An outstanding CTO: Who is Emma Rosell?
We are thrilled to present you with an inside look into tech’s most cryptic role: the role of a Chief Technology Officer. The following interview is conducted as part of our participation in the Gothenburg Tech Week 2021. By interviewing Sweden’s top female CTOs, we are honored to highlight outstanding professionals - the norm breakers and trailblazers in the field.
Emma Rosell is the Head of Tech at NetClean Technologies. Her passions in life are tech leadership, climbing and right now, picking mushrooms. You are most likely to meet her at a workshop with one of her teams, one of Gothenburg’s many climbing gyms or her summer house - south of Gothenburg together with her family.
“This may sound like a small thing, but I think an early introduction to tech is key in creating a long-lasting interest.”
Tell us about NetClean, what do you do?
NetClean creates software that detects and blocks child sexual abuse material on company’s IT devices. Our products limit IT security risks for businesses and contribute to creating a brighter future for children.
Tell us about your journey into tech.
When I was a kid, my best friend’s dad was working from home on one of the early Apple computers. When he didn’t use it, we were allowed to borrow it to play games. This may sound like a small thing, but I think an early introduction to tech is key in creating a long-lasting interest.
Later I discovered the Internet which was great in so many ways. Actually, I even wrote my project thesis in high school about the Internet. This was at the time when the Internet could still be a single subject. Afterwards the decision to study information technology at a university was an easy one to make, which I have never regretted. Post university, I worked as a Business Intelligence Developer, writing a lot of SQL. However I realized quite fast that my real passion is tech leadership and building products. So from that point on, I’ve had different leadership roles.
What mistake, in your personal or professional life, have you learned the most from?
Quite a few years ago I got an offer to start a new job. At the time it was a career move and included a lot of responsibility and also a salary raise. I was flattered and said yes, but I realized quite fast that it wasn’t the right choice. For me, it’s really important to be able to have an impact and to change things that are not working properly which wasn’t possible in this job. It was a mistake to not see the job for what it was when I accepted it. But I learned a lot about myself, what is important to me and what context I need to bring out the best in myself.
Share your dreams for yourself and the industry!
As the NetClean Head of Tech, my ultimate dream is of course that our products won’t be needed. But since this, unfortunately, does not seem to happen any time soon, I dream about a time when NetClean’s products are integrated into every business.