Key career learnings from Arity’s wonder women in tech

Wonder Women Tech (WWT) hosted its Immersive Summit 2023 in May, bringing together its community for conversations around the future of tech, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and more.

As a WWT partner, Team Arity took the virtual stage for the session, “Leveraging data to create positive change.” Head of Marketing Lisa Jillson interviewed Megan Jones, Lead Actuary and Analytics Director, and Sneha Rao, Director of Product. Here are three key career learnings from our wonder women in tech.

“The technical and functional skillset is hugely important, but it’s very helpful to understand the needs of the business and your stakeholders.” – Megan Jones

Before joining Arity, Megan worked as an actuary for an insurance company – analyzing the financial costs of risk and uncertainty and developing strategies to help mitigate them.

Her experience made her a natural fit for Arity since our team works with auto insurers, helping them leverage mobility data to power their telematics programs. It’s one of the many ways we live into our mission to make transportation smarter, safer, and more useful for everyone.

Because of her background, Megan had the deep industry knowledge and technical know-how prior to joining Arity and was able to use that to help push new ways of using data for auto insurers.

For example, Arity was the first in the market to introduce distracted driving as a behavior that can be used as part of the insurance premium determination. While the industry was hesitant to adopt, Megan understood the needs of the business and her stakeholders – which is a must-have skill for those in tech.

Insurance is a highly regulated industry, and she knew there would be reservations around how the data is obtained and managed when it’s coming from someone’s personal device. With this insight in mind, her team helped regulators understand the importance that we place on developing privacy-focused solutions and how we emphasize transparency.

“We got them over that hurdle by communicating in a language they were used to and addressing the guardrails they care about.”

“Finding that support system is a great way to merge into a new industry and understand how things work.” – Sneha Rao

Unlike Megan, Sneha did not have experience in the insurance industry prior to joining Arity. She had joined with a background in fintech along with other industries.

So as a director of product for our insurance solutions, she was tasked with learning the ins and outs quickly. And according to Sneha, it’s not something you can simply read up on – that industry experience.

To help her get up to speed, she relied on her team members – those who had decades of experience like Megan – to understand the intricacies of auto insurance. And having that support system to lean on made the transition much easier than if she tried to learn it on her own.

Sneha also advised those in tech to be patient when it comes to learning a new industry. It’s not going to happen in one day, or even thirty days. It takes time but having that support system is key.

“Knowing who your allies are, knowing who the right people are to talk to, and who’s there to help you understand the intricacies of your entire setup – that’s what helped me after I switched to a new industry.”

“That helps me get excited about getting up in the morning – feeling like I can really make a difference.” – Lisa Jillson

Throughout the session, Lisa, Megan, and Sneha emphasized the importance of passion and purpose in their roles.

Sneha said that’s initially what attracted her to Arity. When she was looking for a new role, she wasn’t looking to be in a particular industry. Rather, she was looking for something that philosophically resonated with her. And Arity offered that.

When she’s driving with her family or friends in the car, she wants to know she’s driving in a safe environment – especially when her son is in the backseat. Arity’s mission to improve transportation will, hopefully, make that sense of security possible.

Megan echoed that same passion of using data for good. Specifically, Megan finds it exciting that Arity continuously evolves how we’re leveraging data to create positive change in the world.

For example – Over the years, Arity has focused on connecting to drivers via mobile phone because that’s where the scale of the data is. However, the number of connected cars on the roads is growing. So, we’re now expanding into that space, looking at information like: Who’s using safety features in the car? How often are they using them? And is it making them safer in terms of accident avoidance?

Megan’s team is starting to dig into these insights, and she thinks they will be able to understand what is and what isn’t working to avoid crashes – and then work with carmakers to adjust and refine where needed.

Our team’s sense of purpose is one of the many reasons we ranked in the 2023 list of Top 50 Inspiring Workplaces across North America with special recognition in the Culture & Purpose category. If you’re interested in joining the team that’s transforming transportation with passion and data, check out our Careers page.