Category: Blog

What does it take to break through the glass ceiling? To rise above the limitations set by society, to lead with conviction in a world that often doubts your abilities simply because of your gender? The answer lies in the stories of those who dare to dream, to push forward despite the obstacles, and to show the world that women are not just participants – they are leaders, innovators, and change-makers. 

Nisha Shoukath, President and COO of People10, a globally recognised technology services firm, embodies that very essence of resilience and trailblazing leadership. Nisha’s journey is a testament to resilience, determination, and an unwavering commitment to excellence in a field that has long been dominated by men. From navigating early career challenges in male-centric spaces to taking a bold leap of faith and co-founding a successful tech company, Nisha has continuously defied the odds. Today, she stands not only as a successful business leader but as a powerful advocate for women in tech, creating spaces where they can thrive, lead, and shape the future of the industry. 

Overcoming Early Challenges

Nisha’s rise to the top has not been without its obstacles. The tech industry, traditionally dominated by men, often proved to be a tough environment for a woman trying to prove her worth. Early in her career, Nisha found herself in rooms where she was the only woman, forced to constantly assert her expertise and prove her credibility. Many times, she faced scepticism from colleagues and stakeholders who initially doubted her ability to lead in such a competitive space. Yet, rather than backing down, Nisha chose to let her work speak for itself.

“Early on, I often found myself in situations where I had to prove my capabilities more than others. But over time, my results spoke louder than anything else,” she shares. Through exceptional performance and a laser focus on delivering quality results, Nisha gained the respect of her peers and established herself as a leader in the tech industry. It was this commitment to excellence that ultimately paved the way for her future success.

A Bold Leap

Nisha’s boldest decision was leaving a stable, high-paying executive role at a global bank to co-found People10, a technology services company. Having built a successful career over 15 years, she faced the dilemma of either continuing on a predictable, comfortable path or taking a leap of faith into the unknown. It was the uncertainty that ultimately won her over.

Leaving behind financial security and leadership status in a well-established organisation, Nisha took a risk that many would shy away from. “I knew the risks: failure, financial struggles, and societal judgment, especially as a woman entrepreneur in tech. But I also knew that if I didn’t take this leap, I would regret never trying,” she explains.

The first year was difficult. Nisha found herself wearing many hats, including that of a business developer, responsible for securing clients and building credibility from scratch. Yet, despite the challenges and moments of self-doubt, Nisha’s determination, hard work, and vision paid off. Today, People10 is a globally recognised IT services firm, known for its exceptional quality, commitment to innovation, and a company culture that places people first. 

Creating a Diverse and Inclusive Workplace

As People10 grew, Nisha remained steadfast in her commitment to creating an inclusive workplace that would empower women at all levels. She didn’t just want to build a company that thrived financially but also a company where people, particularly women, could flourish.

“We wanted to build a work environment where women could thrive and grow, and today, we’re proud to say that over 40 per cent of our workforce is female, including leadership roles,” Nisha proudly shares. Under her leadership, People10 has earned recognition as one of the best places to work, not just for women but for all employees.

The company’s success is a testament to the culture Nisha cultivated – one where employees are valued, respected, and empowered to lead with creativity and ownership. “Success is not just about financial growth,” Nisha explains. “It’s about building a company that uplifts people, fosters a sense of belonging, and gives everyone the tools they need to succeed.”

Redefining Success: Beyond Financial ilestones

For Nisha, success has never been defined by just financial stability or career growth. Early in her journey, achieving financial security was necessary, not only for her but for her child. Balancing family and work was paramount, and financial success provided her with the freedom to ensure both her child’s future and the growth of her company.

But over time, Nisha’s perspective on success shifted. “Today, success means creating a lasting impact. It’s about building a business that not only thrives financially but also uplifts people,” she shares. “True success isn’t just about what I achieve – it’s about how many lives I can positively impact along the way.”

For Nisha, success now means raising a resilient, independent son who witnessed the power of perseverance and self-belief. It means giving back – whether by sponsoring girls’ education or supporting women in need. It’s about leaving a legacy of empowerment and proving that women can build powerful careers while staying true to their values. 

The Future of Women in Tech

Looking ahead, Nisha is excited about the possibilities AI and automation offer for women in tech. These advancements, she believes, can level the playing field and open up new opportunities for women to excel in tech careers. With AI-driven tools, remote work, and flexible job structures, women now have more chances to enter and thrive in the tech industry without sacrificing their personal responsibilities.

