1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,110 Sean Aylmer: Welcome to the Fear & Greed Daily Interview. I'm Sean Aylmer. 2 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,190 Sean Aylmer: Listeners to the podcast would've heard us mention Amazon Alexa 3 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:13,650 Sean Aylmer: many times, it's one of the easiest ways to listen 4 00:00:13,650 --> 00:00:16,890 Sean Aylmer: to the show. Smart speakers have taken off in recent 5 00:00:16,890 --> 00:00:19,380 Sean Aylmer: years and more businesses are now finding ways to make 6 00:00:19,380 --> 00:00:22,950 Sean Aylmer: use of the technology. Kate Burleigh is the Country Manager 7 00:00:22,950 --> 00:00:26,070 Sean Aylmer: for Amazon, Alexa, Australia and New Zealand, which is a 8 00:00:26,070 --> 00:00:28,560 Sean Aylmer: supporter of this podcast. Kate, welcome to Fear & Greed. 9 00:00:29,070 --> 00:00:30,510 Kate Burleigh: Thanks. Thanks for having me, Sean. 10 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:32,370 Sean Aylmer: You're going may have to give me a 101 here, 11 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,370 Sean Aylmer: Kate. Let's start with the absolute basics. Apologies to listeners 12 00:00:35,370 --> 00:00:37,979 Sean Aylmer: who already know this, but many of us don't. Tell 13 00:00:37,979 --> 00:00:39,900 Sean Aylmer: me about Alexa. How does it actually work? 14 00:00:40,710 --> 00:00:44,069 Kate Burleigh: Okay, well, the easiest way to think about Alexa is, 15 00:00:44,340 --> 00:00:47,699 Kate Burleigh: she's a general personal assistant that's designed to help you 16 00:00:47,700 --> 00:00:52,019 Kate Burleigh: in your everyday needs. Everything from listening to your favourite podcast, 17 00:00:52,020 --> 00:00:55,680 Kate Burleigh: as you mentioned, to asking her how to play music 18 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,920 Kate Burleigh: or your favourite playlist, to what's in the news. You 19 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,230 Kate Burleigh: think of it, we design her to be able to 20 00:01:01,230 --> 00:01:04,440 Kate Burleigh: answer your questions. The most important thing to think though, 21 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,050 Kate Burleigh: is she's designed for you to talk to. So if 22 00:01:07,050 --> 00:01:09,150 Kate Burleigh: you think of anything you could ask your computer or 23 00:01:09,150 --> 00:01:12,119 Kate Burleigh: phone to do by typing or swiping, what we really 24 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:15,569 Kate Burleigh: work hard on doing is making sure Alexa can understand 25 00:01:15,569 --> 00:01:18,779 Kate Burleigh: your verbal requests and she can respond to you. So 26 00:01:18,780 --> 00:01:21,690 Kate Burleigh: she's what we call, a conversational AI. 27 00:01:22,290 --> 00:01:25,709 Sean Aylmer: Okay. So how much has this market grown in the 28 00:01:25,709 --> 00:01:28,830 Sean Aylmer: last two or three years? Certainly in the last decade, but even in 29 00:01:28,830 --> 00:01:30,870 Sean Aylmer: more recent years, it seems to have accelerated. 30 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,430 Kate Burleigh: Yeah, from a global point of view, we've grown 30% year- on- 31 00:01:35,430 --> 00:01:39,209 Kate Burleigh: year, and Alexa's only been around since 2015. So she's 32 00:01:39,209 --> 00:01:42,690 Kate Burleigh: still a relatively new technology. We launched her here in 33 00:01:42,690 --> 00:01:47,820 Kate Burleigh: Australia in 2018. And so, we're in this a nice 34 00:01:47,820 --> 00:01:50,880 Kate Burleigh: growth curve as you can imagine, because she's just a 35 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:53,940 Kate Burleigh: little bit more newly launched here in Australia. But yeah, 36 00:01:53,940 --> 00:01:56,610 Kate Burleigh: really strong double- digit growth year- on- year since we've 37 00:01:56,610 --> 00:01:57,300 Kate Burleigh: launched her. 38 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:03,270 Sean Aylmer: Now, obviously Alexa makes use of artificial intelligence. It's funny, 39 00:02:03,270 --> 00:02:05,700 Sean Aylmer: I've got to say, Kate, when listening to you, you 40 00:02:05,700 --> 00:02:09,720 Sean Aylmer: very much talk Alexa as if she's a real person. And the more 41 00:02:10,500 --> 00:02:12,209 Sean Aylmer: you talk, the more I'm starting to think to myself, Alexa 42 00:02:12,540 --> 00:02:14,520 