Analytics, actionable insights and artificial intelligence (AI) are key to thriving in the digital era – and organisations are increasingly seeing that data is a powerful asset, underpinning valuable customer information. Tina Diamond, Director, Insights & Data at Capgemini UK, is at the helm of working with clients in this arena, creating and delivering innovative solutions to drive impact for end customers.

Insights & Data includes all aspects of data and analytics, from data engineering and information governance, through to data science and business analysis. Tina’s work is dynamic and interesting, focused on leading and collaborating with experts to identify solutions for successful Capgemini customer outcomes.

Tina’s current role is the Business Development Director at Capgemini. With a post-graduate Masters in Organisational Leadership from Oxford University, she is a results-generating entrepreneur and sales leader with 20+ years of experience in digital transformations.

Where Women Work caught up with Tina to hear more about her fascinating career, learn about who she is as a person and her approach to her work, and specifically to hear her career insights for women interested in joining or progressing in this industry.

Tina is certainly a very articulate, authentic and self-aware woman – so let’s find out why!

Tina is a fascinating woman driven strongly by her values

Tina grew up in the United States and following graduation from university, her first role was in the banking sector, until she became inspired to join the field of technology and the exciting opportunities it had to offer, expanding into the world of start-ups.

Tina worked for a thriving tech start-up in Silicon Valley and that’s where her passion grew for technology. “I saw people working in the tech industry that were not only applying new tools to existing problems, but channelling a real creativity and collaborative spirit to exploring future tech, bringing an art and science to solving. I was very inspired and knew I wanted to be part of this new and exciting industry,” Tina shares.

Despite starting her major in Chemistry at university before shifting to business, Tina found she was able to successfully apply her skills and background to the tech industry, which was early in its maturity. Believing that her entrepreneurial disposition would be a key quality for success in this growing industry, she embarked on a career path without having ‘all the boxes’ ticked.

“I found that I had the foundational sales skills from banking, having received formal sales training and sales accreditations, that I could then apply directly to the tech industry. Perhaps it was also a better motivator to understand how things worked, which I wanted to learn from the engineers building directly. This allowed me to leverage the skills I had, starting to apply and grow the knowledge and capacity required to speak articulately on new products around technology. This became the entry point, and career progression I was looking for, with a foundational understanding of the sales process, as well as how to build relationships. This translated into growing accounts and revenue, which propelled my career faster than in an established industry,” she reflects.

Once Tina entered the tech industry, she was inspired and excited by innovation, as well as the people that were sharing that vision, seeing the possibility for her future. Her career has included working at seven start-ups, spanning the music technology industry with Atlantic Records as well as the Ministry of Sound, along with moving her life from SF to New York and now in London, working for a large organisation, before settling in her current role with Capgemini UK.

Bringing her cumulative best to Capgemini

“I help Capgemini with the why and what, working with the wider team to find the experts to show them the where, successfully delivering the how. At Capgemini, the focus is on what can we do to make the client successful, rather than what have we done, which may not always align with their future strategy,” says Tina, who embraces and promotes the company’s vision, seeing herself as the client’s trusted partner, rather than a supplier.

“In technology, specifically in emerging, greenfield and maturing analytics / technology, it’s not about if a solution and implementation will go wrong, it’s about preparing and working when technology does go wrong. The key is how to team up with the client, as that trusted partner, informing them, as well as having difficult conversations – focused on solving, rather than blaming or denying, in order to solve issues and move forward. Then debriefing after, for a deeper dive into what went wrong, learning lessons to prevent future issues.”

Tina’s role within Capgemini UK is multifaceted, leading Capgemini’s business development for Insights and Data, focused on growing the analytics and data domain for both their clients and team. What Tina says is key is identifying opportunities for innovation and solutions, describing that her aim is to help clients enable technology to deliver business impact. She also manages people, and is focused on creating an environment for collaboration, centred on growing the team’s domain and data experience, within their accounts and sector. Sharing what does and doesn’t work is vital, along with leveraging collective knowledge as a team. Another aspect of Tina’s responsibilities is in aligning with strategic accounts, as an I&D Exec Sponsor, working to ensure her clients’ success, focused on bringing all facets together to successfully implement their data and analytics strategy.

