‘Nobody is born an expert’: Medical doctor turned tech founder talks career swap
STECHAD MD Dr Adaora Dagogo tells how a favour for a friend led her from working in hospitals to founding her own IT firm
Technology is the answer to many of the world’s problems, like connecting people across the globe, providing instant access to vast amounts of information, and answering questions ranging from mundane to inventive through AI.
But the IT world faces its own challenges, with the industry often viewed as male dominated while lacking enough skilled talent.
This is why Dr Adaora Dagogo, managing director of IT outsourcing firm STECHAD founded the company.
Established in 2020, Dagogo tells CRN she identified two gaps that led to STECHAD’s birth.
“I was working as an engineer and one of the challenges I saw was there weren’t enough women in leadership roles in tech.
“I wanted to be an example of what's possible, and to show other women that tech is not limited to one gender, and that they too, can build a successful career in the tech world.”
The second gap Dagogo spotted was the struggle to find the right IT talent.
“The projects I was getting from different companies wanted me to travel as far as Luxembourg, Spain or Hungary.
“It occurred to me there wasn’t enough IT talent and there was a gap in trying to find the right skills.
“One fundamental thing would always be that businesses need IT professionals to manage their tech challenges, but many don't know where to find them.
“So I built STECHAD to bridge that gap by providing IT staffing, out staffing, and solutions.”
Stechad is now a rising IT start-up with blueprints across Europe and Africa, providing IT solutions to giants such as Shell, Johson&Johnson, FedEx, Amazon, Salesforce and Adidas.
Swapping medicine for technology
Despite building an IT support and services company from the ground up, Dagogo was a medical doctor before she stepped into the tech space.
“Tech found me. I didn’t go looking for tech,” she says.
“My background is in medicine and public health.”
But after a friend needed an IT networking gig filling in, Dagogo found herself in unfamiliar territory.
“I said yes, thinking it was just a one-time thing.
“I showed up and was taken to a server room full of cables, something I had never worked with before.
“I was scared I won’t lie and thought, ‘this is not me. I’m used to being in the hospital working with patients, not with cables.’
“I wanted to run away, but I just had to summon up courage. It was either I stand there and face this, try to look for a way around it, or I just embarrass myself. I chose the first option.
“There was a remote engineer at the other end also telling me what to do. The job took me way longer than it would have taken an experienced IT professional, but it got done at the end of the day.
“And when the pay cheque came, I had made more in that one day than what I was making in the health sector in a week.”
Dagogo says something interesting followed, she was approached to carry out more projects.
“That was my light bulb moment. Tech was flexible and exciting. And let's be honest, the pay was much better than I was making in healthcare at the time.
“So I leaned in. I started taking courses in computer networks, data analysis, cybersecurity and others, that's how my journey in tech really began.”
Her three keys to success
Now the head of a growing technology company, Dagogo attributes her success so far to three things - resilience, adaptability and continuous learning.
“I started in an industry I knew nothing about. But I was willing to find out how things are done and then put in the work which took a lot of pushing.
“But there weren’t many role models and it's harder when you don't have a lot of people who are like you showing you what to do.
“So fighting all those odds is where resilience comes in.”
Her adaptability comes from meeting the right people to support her.
“Surrounding myself with the right people, mentors, business leaders and professionals who I met at conferences and have challenged me to grow.
“And then the third is, never stop learning.
“Tech moves very fast and to stay relevant, you have to keep up, or you'll be left behind.
“Whatever you know today you need to top it up. So keep learning.
“I spend a lot of my time doing lots of research, knowing what innovation is out there. What can I bring into my team, and then what can I offer to our partners and clients.”
Nobody is born an expert
Dagogo feels passionate about empowering and building up young people as part of her life goals, and has led leadership training, projects, and movements for young adults.
Encouraging those who may feel intimidated by a career in the technology world, Dagogo reminds us that “tech is broad.”
“When people talk about tech it’s not just coding. There is cybersecurity, data analytics, UX design, IT project management.
“You don't need to have a computer science degree to get started.
“Nobody is born an expert. Every tech professional that you see all started as a beginner.
“So start small, be consistent and keep learning.
“If I let fear and self-doubt stop me I would not be here today.”