little did Ang know, this would be the first step of a 20-year journey in tech.

Opening a new door

As someone who came from a non-tech background, Ang initially took on a customer service role because it gave her an opportunity to interact more with people. Because of this, she acknowledges that she had some initial misconceptions of what the tech world would be like.

Vivien Ang, regional manager for Asia Pacific at Infobip / Photo credit: Infobip

“Back then, I knew nothing about tech,” Ang says. “All I knew [about communication tech] was just telephones, the internet, and nothing else.”

It was through this role that Ang learned more about the various technologies and solutions used by telcos such as frame relays and satellite services, which opened her eyes to what tech could be like.

This, however, was just a small taste of the industry for Ang. The moment that kickstarted her interest in tech was when she was promoted to the role of global account manager in 2005.

In her new role, Ang often found herself selling solutions to large enterprises. Through this, Ang realized that tech wasn’t just limited to the communication solutions that she was used to seeing.

“I got to know that beyond the communication [services] I was providing to them, there were also a lot of things backing those services up,” she shares, bringing up examples such as the IT network and the technology used to set up communication services. “That was what really got me interested, knowing that there’s a lot more to tech.”

Ang set her sights on uncovering more about this new world, but it was also intimidating with all the jargon that she wasn’t familiar with. Fortunately, help came from a client who offered to guide Ang in her learning journey and teach her the basics.

Under the client’s guidance, Ang was able to learn more about the solutions she was selling and the underlying reasons behind why companies were seeking such technologies, giving her a wider look at what the industry was after. She also capitalized on her interactions with other clients to learn more about different solutions within the tech scene.

“That was when I decided that this is where I want to be, because it’s an industry that’s never going to fade away. It’s just going to keep developing with more and more technologies to come,” she says.

A continuous journey

Ang eventually left the telecommunications company in 2006 to pursue more opportunities in the industry and had the chance to work for other tech giants along the way.

While she’s happy with the progress she’s made in the last 20 years, she’s also acutely aware that it wasn’t all smooth sailing. One major hurdle that she’s had to overcome is the struggle between work commitments and the obligations she felt as a wife and daughter.

This comes as no surprise, as studies have shown that women are more likely to adjust their career paths for the sake of their families. But in the fast-paced world of tech, doing so meant she faced the risk of being left behind.

Because of the amount of specialized knowledge required in tech, spending time with her family could leave her with less time to research and keep up with the latest trends in her day-to-day work. In sales roles such as Ang’s, this could mean potentially losing out on a selling point, with clients moving on to competitors’ solutions instead. Ang recalls how some work days would stretch up to 14 hours as she tried her best to close deals with prospective clients.

Photo credit: mklrnt / 123RF

In this regard, striking the right balance is key. For Ang, that meant having the support of her family through open communication and letting them know about her busy periods at work. With such an arrangement in place, Ang was able to alleviate some of the pressures from familial obligations while still being able to keep pace in the workplace.

Today, Ang serves as the regional manager for Asia Pacific at global cloud communications platform Infobip, a role that she’s held since May 2020. Since joining the company, she’s helped to grow its Singapore sales team from scratch, starting with two members to six today. She has also secured more than 70 new customers for Infobip from the Asia Pacific region, including firms based in Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Giving back

It’s been a long journey for Ang in the tech world, but it’s apparent that her love for the industry has not waned. The regional manager says that she often keeps herself up to date with the latest technology so that she can continue having meaningful conversations with clients.

“I have a lot of friends who are very into tech, and I make it a point to catch up with them very often because they give me insights about what’s going on out there,” she shares. “Having this knowledge helps me have conversations with my clients to let them know that it’s all about the technology and not about what I sell.”

But at this stage of her career, Ang highlights that all the work she’s put in and the knowledge she’s gained over the last two decades now serve an additional purpose: to help her give back and educate junior members of her team who are now in the same position she used to be in.

“I believe in succession planning,” she explains. “I want to bring up the people in my team to the next level so that they can go beyond what they’re good at and guide them to break out of their comfort zone.”

As for the wider tech industry, Ang hopes to see more women in higher positions in the coming years, especially within more technical roles such as solutions architecture. In this regard, she points out that companies can also do their part by recognizing women’s achievements to spur more confidence in them.

“I hope more women will take up technical architecture roles where they can be pivotal in helping companies design solutions. That’s something I would really love to see in the next couple of years,” she says.

Infobip is a global leader in omnichannel communication. Its programmable communications platform delivers a suite of tools for advanced customer engagement and support as well as security and authentication.

To find out more about Infobip, visit its website.

This content was produced by Tech in Asia Studios, which connects brands with Asia’s tech community. Learn more about partnering with Tech in Asia Studios.