Akrita
Agarwal
Staff Software Engineer at Dexcare Health
"When You Can’t Find the Leader, Be One: Owning Change as an IC"
"When You Can’t Find the Leader, Be One: Owning Change as an IC"
Thu May 22 - 6:00 PM EDT/New York (See in local time)
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05/22/2025 6:00 PM
05/22/2025 06:20 PM
America/New_York
#WTGC2025
"When You Can’t Find the Leader, Be One: Owning Change as an IC"
#WTGC2025
"When You Can’t Find the Leader, Be One: Owning Change as an IC"
https://www.womentech.net/ringcentral
https://www.womentech.net/ringcentral
"When You Can’t Find the Leader, Be One: Owning Change as an IC"
"When You Can’t Find the Leader, Be One: Owning Change as an IC"
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Session: When You Can’t Find the Leader, Be One: Owning Change as an IC
Startups are supposed to move fast, but what do you do when you’re surrounded by red tape, behind-the-scenes decisions, and no one really stepping up to fix things? As a woman of color in tech, I’ve often found myself in rooms where I wasn’t the loudest voice—but I was the one who took action.In this talk, I’ll share how I navigated data pipeline issues. I didn’t wait for permission—I wrote the doc that changed how we think about ingestion, empowered teammates to step into leadership, and made documentation cool (yes, taco awards on Slack helped). This isn’t a story about being a manager. It’s about showing up, asking good questions, lifting others, and solving real problems from the IC seat.
If you’ve ever felt like “someone should fix this,” maybe that someone is you.
Key Takeaways
- How to lead without a title or formal authority
- Tactics to shift from complaining to action—and bring others along
- Tips on building team culture through humor, documentation, and shared ownership
Bio
Akrita is a Staff Software Engineer at a health-tech startup, with 10+ years of experience including Amazon. She's an immigrant woman who’s built her career navigating (and challenging) male-dominated spaces. Passionate about mentorship, team culture, and building systems that work, she leads with grit, clarity, and heart.