However, Nisha also acknowledges the need for more women in leadership roles in AI. “The demand for skills in AI and data science is growing, and women should be encouraged to step into these fields,” she asserts. “We need more female leaders and innovators in AI. It’s time for women to not just be present in the industry, but to lead and shape it.”

Nisha is already contributing to this future. As a mentor and advocate for women in tech, she’s passionate about ensuring women have the tools, confidence, and opportunities to lead in the ever-evolving world of AI and automation. 

Inspiring Generations

For the next generation of women leaders, Nisha’s advice is simple yet profound: “Own your power and never let anyone define your limits. Leadership is about breaking barriers, making bold decisions, and staying true to your values.”

She urges young women to take risks, embrace challenges, and remember that leadership is not about waiting for permission but about forging your own path. 

“Success isn’t just personal – it’s about creating opportunities and inspiring future generations. Dream big, take action, and make it happen. The future belongs to fearless women who dare to lead,” Nisha concludes.

Successful women entrepreneurs across the world have exhibited above par levels of creativity in their career and personal life. Nisha’s creative spirit can be traced back to her young age when she was drawn to painting and fashion designing. She found joy in colours, textures, and the art of creation. Although she has served long enough as a female founder in the tech industry, providing enterprise software services, her passion for artistry has never faded. It remained an avenue to escape and reconnect with oneself beyond the corporate world.

Her journey into creativity has always been intentional. While living in Canada, she studied metal smithing, exploring the intricate craftsmanship of shaping metals into wearable art. Later, when in the USA, she pursued Fashion Business at FIT, the world’s leading fashion school, to gain insights into the industry. However, her pursuit to become one of the most successful women entrepreneurs finally paid off with the luxury of time to pursue her childhood dream. At 50, she decided to go back to full-time school, pursuing a degree in Fashion Design at Istituto Marangoni, one of Italy’s most prestigious institutions.

Nisha stands tall as one of the most inspiring women in business by attaining a work-life balance that lets her prioritize passion and embrace life-long learning, allowing creativity to guide her. This keeps her inspired, rejuvenated, and ready to take on new challenges. She strongly sets an example of true success — which goes beyond business, into crafting a life that can be fully lived and exploring one’s passion.

As one of the leading women in tech leadership, Nisha leaves no stones unturned in driving innovation, excellence, and global impact in the field of enterprise software. For tech industry female leaders, it is indeed a valuable lesson to imbibe — her virtue to keep People 10 at the forefront of pioneering AI-driven solutions, Cloud Computing advancements, and cutting-edge enterprise automations. She aims to empower businesses to operate more efficiently and intelligently.

What makes Nisha one of the leading women in technology is her vision for early adaptation of AI and effective implementation of Information Security, Automation, and data analytics. Using these resources to create intelligent enterprise solutions that not only solve complex business challenges but also enhance decision-making, security, and scalability is where she is headed. However, what makes Nisha stand out among tech industry female leaders is her motivation to take People 10 to a level of sustainable and ethical tech development that ensures both business growth and positive social impact.

Beyond technology, Nisha advocates the notion of fostering an inclusive workplace by increasing opportunities for women in technology and leadership while maintaining high employee and customer retention rates. The future of ‘People 10’, as Nisha states, “Is about creating a company that leads with purpose, empowers its people, and transforms industries.”

Female empowerment in its truest sense is the capacity of a woman to possess a life of freedom and choice. As a self-made woman entrepreneur, Nisha has crafted it for herself. “A blend of ambition, creativity, relationships and adventure where personal and professional aspirations harmoniously coexist”, that’s how Nisha describes it.

A family with a strong foundation built on love and support has always aided her in the path towards achieving success. It is quite inspiring for female founders to witness how she balances a life alongside a supportive husband who is also her business partner and spends precious moments with her children, who are studying in the USA. Adding to it, she finds time to pursue a full-time fashion designing degree.

Nisha deeply values family values that go beyond her immediate circle. As a successful woman entrepreneur, she has built a life in a way that she can spare time for her extended family who lives across different parts of the world. She plans vacations and visits to her sister’s family in Germany, her brother’s family in Abu Dhabi, and other close family members in Dubai. Whether it be gatherings, vacations, or just heartfelt conversations, it keeps her grounded by valuing the importance of love, support, and shared memories.

Living in a collectivistic culture, it is second nature that Indian women who achieve success tend to hold their allies close. She makes it a priority to reconnect with childhood, school, and college friends. Whether it’s laughing over old memories in Paris, catching up over coffee in the USA, celebrating milestones in India, or creating new adventures in Dubai, she values these priceless moments. A yearly girls’ vacation with her closest friends is one of her most cherished traditions— a time of pure joy, laughter, and deep conversations that rejuvenates her spirit.