“For me, bringing my cumulative best means bringing my all, including my experience, expertise and understanding from my whole life, to everything I do and every situation I engage in – I see it as, the sum of who I am is greater than the individual parts throughout my life and career, including learnings from my mistakes. I am learning not to apologise, and to self-authorise myself in uncomfortable and unpleasant situations, and at the same time, acknowledging when I do ‘get it wrong’ – focusing on the learning, rather than apologising for ‘getting it wrong’. I find that the more I am able to understand myself, the more I am able to understand other people, connecting to their motivations, intentions and actions, which allow me to address the situation to hand, which might include embracing, recalibrating or confronting the person, situation or myself.”

Being her authentic self, both inside and outside of work, is how Tina is learning to understand herself, which is an ongoing, everyday process. She explains that she learns more when she, paradoxically, sees and acknowledges the aspects that we’re not supposed to reveal or mention which tend to feed into our unhealthy self – which Tina calls her 'mini-me'.

“It’s not about being a better person, it’s knowing myself better that is important to me,” Tina shares as the guiding principle to how she is learning to live her life.

Trust & Authenticity: fundamentals to building lasting relationships

Tina has always been one to trust, embrace and value others and believes that this attitude has been fundamental in building strong relationships throughout her life and career.

“When I am open and trusting, it tends to be that people are open and trusting back, which is why I believe I have formed solid relationships with those who have had ‘the eyes to see’ and shared their trust with me.

“My aim is for my customers’ “customers” to be successful, which is meant to serve and align to their data strategy. My approach with customers is then to address the tactical, short term wins, while taking into consideration how that maps with their strategic vision. Building[PL1] trust is key to all of our success, finding and working with the right people who bring the experience and expertise aligning to that strategy. I look for people who can engage and contribute to thinking about what’s possible, looking at new ways and technologies that can enable.”

“At Capgemini, I understand that when I am focused on others’ success, whether it be the customer, team or solution, when that is seen as successful, we are all successful. I aspire for Insights and Data to be known to our customers as their trusted partner, inspiring an innovative approach and delivering on that promise. I am able to stay focused because I report to someone who supports and values what I bring, and the perspectives I share,” says Tina.

Challenges are “disguised gifts”

Rather than seeing challenges as obstacles, Tina approaches them as something to learn from: opportunities to transcend difficulty.

“I experience challenges as disguised gifts, an opportunity for learning something about myself or knowledge I need to seek– it may be an unpleasant situation or stretching my learning, though it always ends up allowing me to learn something new, adding to my culmination, ultimately for a better or more effective solution. I have found that the most effective way to solve any challenge, is by clarifying and sharing what works/what doesn’t then, exploring multiple ways, for all the data points to inform me in making the most effective decision and way forward.

“‘Communication is inherently distorted’ is my favourite quote, because it’s about trying to clarify what everyone wants to solve, then communicating each part to make sure. So, when a customer isn’t certain about what that vision / end goal looks like, the challenge tends to be where to start.

Clients often aren’t certain about how to go about what they want to achieve. So, we need to start a trusting dialogue, and be open and honest to ensure we bring forward our subject matter expertise in helping them, so we can guide them and advise them in what they may need to do.”

Valuing diversity

Expanding on the important subject of ‘challenge’, surprisingly Tina admits that she really “enjoys facilitating difficult conversations” in the sense that she values different and diverse perspectives, experiences and expertise, working towards a harmonious outcome. The key in facilitating this is bringing people’s voices to a trusted and safe environment, to be heard and explored, working towards understanding, in order to work towards that common goal as a team. “I find it liberating to re-shape situations and conversations, to recalibrate and confront, even when someone is so called ‘difficult’ or ‘eccentric’.”

This goes back to Tina’s disposition of valuing people, taking the decision to trust first. “I enjoy bringing people together and helping them understand each other. I’ve even had some of my meetings described by participants as group data therapy sessions, with me as the “data therapist,” she laughs. “It can certainly be a very cathartic experience when everyone starts working together for a greater purpose. Helping groups to collaboratively move forward and understand each other’s perspectives is something that I truly feel privileged to be able to witness.”

