Pooja Chatrath, Chief Information Officer- Cryoviva Biotech Pvt. Ltd.

Pooja Chatrath, Chief Information Officer- Cryoviva Biotech Pvt. Ltd., is an Information Technology professional with an industry experience of 19+ years. She possesses a strong business mindset and a track record of managing digital transformation and IT projects.

She is responsible for all strategic decisions pertaining to IT and process improvements at the enterprise level. She was extensively involved in the IT setup of RJCorp Healthcare Companies viz. Cryoviva India, Diagnolabs India, Lineage Healthcare, and Cryoviva International operations. She is an active member of the CIO Forum’s across India and has been recognized with several awards.

Worked extensively in understanding business requirements, performing gap analysis between goals and existing procedures sets, and designing process and system re-engineering to increase productivity and reduce costs thus delivering large projects within defined timelines and budgets.

Read more to know about Pooja’s career path and contributions to the tech field.

Inspiration behind a Tech Career

Pooja has no specific reasons to start a career in tech because she finished her schooling in a science subject and had the options for engineering/medical. During that time, computer science was picking up as a new stream. By completing computer science graduation, she started a career in the same domain.

Pooja started her career as a software trainee and continuing the same learning aspirations even today.

Career Challenges as a Woman

Challenges for women are there in all fields, although it increases at a higher level in technology because 24 * 7 support is required. As you grow from a Developer to a Team Lead to the next level, the expectations of organizations increase and the working hours also increase. Sometimes, it’s difficult for women to work during odd hours or stay for late hours because of their other responsibilities at home as a wife, mother, etc., whereas it’s easy for men to manage similar roles.

Many women leave jobs at mid-level as they have to raise their child or the family pressures after marriage can’t be managed along with the office pressures. Sometimes, women even look for part-time jobs or start something small for themselves.

Pooja recommends that instead of leaving the job, women should start asking for support that could be either at the home level or office. Women should know how to work on fixing the ecosystem around them. One of the biggest issues for women is that they are scared of sharing thoughts whereas the more you demand, the more you might be supported.

Less Women Representation in Tech

According to Pooja Chatrath, the differentiation between men and women  starts at early stages of our life that we have been taught that men are workers, women serve; boys wear blue, girls pink; boys play with cars, girls with dolls; Men are more logical and reasonable, women more emotional; Men have more commitment to work, and women have to juggle career, motherhood, and wifehood.

Keeping this kind of mindset, women have to juggle between career and family, and only a few are passionate and determined to reach to the next level. Whereas most of them drop out or stay at mid-level roles without moving out of their comfort zone.

Expectations from women leaders are to stay late in the office, however, working late doesn’t make them more productive. Our brain needs to rest to be efficient and make better strategic decisions.

Pooja opined that women speakers are rarely seen to answer tech-related questions or guide other women. Moreover, women only apply for C-level positions when they meet more than 90% of the requirements listed as they want to give their best in anything and everything they do, whereas the risk-taking factor and negotiation skills are higher in men.

Advice to Next-Gen Tech Women

• Create a strong support system around you to support so that you can focus on your goals.
• Understand what is important and what is not and just work on the imp lines. Reach out and you will get it
• It’s very important to create a work-life balance and take that on topmost priority
• Be a self-competitor and look towards self-improvement
• Focus on your job and give your 100%
• Plan out your work and go step-by-step towards your goal.
• Tech is exciting because it’s new and Tech is inspiring because it’s all about advancement, so go for Tech roles.

She quoted, “Women you are awesome, just believe in yourself and don’t quit mid-way”

Women Empowerment Initiatives

Pooja Chatrath mentors others wherever and whenever possible not only to tech women but also to non-tech women as well. She participates in forums to share her thoughts and experience that might be helpful for other women. Pooja encourages work-life balance and set an example for the same.

Leadership Roles

As the first women IT leader at Cryoviva, Pooja actively participates in the growth of the organization and plays a major role in budget and technology adoptions. She is the first IT leader who introduced open-source operating systems with office products in the organization.

Pooja Chatrath has been selected as the ‘Top 10 Women Tech Leaders India Awards 2021’ by RACE, REVA University in association with Terralogic Inc. and co-sponsored by CloudxLab because of the dedicated and commendable efforts to bring changes in organizations as an IT leader.