From her first day as a clinical pharmacist, India Hardy could see technology’s potential in the health sector. Inspired and motivated, she wanted to learn more about using technology to positively change people’s lives and processes.

Following her passion, India spent several years embedding the use of healthcare technology in clinical roles. “When I worked as a clinical pharmacist in the UK and Australia, I could change one patient’s or one family’s life at a time, which was very rewarding,” she says. “If I got to the end of the day, and I’d changed 20 to 30 lives, it was a great day.”

After 10 years of working clinically and progressing into senior healthcare management roles, India moved into consultancy. The change allowed her to scale the impact of work by collaborating across the ecosystem of healthcare organisations and service providers.

India has been consulting for 11 years now. She is currently a partner and virtual health leader at PwC. She leads its virtual health practice in Australia, which involves solving the most pressing client problems, from vaccines to wellbeing needs.

“I love what I do because of the knowledge that I can share across teams and clients,” she says. “I can bring what’s happening around the world to our Australian clients so they are on the leading edge – or what we sometimes call in healthcare ‘the bleeding edge’.”

Her role involves thinking about the future of healthcare, particularly how it will look in the next 10 to 20 years. “Health technology has been accelerated by COVID-19,” she says. “The pace of the sector and of care delivery had to change rapidly. It’s been significant to see how fast healthcare can move into the digital health space.”

Speaking about female leadership and representation, India says that there are still times when she logs in to a meeting and sees that she’s the only woman among 12 men. “I see that as something to lean into,” she says. “We have to start somewhere.”

To encourage more women to enter the technology sector, India says that teams need to be flexible, engaging and supportive. She says there’s no role in the industry that women can’t do, but there needs to be a support network for women entering the industry.

India is passionate about ensuring that women who want to work flexibly – whether that’s because of children, starting a business, or wanting more balance – receive the necessary support from employers.

“We have so many complex and important problems to solve for our clients that we can’t afford to lose talent. We must nurture it,” she says. “I need to make sure that I keep them happy, productive, engaged and empowered.”

Reflecting on her career, India acknowledges the many inspiring role models she’d had along the way. “Technology is the heartbeat of almost every business,” she says. “We must continue to support each other and bring more women into this space.”

We know that as an industry we need greater representation and retention of female talent in our businesses and more women in leadership positions. Our goal is to radically change the face of the tech industry and many of our partners are just as passionate about unlocking female talent within their own organisation and across the industry. Microsoft Australia has been proud to partner with leading women’s development expert Megan Dalla-Camina, Founder & CEO of Women Rising.

Women Rising enables the females in your business to unlock their potential by giving them the confidence, tools and practical steps to take their leadership to the next level, and to help your business reach its goals. We would like to invite you and your team to join us in the July 2021 intake of the Women Rising Program. Learn more and register here: https://www.womenrisingco.com/msftpartners