Turning to gender diversity, Tina emphasises: “It’s not just a women thing – it’s a people thing. We need everyone on board to help attract and get more women into the tech industry, and I’m glad to say that the men at Capgemini are doing their part – there is a real willingness to learn and a want to help.

“With more men in senior positions, they are in a position to make a change; we need to team up, raise awareness and continue to create richer, more diverse workspaces together. As long as people’s attitudes are right, we’re halfway there.”

Key advice for women joining Capgemini

Tina wanted to share something she has learned to women interested in joining and working with Capgemini UK. She suggests that if a woman feels they can capture 60% of the skills and experience listed on a job description, they should be bold, self-authorising themselves and apply. Capgemini has created a Concierge Service for women who pass the first phone interview stage, where applicants can speak to senior level females to discuss work / life balance, and to understand what career paths have looked like for other senior women at Capgemini.

And when it comes to career promotions, once women start going through the interview stages, they should also ask Capgemini to put them in touch with a mentor to help coach them through the process.

“I have been learning to say yes to myself - self-authorising myself, which does not happen overnight; though when I started to shift my experience of myself, impacting my mindset and attitude, I was pleasantly surprised in how often others would say yes to me. Which made me think maybe I was saying no to myself before someone else did,” says Tina.

“I would give the guidance to someone that may not have that initial response, to pause before saying no, self-authorise yourself, put yourself forward, be uncomfortable, apply for that role, and say yes to yourself until someone tells you no, and even then, there still may be a yes that can emerge in another way, shape or form. You may not be the right person for the role you applied for but there could be another role in the organisation that may align with “your cumulative best”. When you ‘say yes to yourself’ you become the hope that you were looking for.”

Tina also reminds women to stick with things when they may seem difficult because final outcomes may likely be worth it, and she stresses the importance of staying ‘100% authentically you’. “It’s better to be authentically you and get it so-called ‘wrong’, than to be inauthentic and get it right. I’ve spent most of my career trying to get things right, but in fact I have learned and grown more from my mistakes than when I’ve gotten it correct.”

Maintaining interests outside of work supporting and inspiring further women

Finally, Tina emphasises the importance of enjoying time away from the workplace – and explains how working with Capgemini enables her to do just that.

“When joining Capgemini, people told me the work-life balance at the company is great. Now, I myself can confirm this is true. People at Capgemini value your time when you are focused, productive and getting your job done - but they also respect when you have your personal time. When I take holiday, I don’t experience an expectation to reply to emails; the expectation is to disconnect and recharge. Capgemini are walking the talk when it comes to work-life balance and in turn this enables our teams to bring our best selves to work,” says Tina.

Tina also keeps herself busy in her own time, having co-founded a support network leadership community for women called ‘Women in Dynamic Leadership™’. Its members are from different sectors and meet up to focus on how they can become more effective leaders in their industries. Combined with that, Tina runs a group called ‘The Diamond Forum’ where she works with women of all ages, including secondary school pupils, to help them engage more effectively in their daily lives. “My work with women is about supporting them to collaborate effectively and express themselves in a positive environment,” explains Tina.

Tina’s parting thought: Take care of your one life

Tina concludes with a life fundamental. “People talk about ‘work-life balance’, but you only have one life and you have to make sure that life is working as a whole. This connects to what I described as your cumulative best, and the sum of your life being greater than its parts. Because if part of your life isn’t working, say your personal life, it tends to impact your whole life, it cannot be separated. Think about your body - if you have a cold, it impacts your entire system. So taking care of your one life, which means your relationships as well as focusing on what you want to create and who you want to create it with in your personal, social or professional context, will always impact the experience you have of yourself in the others.

“I’ll leave you with this analogy: when I’m cooking, and there are a few crumbs on the countertop, they may not be noticeable, though when I don’t pick them up, leave them for a few meals, they become a mess. I am learning to pick up my crumbs, so at the end of the day, I don’t leave a mess. To apply that to my everyday life, if I allow a situation that needs to be addressed, perhaps a misunderstanding, miscommunication or impact to someone’s good intention, and let it go, not addressing for either clarification or sharing the unintended consequence, I WILL end up with a mess, and always wondering how it got to be so big. My guidance, is to pick up the crumbs as you live, so you don’t end up with a mess.”

Join talented women like Tina at Capgemini UK

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