Jessica O’Keefe

‘What started as a huge risk turned out to be the best decision I’ve ever made’

Part of the Tech Women Celebration 50 – a curated list of some of the most inspirational women working at all levels of tech

I started working in tech during lockdown after a long career in hospitality. It was a big change, but it's turned out to be one of the best decisions I've made. I'm now a frontend software developer at ConnexAI, where I enjoy the creativity and attention to detail the role gives me.

I love that no two days (or solutions) are ever quite the same. I hope to keep progressing and one day step into a tech lead role. At ConnexAI, I help build our award-winning AI solutions, making sure the design system I maintain works smoothly across products. I also work closely with designers and developers to bridge the gap between the two, which helps create a shared language and more cohesive results.

Outside of work you'll usually find me listening to music, painting, or rummaging through charity shops for mid-century bits and pieces. I enjoy bringing people together and love the chaos and laughter that always comes out of it.

What do you consider to be your biggest achievement to date?

One of my proudest moments was speaking at the Manchester Tech Festival, sharing my journey into tech and the transferable skills that helped me make the switch from hospitality. It was nerve-wracking to stand on stage and tell my story, but also really rewarding. So many people told me how much it resonated with them, and it made me realise the power of sharing our stories and how much it can help others feel less alone in their own journeys.

At ConnexAI, the achievement I'm most proud of is creating and maintaining a styling library that's now used across six different products. Before, every codebase had to be updated separately whenever design changes came through, which meant duplicated effort and things slipping out of sync. By building one shared library, updates only need to be made once, saving time for developers and keeping everything consistent with the design team's vision. It's also improved accessibility, helped with branding, and made our products more comfortable to use for customers.

I still look after the library today, adding new components and updates. It's something everyone in the company relies on, and I love knowing that my work helps thousands of businesses worldwide use ConnexAI products with a consistent experience. I also enjoy supporting other developers who integrate the library and working with the design team to make sure ideas translate into something practical and user-friendly.

What is the most significant challenge you have overcome?

Making the leap into tech during lockdown. I'd wanted a career change for a while and when redundancy was being talked about at work, I realised I couldn't just sit and wait. I signed up for a coding course and spent six months working part-time while studying evenings and weekends. It was tough, but four years later I'm working as a software developer in a job I love.

I sometimes still say I'm "not techy," but I've realised that development really suits me. I love problem-solving, learning new things, and seeing steady progress. What started as a huge risk has turned into the best decision I've ever made. Looking back, I'm proud of the effort it took to change direction, and of how much I've grown in confidence since then. It proved to me that I could start fresh in a completely new field and make it work.

Tell us something about you that people would find surprising

Before I moved into tech, I worked in hospitality as a chocolatier and patisserie chef. I trained in Michelin-starred restaurants and later ran my own business, supplying places like The Midland Hotel in Manchester and shops like Selfridges.

That career taught me to be creative, to care about the details, and to always push myself to improve. Those same qualities help me every day in my role as a developer. Tech feels like a natural fit because, just like in kitchens, there's always something new to learn and ways to get better.

Working in male-dominated environments has sometimes meant feeling I had to work harder to prove myself. But over time I've come to see that as a source of resilience — a reminder that the best way forward is to keep showing up, keep learning, and keep carving out space for others to do the same.