My dad encouraged me to take up computing. He thought it might be a good idea as it wasn’t as common back in the 1990s. But I didn’t think about doing it as a degree until I heard Associate Professor Liisa von Hellens do a talk at my school about why technology was an attractive option. In that moment I was convinced I should study IT and changed all my university preferences.
I was one of only a few female students. So, having senior women in the faculty at Griffith was important. Coming from an all-girls school and knowing technology in general was heavily male-dominated, I felt supported having these women there. People like Dr Jenine Beekhuyzen OAM, now Adjunct Research Fellow, and Dr Sue Nielsen, formerly Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, probably don’t realise the impact they had just by being nice and approachable. Everyone wants role models who look or feel like them in some way. I’m now trying to figure out how I can do more to support women and leave a legacy that’s representative of the support I got.
When I was at university, career paths in tech weren’t certain. And that’s still the case today. I knew I wasn’t going to be a developer forever and was interested in business problem solving and the application of technology. I started at Queensland Health in a grad role and then worked for a medical software company before moving into consultancy.
I’ve always been vocal about where I want to go. Even if my ambition has sometimes outstripped my experience! When I moved to the UK, one of my first projects was digitising The Guardian newspaper. At the same company, the CEO sent me a message thanking me for some work I’d done. I replied to him, a bit cheekily, saying, “Thanks – glad I’m on my way to taking your job from you one day.” Initially I got no response but then I got a call congratulating me on my selection in the company’s global leadership development course. The CEO became my mentor and gave me an hour of his time every month for six years. That’s the kind of commitment and mentorship you can’t buy.
The most important attribute you need in tech is curiosity. You have to want to learn. In technology there are always new frameworks and tools coming out and, while I don’t have to be as close to the technology these days, I do need to understand it. You should want to go home and play around with things like new AI tools to figure out what’s different. You need to change your toolkit as the world changes. If you want to be a good problem solver, you need to be curious.
Tech is about machines, but mostly about people. Sitting silently with your headphones on is the opposite of my job. I talk to people all the time. You need to be as much a people person as a technologist.
It’s vital to be authentic – particularly as a woman leader in tech. I think my energy is infectious and I get excited about stupid things. But people wouldn’t see me as a role model if they felt that I wasn’t being myself. Luckily, I figured out early on in my career that I needed to find my style and the authentic version of me. I can come to work as me, and I’m very energised by that.
I wouldn’t mind running my own business one day. At Zühlke, I’m the UK CEO (the first woman to hold this role) and I’m also the MD for the Cross Markets portfolio, where I look after about a third of global revenue. I have this interest in how businesses are run – about how and why things happen. In my career, I’ve had to understand how technology needs to fit a business, or how the business needs to change to better fit technology. That led to me thinking… wouldn’t it be interesting to start my own business so I could decide?
Angela Bishop (B Information Technology ‘02) is CEO UK and Regional MD Cross Markets EMEA at Zühlke
Are you a woman who’s keen to upskill in computing, data analytics and cyber security? Applications for our online and female-only Diploma of Computing and Data Analytics are open now. Find out more.
Image captions (top to bottom):
- Angela with her children.
- Angela (red jacket) standing next to now President of Switzerland and other UK-Swiss business leaders.
- Angela (middle) with colleagues at the executive women's networking group she runs.
Published 26 February 2026
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