 Hello. Oh, nice and loud. Hello. Do you want some water? Well, sure. Let me serve you. We're checking out our hostess skills before we get started. Well, nice to see all of you. And nice to see you. Nice to see you too? Yeah. Now, they just introduced your title. But can you tell us a little bit more of your daily work at Apple? How does it look like? What do you do? Okay. So hello, everyone. Thanks for sticking around. I head up our worldwide developer marketing team in Cupertino. And so on a day-to-day basis, we're managing the developer website. Hopefully all of you go there for great resources. Our developer communications, if you hear from us, it's coming from my team. So let me know if there's anything you don't like. And developer support. So hopefully you get great support. I also have the privilege of serving as executive sponsor of our women at Apple in Cupertino. And at Apple, we call our employee resource groups. We actually call them DNAs for diversity network associations. We love the acronym. We feel like diversity is part of our DNA. And so a lot of what I spend time thinking about at work is that intersection of those two roles, which is what are we doing and how can we do more to get more diverse folks into tech? How can we uplift those that are underrepresented? How can we bring in more students? So a lot of the time that's what I'm working on. I've been at Apple for 18 years. Feels like 180. But started back in 2005 with Mac OS Tiger, which feels like 100 years ago. When we just had one platform, just Mac. And since then we have iOS, iPad OS, watch OS, TV OS. So partly I wonder what the hell did we used to do back then. But also just I think so much has changed in the developer ecosystem. But the one thing that hasn't changed is the passion and the creativity of our developers. And so, of course, being around entrepreneurs, these last few days has been so exciting and just seeing what's new and getting that energy from all of you. So really appreciate it. So to turn it back to you, tell us a little bit about how you got into tech because I know it's not the normal path. No, it's not. I started out as an historian. Came up with the idea of doing digital learning materials to lower primary school, secondary school. I started off with the first product for history teaching and ended up doing to all the subjects, all the grades and sold the company. It was called Clio. We sold it in 2018. Thank you. And since then I've been investing in startups, primarily tech apps like Timo or MyMoney. We just heard from Timo this morning about them. And yeah, part of the Dragonstone and Denmark now. Awesome. Thank you for being here with me. Thank you for inviting me. But Esther, you started computer science before beginning your career as a programmer. So what was your experience as a woman in the 90s in tech? In the 90s your kinder was the 80s. So I started doing computer science when it was the new subject at school. And so we all started together. An interesting fact is I went to an all girls boarding school in England. And so when I started my career in technology, it was all girls. It was new. It wasn't gendered in any way to me. And so that was how I sort of started and got into it. Then I went to university. There were just a handful of girls in my computer science class. But I was still surrounded by all my friends were mechanical engineers, electrical engineers. And so it wasn't really until I got into the industry. And I'm sure you have the similar experience that I'm like, wait, where are all the girls? Why are they sitting on the sidelines? Why are they not speaking up? Why are they not volunteering? And I think that's when it really sort of struck me that, wow, things are different in industry. And I started being vocal about, hey, why aren't you doing more? And started to realize I had to do something and how to step up and be more an active participant in making sure that that wasn't perpetuated going forward. But I started like 10 years later than that. And it was still a problem. And I think we are getting better, being more diverse, especially within tech. Also in the startup. But we could be better, especially within funding. You're now in a senior leadership role at Apple. Tell us, how does Apple create a more diverse and inclusive workplace? What do you do? Yeah. So firstly, we really do think about diversity and accessibility and inclusion with everything that we do. It really is where we start. It's part of our DNA. And we have a corporate IND function. But within Apple, it's really important and critical. And part of how we get graded is diversity and inclusion is everybody's job. And so the first level management, we report it all the way up. And I think that's one of the critical things is that we're really aware of it. And so one of the things that we do to make sure we're staying there is we're really, really careful and clear about our hiring practices. And I think that's something that we can do in a huge business. But also when you're just starting out, it's really important to think about your hiring practices and how you go about making those really, it's almost more critical when you just have a few folks. And so some of the things, sort of the practical tips are, you know, really looking and thinking through when you write a job rec and you're putting it out there. Is your language gendered, right? Is the way that you're suggesting things gendered. The software you can download to do this work for you. But it's really important to do that work. The other thing which I think is sort of overlooked sometimes is only ask on a resume for the things that you actually specifically need for that role. The research shows that women are much less likely to apply for a role unless they have 100% of the requirements. Whereas men, the research is all very, but men will typically apply if they have 60% of the skills. And so it's