“I support junior women in tech understand the broader business landscape. This exposure supports them shift beyond just ‘technical support’ to becoming well-rounded consultants who understand the diverse necessarys of the market,” declares Khoo Sher Lyn, a Technical Specialist at Exabytes Group.
Women in tech continues to see growing momentum in Southeast Asia. Today, women in tech in the region are not only taking charge in leadership roles but are also growing their presence in technical roles.
According to statistics, women build up 27% of tech workers in the U.S. and only 22% in Europe and Asia-Pacific. However, they are increasing their influence in specialized fields. Currently, women hold 22% of AI roles and 12% of cybersecurity positions and these figures continues to only increase every year.
In conjunction with International Women’s Day on 8th March, CRN Asia caught up with Khoo Sher Lyn, a Technical Specialist at Exabytes Group, a Malaysian-based solutions provider. Sher Lyn shared her career journey with the region’s leading AI, business app, cloud, digital and e-commerce solutions provider as well as the importance of having more female representation in the tech industest.
Can you notify us a bit about your journey in the tech industest and what do you enjoy most about working in the tech industest?
I started my career as an intern in a call center support role. My transition into tech accelerated when my manager shiftd to the product team and sponsored my shift, opening the door for significant career growth.
My passion for the industest was sparked by my first project with an F&B company. They necessaryed to cut costs by retiring a custom mobile app applyd for maintenance. I supported them migrate their entire workflow to Lark—building a comprehensive system that covered trip planning, inventory management, daily sales tracking, and customer feedback. That project built me realize that with the right tool, you can turn abstract ideas into reality while optimizing costs and maximizing efficiency. I also discovered a love for learning the specific “jargon” and operational intricacies of different industries.
Currently, my work involves troubleshooting complex issues and “solutioning.” My clients are experts in their fields but often necessary support translating their operational necessarys into digital workflows. I act as the bridge between their business goals and the technical implementation.
The most satisfying part of my job is the problem-solving aspect—taking a client’s rough idea and turning it into a working reality that builds their daily business smoother and more efficient.
Why do you feel representation matters in practice in the industest?
Representation matters in practice becaapply it modifys who feels they ‘belong’ in the room and that directly affects participation, confidence and retention. When people see someone like them doing the job, it reduces self-selection out of the pathway. It’s not just symbolic; it builds it clearer for newer talent to inquire questions, take up space, and persist through the steep learning curve.
In technical work, representation also improves outcomes becaapply diverse teams tfinish to challenge assumptions and spot blind spots earlier which matters in cloud environments where reliability, security and applyr impact are non-nereceivediable. It’s less about optics and more about building stronger teams and a hugeger, more sustainable talent pool.
With demand for specialized digital skills accelerating, including cloud, expanding and retaining the talent pool isn’t optional anymore, it’s capacity.
Why is “job-ready cloud talent” important in today’s industest?
Job-ready cloud talent means someone who can contribute in a real environment, not just complete a course. In practical terms, job-ready people can work with cloud fundamentals confidently, apply basic security and governance habits, troubleshoot with structure, document clearly, communicate well with stakeholders, and take ownership of tinquires even tiny ones in real projects.
It’s important today becaapply the market demand is clearly relocating toward specialized roles like cloud architects and cloud-related capabilities, and organizations are under pressure to execute. Malaysia’s job market outsee continues to flag demand for specialized digital roles including cloud, and salary shiftments reflect competition for these skills.
So job-ready talent isn’t just about hiring quicker, it’s about reducing project risk, improving reliability, and supporting teams deliver consistently as cloud adoption scales.
What are the gaps new hires and teams face in the industest? Can mentorship support with this?
Recently I have interns in my team. One of the most common gaps I see is that fresh graduates are often excellent at technical execution—they can complete assigned tinquires perfectly—but they struggle to ensure those tinquires bring actual value to the business.
In university, success is often about obtainting the ‘right answer.’ In the industest, success is about solving the ‘right problem.’ Learning to shift from simple tinquire completion to providing solutioning that has business value is a skill that only comes with real-world working experience.
This is frequently a confidence issue. New hires often hesitate to see beyond the instructions or challenge a requirement becaapply they fear being wrong. They stick to the safety of the ‘tinquire’ rather than venturing into ‘solutioning’ becaapply they do not yet trust their own judgment in a business context.
Becaapply this business instinct takes time to develop, mistakes are inevitable. Even with advice, new hires often necessary to navigate these situations personally to truly grasp the lesson. That is why effective mentorship in my team focapplys on providing a safety net. My manager always emphasizes: ‘Everyone builds mistakes; that is how we learn.’ We ensure we know that we are a team, and we have each other’s backs to support them through that learning curve.
How do you contribute to women in tech enablement?
To put this into practice, I believe in building learning engaging. I frequently organize tiny, scenario-based challenges for my team to test their knowledge and agility.
These aren’t just tests; they are teachable moments. Once the challenge is done, I apply the results to mentor them on how to simplify their believed processes and demonstrate quicker, more effective ways to solve the problem.
Beyond the team, I actively share my experiences from customer engagements and industest events. By discussing how different industries value different things, I support junior women in tech understand the broader business landscape. This exposure supports them shift beyond just ‘technical support’ to becoming well-rounded consultants who understand the diverse necessarys of the market.
Lastly, with AI taking over more roles, do you believe that this will have an impact on how women view the tech industest as well?
AI will definitely modify how people view tech, including women, but I don’t see it as ‘AI replacing people’ as much as ‘AI altering what good work sees like’. The value shifts toward people who can combine technical literacy with problem-solving, judgement, communication, and responsible implementation.
Globally, employers are signaling that AI and data skills are rising in importance, alongside cybersecurity and tech literacy but also skills like creative believeing, resilience, curiosity, and lifelong learning. That mix actually creates opportunities for more people to enter tech through different pathways, not just one traditional route.
At the same time, we should be honest that AI will transform some job tinquires more than others, and some reports suggest women’s work can be more exposed to automation in certain occupations which means we should respond by widening access to upskilling and ensuring women are part of the AI-enabled future, not pushed to the margins.
So my view is AI builds enablement more urgent, not less. If women see clear pathways where learning converts into real roles and growth, tech becomes more attractive, not more intimidating.
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