Ingrid Curtis is the CEO of Sparq, a product-engineering and AI-driven consulting firm known for its deep technical capability and outcome-focused delivery. She began her Sparq journey in her mid-twenties, when she relocated to rural Arkansas to help rebuild a small acquisition that had no active clients and needed a fresh start. That early chapter shaped her leadership style and set the foundation for the company’s long-term evolution.
Over nearly two decades, Ingrid has guided Sparq through multiple phases of growth, including a shift into higher-value product and engineering work, private equity investment, nearshore expansion across six Latin American countries, and four strategic acquisitions that positioned the firm as an AI-first organization.
Today, she leads a global team and continues to drive Sparq’s vision of making intelligence operable at scale.
1. Are you excited to speak at the Women in Tech Global Conference, and what motivated you to join our community of 200,000 women in tech and allies?
I am looking forward to it. Women in Tech has built a global community that reflects how the industry actually operates today, with different perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences shaping how work gets done. That type of environment tends to produce honest conversations.
What drew me in is the focus on real operating challenges. The people in this community are not removed from the work. They’re leading teams, building systems, and making decisions under pressure. That aligns closely with how I think about leadership.
This conference creates space to talk about what’s actually happening inside organizations as they scale – including where things slow down and why. That is where the most useful discussions happen, and where people can leave with something they can apply immediately.
2. Share with us your background, your journey in tech, and what inspired you to develop your career in this direction.
I started my career at Sparq in my mid-twenties, when I moved to rural Arkansas to help rebuild a small acquisition that had no active clients. It was a hands-on environment where outcomes mattered from day one, and that shaped how I think about leadership.
Over time, I stayed close to the delivery side of the business as the company grew. That included expanding into more complex product and engineering work, navigating private equity investment, and building a nearshore presence across Latin America. We also completed several acquisitions that repositioned the company around AI-driven services.
Today, I lead a global organization, but the core approach hasn’t changed. Staying connected to how work actually gets done is what allows you to make decisions that move things forward.
3. Why is the topic “The Hot-Shot Rule: If You Were Replaced Tomorrow, What Would Change?” important to you?
As organizations grow, leaders naturally become more removed from the work that drives results. It happens gradually, and it often goes unnoticed until decisions start to slow and teams hesitate.
The hot-shot rule is a way to break that pattern. It forces you to look at your own leadership with urgency. If someone highly capable stepped into your role tomorrow, what would they change immediately, and what would they refuse to tolerate? That question brings stalled decisions into the open.
I have found this useful because it cuts through abstraction. It reconnects leadership to execution and makes it easier to act with clarity. In fast-moving environments, that connection is what keeps teams moving with confidence instead of waiting for direction. I’m looking forward to getting into
this in more detail at the conference and sharing how leaders can apply it in their own environments.
4. Who would you advise to attend the Women in Tech Global Conference, and why?
This conference is well-suited for people who are responsible for outcomes, especially those leading teams or operating within growing organizations. It’s particularly relevant for leaders who feel a gap forming between strategy and execution and want to close it.
It’s also valuable for individuals earlier in their careers who want a clearer view of how decisions are made at scale. Exposure to that perspective helps build judgment faster and makes it easier to navigate complex environments.
What makes this event worthwhile is the level of experience in the room. The discussions tend to stay grounded in real situations, which makes the takeaways more practical. People leave with a better understanding of how to move work forward inside their own organizations.
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