really important then to make sure that you're not overstretching because otherwise you're already going to be counting out some of those really fantastic women. And then when it comes to, actually, you've got people applying, you have to sort of take it upon yourself to look at that talent pool and say, is this good enough? Do I have diverse candidates in here? And it's not good enough anymore to say there's a pipeline issue. It's not good enough to say, hey, we didn't have any women apply. We didn't have anybody of another race apply. We have to do better. And I know it's easier as a big company. It's much harder as a small company, but really think about where are you looking for those candidates? It's not just the big schools. It's the community colleges. It's the vocational colleges. We just went and met with PIVE yesterday, the coding school, which is really incredible, doing really incredible work. So think about where are some of those other places that you can look for really great talent. And then lastly, I think something that's, again, another important thing to remember is you can have a diverse candidate pool. You're going to have a great resume. But then if it's the same three white guys doing the interviewing, sorry, straight white guys, but we know it's about you. So it's OK. But if it's the same type of person doing the interviewing, then you're only going to be looking at one perspective. And so I think that's really important to remember. And the other thing from a startup perspective is it's not just the right thing to do. It's imperative to your business that you have a diverse workforce. That's, you know, if you don't have a diverse mindset and a diverse set of people thinking through the problems, you're never going to have the best product that you can have. And so it's really, it's key. Do you want to hear a funny story? Always. We were like, in Clio, my former company, there were two guys and me. And all our managers, it was like 50-50% women and men, of course. But once we sold the company, they had a new male CEO and within a year, it wasn't 50-50 anymore. So if you place women in the top, it will show down or drill down in the organization. So it is important to hire all sexes. Yeah, it's imperative. And also I think it's important to remember, you know, I'm an ultra feminist obviously, but all women teams don't do any better than all men teams. And so, you know, that's another thing, you know, we're so focused on, you know, it's diversity of thought and diversity of background. It's not just gender. It's gender and race and ethnicity and, you know, neurodiverse backgrounds and veteran status. And there's so many ways to look at diversity and really just make sure that you've got alternate, you know, thinking points as you're addressing problems. Also, the parties are better when it's 50-50. Parties are better, exactly. Tim Cook has said that Apple can only build best products and services by having the most diverse teams. Can you give us an example of how diversity has had an impact on Apple's approach to improving its user experience? Yeah. I mean, it's a couple of, like, quick examples that come to mind in other ways that women at Apple and some of the other diversity network associations or DNAs have helped inspire and improve our products. So, first of all, is when we were going to launch Memojis, we got women at Apple involved in looking at, okay, are we representative? We're going to go from this bright yellow face with two pigtails, you know, and we're going to move to Memojis. Are we really being represented, you know, half the time? Well, 90% of the time I wear my hair in a bun because who can be bothered to do their hair every day? And so, it's like, oh, hey, where's my hairstyle in this Memoji? You know, so those kinds of things is really interesting in ways that is sort of really impactful that people can make sure that they're represented, whether that's, you know, making sure that there's a hijab in different colors or whatever that might be. So that was one way. Another way from the women at Apple perspective was when we launched Siri, we got all different voices and perspectives involved in Siri because it's really important. Women's voices typically are softer. There's a lot more pitch and variation in their voices. We got Black at Apple involved. Black voices tend to be lower, deeper, and so we're really making sure we're listening to all voices and everybody's being heard. So those were a couple of little ways. One second. But some of the bigger things are, for example, voiceover, which is, you know, it was the first accessible, completely alternate OS that was shipped. Actually, right when I started, I can't take any credit, but shipped with macOS Tiger, and that was the first screen reader that was available. And so I think, you know, you start thinking about that wasn't that long ago. I mean, really how important it was for those features that we announced, you know, it became part of the iPod shuffle, something else that was launched right when I started in January of 2005. But that was the first time that it would, a music player would speak to you and say, you know, this is, whom having your favorite artist is, Taylor Swift. Because I just spent $2,000 on Taylor Swift tickets. I have a 19-year-old daughter. But those features, so voiceover was one that really, really took off. And then when we had iPhone 3GS, then we were able to include voiceover in a mobile device, and some other things like zoom and color invert. Another one that I think is a big one is magnifier. So I can't see past very, very far. So I'm always using magnifier to look at menu rest, you know, look at menus in restaurants. But because we have such a great diverse team, we're always thinking not just what's the obvious use, the magnifier, but where can we take it beyond that? And so with magnifier there's a detection mode. And what