The epitome of women’s empowerment is the freedom to explore creativity. Nisha finds solace in painting and fashion designing. Traveling across cultures and absorbing their aesthetics has been an endless source of inspiration for her. Not just empowering women in business but extending the empowerment spirit to help women live a life of nurturing passion, treasuring relationships, and constantly evolving as a person is what sets Nisha apart.

Truly inspiring women in the world have always been outward in their approach to career and life. For Nisha, giving back was never about recognition. It is about creating real and lasting change in the lives of those who need it the most. Nisha, like many other women in business, had known the true intensity of adverse conditions thrown at them. Thereby, she had taken it upon herself to help uplift others without the need for name or fame.

She believes in equipping children for success early on. Through  Shri Ramakrishna Samagra Shiksha Kendra, Bangalore, she provides children with bags, stationery, jackets, and other essential school supplies. Empowering women in the truest essence begins with empowering a girl child. Nisha actively sponsors orphaned girl children and pushes the notion that no circumstances should limit them when it comes to achieving their dreams.

Inspiring women in the world has always created a safety net of resources for other women for growth and encouragement. Nisha’s heart keeps going out to women who are marginalized, abandoned, or left to fend for themselves. Female founders in business can draw inspiration from her deed of actively building charitable foundations dedicated to supporting women in need. According to Nisha, it isn’t just about finances; rather, it is a community that provides strength and guidance for women in the face of adversity.

Her philanthropic efforts go beyond women empowerment and spill over into supporting victims of sexual assault, abandoned individuals, autistic children, and cancer patients. She pays heed to her roots as well, through efforts to improve facilities in the mosque where her family came from. As many inspiring and successful women in the world would state, “the journey was never easy for me, thereby I want to make sure I will put every effort to make it easier for the ones who aspire for a better life.”

Without any doubt, women in the tech industry face immense resistance of gender bias. However, Nisha’s pursuit calls out the hardships of women in business, especially in a male-dominated industry. She recalls having to work twice as hard to be taken seriously in high-stake meetings, negotiations, and decision-making roles within international corporations. In the face of this adversity, she continuously exhibited the essential skills that successful women entrepreneurs in the world have always possessed — industry expertise, strategic thinking, and the ability to drive results.

However, she kept facing stereotypes, mostly where clients would assume she wasn’t the principal decision-maker. Investors dealing with women in tech leadership often assume whether they can balance leadership and personal responsibilities. Neither was Nisha immune to it. But the difference she made, like many inspiring women in the world, is by showing immense confidence and perseverance. Building professional networks where key industry players were men proved to be twofold. Nisha had to put in intentional effort and persistence to build a space of her own.

Beyond external challenges, like many self-made women entrepreneurs, she faced internal ones as well. These consisted of the constant need to prove to oneself and the loneliness of being one of the few women in leadership. This, in turn, fueled her, Nisha states, as she perceived it as a need for creating pathways for other women who dream of success. She took it as a personal motto to bring out more opportunities for women in the tech and business world. She now gracefully heads ‘People 10’, where women thrive, breaking barriers and redefining leadership where men traditionally had a monopoly.

Nisha, is a true testament of staying updated and afresh for women in tech leadership. Imparting her core value of continuous learning has always been the cornerstone of People 10’s success. According to Nisha, for Tech industry female leaders to thrive, staying ahead of the curve when it comes to industry needs and new technologies is a non-negotiable.

Educating oneself as a top priority, that too with the best possible resources is something that cannot be bargained with. It is the best possible arsenal out there for women in business to cut through the competition. Her inventory of knowledge gained from PMI in Project Management, Stanford University in Advanced Project Management, and MIT in AI Strategy has complemented her journey in building People 10.

However, going several steps further from formal education played a key role in placing Nisha among some of the top Indian businesswomen out there. These include extensive reading, analyzing industry shifts, writing blogs, conducting webinars, and engaging with thought leaders and top professionals worldwide. Successful women entrepreneurs in the world are the ones who have aced the art of market adaptability.  Nisha has always been a forerunner at analyzing market trends, technological advancements, and understanding ever-evolving customer needs. Focusing on delivering cutting-edge technology, building future-ready teams, and continuous learning time after time puts People 10 at the forefront of an ever-changing tech paradigm. Nisha put forth the need to internalize these values for women in business to always be at the top of their game.