I turned to tech to disrupt my career path..

I turned to tech to disrupt my career path. 
Now VR, IOT and wearables are disrupting the disrupters.

More information about the author, Jade Warrington.

My career into tech didn’t take the most conventional of routes.

I started out as a graphic designer, spending several years working for agencies and in-house. After my first Junior Designer position in London, I wanted to expand my  knowledge and understanding of the conceptual thinking behind design, so I decided to go to university, before heading back into sector. 

Working in graphic design exposes you to a range of disciplines, including the need to keep up with the latest tech advances. Coming to grips with industry evolutions was the most enjoyable part of the job. And so my eye for design and interest in the innovation side of my field led me to a job as a Mobile Designer at mobile and web developers HIROLA Group.

Joining  the team was something of a baptism by fire. Not only was there an overwhelming amount of new lingo to learn, but my skills were being put to the test in a totally new environment. After nearly four years at  HIROLA Group my passion for the industry has grown immensely. I'm now the Managing Director of the company, something of which I'm immensely proud and which without a doubt has been the highlight of my career to date. 

I  love the fast paced world of tech. I'm helping build technology that feels new and exciting, particularly compared to the more static outputs of traditional graphic design. I’m sure I’m not the only woman in tech who loves the feeling of being at the heart of something that’s changing the way in which individuals and communities interact with the world.

However, as I've found throughout my career, things move fast.

The dawn of apps made waves across all sectors. App-based offerings were all of a sudden disrupting consumer monopolies overnight and I was part of a team building them.

But,  over the last few years, other technological advancements have started to steal the limelight. Consumer friendly, cost-effective  connected devices, as well as an acceleration in the accessibility of VR and AR means that developers are having to up their game. The original disrupters are being disrupted.

Companies like ours, who had for many years felt ahead of the curve, had to upskill to ensure we could offer our clients (and their customers) what they wanted. For me, this has been another step in my tech career and one that has, so far, been hugely enjoyable. The possibilities being opened up byVR and AR are limitless. From medical teaching to disaster relief, immersive experiences and compelling games, their power is huge. This clout is made even greater with the proliferation of wearable tech we’ve seen in recent years, allowing us to break tech out of the desktops and smartphones in which they’ve long been housed.

As a business, we’re taking on more and more work in this space; working with clients to design solutions that tick all the boxes. At the moment, we're working with a sharing economy car hire app and building in keyless tech to their app. We're hoping to create technology that not only lets you lock and unlock the car hands free, but allows your smartphone to become a control panel for all of the vehicle's functions. 

I feel lucky to have fallen into a career in which the horizons are always shifting. The dawn of new tech frontiers is challenging  ‘traditional’ developers to step up their game and ensure they’re able  to ride this new wave of innovation. I for one can’t wait to see what the future of technology holds and what the next wave will bring. 

Jade Warrington, Managing Director of HIROLA Group.