detection mode does is it enables you to do things like door detection, room detection, image reading, read what's actually written on a cue card or read what's written on a door. And so those are taken so much further. With door detection, you can hold up your iPad and it will tell you, you know, the door is coming up and it's on your left and it's a button or it's coming up and it's on your right and you have to turn the handle. And that's one of the things which, if we didn't have a diverse set of folks thinking through these problems, we would never have gotten to that level of depth of the features. But that's what I love about technology. Both of my cousins are dyslexic. Oh, yeah. And I read or saw in the news that this Dutch guy invented a new font for dyslexic. And we introduced it in our digital learning platform to switch on. It's a special font so the dyslexic had a better time reading the text in schools. So that's the best part about technology. Yeah. Okay. Apple has invested in programs like EntrepreneurCamp, which aims to support people from underrepresented backgrounds to build better apps and grow their businesses. First, please explain what is EntrepreneurCamp. And second, what is the most common feedback you get from these participants? Okay. So if you don't know, Apple EntrepreneurCamp is an immersive technology lab for our underrepresented founders. So we actually started it for female founders. But recently, in the last 18 months, we've included cohorts for black founders and Hispanic and Latinx founders. And it's really, it's been groundbreaking for the developers that have come through. We've had developers from 30 countries come through the program. And what's different about it is it's not a, I mean, in the startup world, there's a lot of people that will help you with your business pitch and that kind of thing. We do that as well. But we're also deep in the code. You bring your app to EntrepreneurCamp virtually, that you bring it. And we open your code and you sit there with technical engineers and we help you figure out where are you wrong. If you're having a trouble implementing metal, we'll bring in the metal engineer and he'll sit with you and figure out, or she will sit with you, I should say, and figure out how to solve your problems. So it's a really technical lab. It lasts for a week. And once the lab is finished, then we help with demos. We rehearse your demo pitches if you're coming on stage with Tim Cook so that when someone stops you in a hallway like this, you have your 30-second pitch, your one-minute pitch ready to go. And so it's really being great and that alumni network now is growing and we're really seeing a positive change from that. And some of the companies that have come through have been found, have been, you know, bought. They've won huge grants, so we're continuously seeing success. So that's what it is. And as far as your question about what's the reaction, the feedback, yeah. I think there's two main things that come out of it. One is this sense of overwhelm that companies get when they come to Apple and they realize Apple seems to be this huge conglomerate that is impenetratable, but really we're just a group of people that are desperate to help and I think, you know, the team is here in the audience today, so we're here to help. We really are. But I think that's what is the most overwhelming to folks is just how much of a difference we can make and just in that reaching out and being part of the story, it really helps with confidence. A lot of times what we hear is, you know, especially for sole founders or smaller companies where you're still not sure and you haven't quite got to market yet, is are we doing the right thing? And then when they're going to meet with VCs, it's this extra level of confidence where it's not like, I have to tell you about my pitch and we're not really sure and maybe you don't want it. It's, no, you know what? I got selected by Apple and I went to this camp and I sat with the App Store folks and they told me this is the right monetization path for my app and it gives you that sort of sense of confidence of, yeah, the App Store team is behind me. They're going to help me. We're going to be successful and boom, then it really, really takes off. So that's the positive. We're always thinking about how we can do better. But one thing that always strikes me, every single camp that we've had, every single cohort, is this just inherent sense of imposter syndrome. It's every camp. It's like, oh, we thought you meant the other blue sky app. It's like, no, it's you. And people do this sort of self-deprecating humor, but it's every cohort and we wait for it. It's like, who's going to do it first? And so it means that we've got work to do for a lifetime. But it's interesting and so I think the one thing that I would say for startups that are here is just be bold and be brave and know that it is you we're after and it is you we called and it is you we accepted and that everyone deserves a chance at this success and to be part of this amazing opportunity that is the App Store. Well, actually, my former company, My Enemy, which was an app for youngsters having a hard time or a psychology lab app, we were chosen to be on some of your camps and it was really good because you gave us a lot of information on how to improve our onboarding and which markets to enter. It was very, very informative. Well, good. I like that. And we also had this imposter syndrome, I think, but it was just like, oh, they chose us among all and it was amazing. And of course, it helped a lot and improved. Also, Timo that I've invested in, you've made a huge... Second shout-out for Timo. I like it. You made a huge difference for them. Oh, good. Love to hear that. I love it because it is neurodiversion. Correct. People are using it. Awesome. Speaking to the topic. Yeah. Love it. Many people here today may be wondering how