Clare Barclay

General manager for SME and Partner Group at Microsoft UK

Career history: More than 17 years of experience at Microsoft, including most recently being its director of SMB.

Measure of influence: Oversees Microsoft UK's partner group which consists of more than 25,000 partners which collectively contribute more than $19bn (£14.23bn) to the UK economy.

Activities to advance women in tech: Executive sponsor for Early In Career programmes, including Microsoft's apprentice programme.

What are the key business benefits of having a diverse workforce in general?
I've been in all-female teams, I've been part of all-male teams, and I honestly believe diversity makes such a big difference - better ideas, better perspective. Then you back to working with all one gender and you realise wow, this isn't as good.