Interview: Ellie Priestley, Sedex, Women in Tech Excellence Awards finalist

‘I’ve learned to lead from where I am with clarity and collaboration’

The Women in Tech Excellence Awards celebrate the outstanding contributions of women in all areas of technology, from software development and engineering to AI, cybersecurity, and beyond.

Ellie is a product-minded Software Engineer passionate about knowledge sharing, continuous improvement and XP practices that strengthen team culture and accelerate delivery.

Two years ago, she transitioned from Executive Search into tech to pursue a passion for creative problem-solving through code, rapidly building proficiency across multiple languages and technologies. She has since gained trust in high-stakes projects, developed expertise in complex business domains and contributed to a stronger engineering community through technical book clubs, lunch-and-learns and knowledge-sharing initiatives.

Her commercial background informs her approach to technical challenges, always considering both the end-user experience and the business impact.

Ellie is a Women in Tech Excellence award finalist in the Rising Star of the Year Tech and Consultancy category.

We talked to Ellie to find out more about her and Sedex’s challenges and achievements over the past year.

Why do you think awards like the Women in Tech Excellence Awards matter? What would winning mean to you and your company?

Awards like this matter because they elevate early-career voices when confidence is still developing. Technology faces a persistent diversity gap - in who enters and who stays. With half of women leaving tech by age 35, it’s clear that representation isn’t enough. We need environments that actively support and retain women as they progress.

There’s also a flywheel effect: when more women enter the industry, they advocate for those who come after them, creating a self-sustaining cycle of opportunity. Celebrating women at formative stages of their careers builds diverse future pipelines of decision-makers. I believe the industry produces its most creative and effective solutions when the people building them reflect a broad range of perspectives.

On a personal level, winning would be a milestone that reflects the work I’ve put into transitioning into tech. It required rapid upskilling, ownership of high-risk technical projects, and discipline to learn quickly. But more importantly, it has required me to develop a voice confident enough to challenge assumptions, ask brave questions, and influence outcomes without formal authority. I’ve learned to lead from where I am with clarity and collaboration.

For my company and immediate team, this recognition would be a validation of a culture that empowers engineers to grow quickly. My development was accelerated by colleagues who welcomed my curiosity, created psychological safety, and trusted me with business-critical work far earlier than traditional timelines would suggest.

Winning would spotlight the impact of that environment: where learning is protected, diverse pathways into tech are valued, and early-career engineers are supported to take ownership and succeed.

What would you say is your company's proudest achievement over the past year?

One major achievement this year was decommissioning our 20-year legacy platform and launching a modernised, significantly faster and more stable user experience. It was a complex, business-wide effort that involved running old and new systems in parallel, coordinating multiple workstreams and delivering substantial product improvements concurrently.

This delivered major performance gains, a more intuitive user journey and improved data reliability while saving £1.5m annually. Being part of this work is something I’m genuinely proud of.

What have been the biggest challenges of 2025 so far and how have you overcome them?

2025 has been defined by uncertainty: a tougher economic climate, industry-wide layoffs, and a reluctance in some places to invest in early-career talent. The pressure created by shifting ESG expectations has made delivery even more challenging.

To adapt, we’ve leaned into shorter feedback loops, with team dynamics becoming even more essential for success. This has reinforced for me that empowered teams are the best equipped to navigate uncertainties.

How do you think the industry has changed over the past year and what changes do you think it still needs to make?

The sector has seen a concerning shift for long-term diversity: many programmes that helped underrepresented talent enter engineering have been scaled back. When entry routes narrow, we risk losing the perspectives that lead to more resilient, creative solutions. Simultaneously, the technical demands of the industry are rising.

We need teams who can think differently and design systems that withstand complexity. Companies must treat diverse hiring and development as business-critical infrastructure and create cultures where everyone feels confident contributing.

What do you see as the main opportunities for the industry in the coming year?

One of the biggest opportunities next year is the growing focus on Developer Experience. As systems become more complex, reducing friction for engineers with clearer tooling, stronger test suites and shorter feedback loops becomes critical. Using AI tooling (with responsible guardrails) can also speed up iteration while keeping human judgment at the centre. When developers can iterate and deploy safely, teams deliver higher-quality software far quicker.

Another trend is the shift toward smaller, product-focused engineering teams who think holistically, understanding systems end-to-end to deliver safely at speed.

These opportunities align closely with the XP practices I value. I plan to deepen my experience in building reliable developer workflows, improving test and delivery pipelines and supporting environments where engineers can ship safely at speed with a strong product focus. These foundations enable scalable, resilient technology.

Women in Tech Excellence Awards will take place on 27th November in London. Click here to view the shortlist and here to book your table.