they can improve diversity in their organizations. Right. Do you have any advice or easy steps they can take, maybe? Yeah. I mean, I think this is the million-dollar question, right? What can I do today? And so I would say the first thing to do is to measure. You can't judge success of any kind without knowing where you start. And so in a huge company that's writing scripts to figure out who's got what and which groups, as you put them together, how diverse. But in a small company, it's like man, woman, man, woman, okay, who's next, you know? And so I think measuring is really, really critical. The second thing is to make it everyone's job, right? Make inclusion and diversity part of everyone's... The way that everyone is graded as a manager, as an employee, how inclusive are they being? Thirdly, I would say it's not about just diversity. You hear inclusion and diversity, inclusion and diversity, but it's like slow that down. It's the inclusion part, right? That's what's critical. We could have everyone in this room, but if I'm only asking one really smart guy in the front row, that's only one opinion that I have. You have to ask and you have to solicit all of those opinions. And it's hard, right? We're going really fast. At Apple, we go on lightning speed, and so it's hard sometimes to sort of take that step back and say like, oh, I'm sorry, Louise, did you participate in this? What were you thinking? And so I think that's critical. The things that we've already talked about, the hiring practices, you know, really thinking about the way that you write your resumes and resume, your recs. I'm not writing my resume just to be clear. The way that you write the recs, the way that you're interviewing people, the interviewer panel, those things. And a good acronym just to remember quickly, I think is idea, you know, the word idea, but inclusion, diversity, equity. Are you paying equally for equal work? It's critical. If you want to do, to get anywhere, we have to, you know, we have to be equal in the way that we pay our workforce. And then the A for idea is action. Take action, do something, whatever that is, whether it's start today and measure. Look at, you know, download the software to see how you write your recs and are they gendered. Think about, okay, how can I make everyone do something? How can I cross-pollinate across my organization so that different people are, you know, participating in different ways and it's not just that same group thing. It's much easier than you think. My team has been with me for a long time. A core of us have been together for over 10 years. And so a lot of times that's a great thing. I know them inside out, but I know them inside out. And that's not a great thing, right? So when new people come in, one of the things that's interesting is, you know, especially students will sort of shrink in the back and be like, oh, I don't know anything. And it's like, no, no, you were the one that has the new perspective. That's what we're looking for today is like, tell me something I don't know. And so everyone has something to share. I think a lot of startups, when they're looking for new employees like developers and you have talent pools that is like 95% male and 5% women, you can always have this sentence in your head like higher for attitude, train for skills. That's a great one. So maybe, you know, to get more diversity and if the minority is not good enough, then teach them, co-teach them. Like employees can help each other. 100%. And what do you look for when you're investing in a company? What are you looking for in that way? It's the same problem. I want to have a 50-50 split, but sometimes that's all I get pitches from men. Right. So send pitches for me. Send pitches. If you're a woman's money, or a certain amount of pocket, she wants to invest it. Yeah, that's what I do. I will have the 50-50%. We'll get there. But among the audience, there are probably many great female entrepreneurs and developers. Is there anything in the end you want to tell them? I mean, I think those two things, the way I say it is, think nothing of your agenda and think everything of your agenda. Like, think nothing in that we're all just individual people. We all have individual experiences and knowledge. And, you know, don't do this whole, like, think like a man thing. That's nonsense. But so think nothing of your agenda. But then, on the other hand, think everything of your agenda. Your agenda is what makes you different. It's what makes you valuable because you have a different perspective, even if you have had a bad experience with your, you know, your gender experience in technology. You can use that for good and you can use that to propel your team forward. You can know what things you want to do better. So, yeah, that would be my advice. What about you? What would be your biggest piece of advice? I think it's just be role models. So, a lot of others get inspired, both men and women. That's why I said yes to participating in Dragonstone. I'm actually a very private person. But I think we have to have people to show this is another way of doing it. So, be role models. And, yeah. I love it. Well, thank you, everyone. We have to wrap this up. Yeah. It's been really special for us. For me, it's my first time at Slush, but also my first time in Finland. And love it. Got to take a sauna yesterday, which was amazing. So, I'm coming back. But really just wanted to say thank you so much for having us. It's been a pleasure to be here. Met so many amazing developers. I mean, really, we met with Walt yesterday morning and I swear that somebody is planting a volt bag anywhere I go. There's something. I'm like, what? And I got to meet the president. The president and prime minister yesterday. Yeah. So, thank you for that. She's very nice. No surprise, obviously. All right. Well, thank you so much. We really appreciate you sticking around. Thank you. Thank you.