My approach to being a self-taught programmer was to find out who was smart and who would be helpful, and these were - these are both men and women. And without learning from my co-workers, I never could've gone on in the profession as long as I did.

The questions I am often asked about my career tend to concentrate not on how one learns to code but how a woman does.

Computer programming has always been a self-taught, maverick occupation.

Writing is a very isolating occupation.

Definitely, I think I fulfill a very funny Indian stereotype because I love technology. It's something I've always been interested in.

For me, it always comes back to the blogger, the author, the designer, the developer. You build software for that core individual person, and then smart organisations adopt it and dumb organisations die.

No matter how non-technical your life and work, you're going to have to interact with technology and technical people. If you know something about how devices and systems operate, it's a big advantage.

Africa cannot afford to underestimate the power of technology to fast-track the continent's rise. Emerging technologies have played extraordinary roles in every aspect of the continent's most touted successes.