Sean Aylmer: is a real person. Maybe that is how we are 43 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:15,210 Sean Aylmer: best to use it. 44 00:02:16,050 --> 00:02:19,079 Kate Burleigh: Yeah, it's a funny thing, isn't it? Because obviously Alexa's 45 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:23,820 Kate Burleigh: a disembodied cloud- based service that's an amalgam of many 46 00:02:23,820 --> 00:02:29,519 Kate Burleigh: different technologies, but we've personified Alexa somewhat, because it makes 47 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,660 Kate Burleigh: an AI technology more user- friendly, more accessible in the 48 00:02:33,660 --> 00:02:35,820 Kate Burleigh: home. So the idea, as soon as you give something 49 00:02:35,820 --> 00:02:40,410 Kate Burleigh: a name, you end up usually applying pronouns to Alexa, 50 00:02:40,410 --> 00:02:45,750 Kate Burleigh: but we probably shouldn't, technically speaking of course. She's genderless, but 51 00:02:45,750 --> 00:02:48,389 Kate Burleigh: I'm going to call her she throughout this, because it's 52 00:02:48,389 --> 00:02:50,040 Kate Burleigh: Alexa and it works for me. 53 00:02:50,550 --> 00:02:52,110 Sean Aylmer: I'm happy to go with it. Look, there's been a 54 00:02:52,110 --> 00:02:54,210 Sean Aylmer: huge focus even in the last six to 12 months 55 00:02:54,210 --> 00:02:58,500 Sean Aylmer: on artificial intelligence. Is this the way most of us 56 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:03,540 Sean Aylmer: will interact regularly with artificial intelligence, through assistance like Alexa? 57 00:03:04,230 --> 00:03:08,190 Kate Burleigh: Look, our focus with Alexa is to come up with 58 00:03:08,190 --> 00:03:11,010 Kate Burleigh: this large vision we have, which is this concept of 59 00:03:11,010 --> 00:03:15,510 Kate Burleigh: ambient technology. And what we mean by ambient technology is, 60 00:03:15,690 --> 00:03:18,960 Kate Burleigh: if we can get to a stage where technology's there 61 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,960 Kate Burleigh: for us when we need it, in the home or 62 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,810 Kate Burleigh: in the office or in the workplace, it's there when 63 00:03:24,810 --> 00:03:27,060 Kate Burleigh: we need it. And then it just disappears into the 64 00:03:27,060 --> 00:03:30,630 Kate Burleigh: background when you don't. And the easiest way for technology 65 00:03:30,630 --> 00:03:32,669 Kate Burleigh: to be there when you need it, is if you 66 00:03:32,669 --> 00:03:35,190 Kate Burleigh: ask for it. So if we think back to our 67 00:03:35,190 --> 00:03:39,810 Kate Burleigh: favorite science fiction movies or whatever, that concept of just being 68 00:03:39,810 --> 00:03:43,050 Kate Burleigh: able to ask a computer to do what you want 69 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:45,870 Kate Burleigh: is definitely an environment that I grew up in, having 70 00:03:45,870 --> 00:03:48,510 Kate Burleigh: been in the tech industry for many years. That concept, 71 00:03:48,510 --> 00:03:51,090 Kate Burleigh: if only I could just ask and the computer would 72 00:03:51,090 --> 00:03:53,310 Kate Burleigh: do what I want, that will be so much easier 73 00:03:53,310 --> 00:03:57,780 Kate Burleigh: than having to learn to click, type, swipe, et cetera. 74 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:00,420 Kate Burleigh: And that's what we are working on with Alexa. It's 75 00:04:00,420 --> 00:04:04,620 Kate Burleigh: a super challenging problem, but it's also a great opportunity, 76 00:04:04,620 --> 00:04:06,750 Kate Burleigh: because if we can do that, then it means you 77 00:04:06,750 --> 00:04:08,940 Kate Burleigh: and I can just walk into a room, as people 78 00:04:08,940 --> 00:04:11,970 Kate Burleigh: do who have Alexa smart speakers and just say, " Alexa, 79 00:04:11,970 --> 00:04:14,640 Kate Burleigh: turn on the lights", or, " Alexa, what's in the news", or, " Alexa, 80 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:18,029 Kate Burleigh: play me the music." And in fact, what she's doing is, 81 00:04:18,029 --> 00:04:20,940 Kate Burleigh: she's taking that request, she's converting it to text, she's 82 00:04:20,940 --> 00:04:24,810 Kate Burleigh: sending it into the Cloud, and she's computing that demand 83 00:04:25,050 --> 00:04:28,260 Kate Burleigh: or command for you. But it feels really quite magical 84 00:04:28,410 --> 00:04:31,650 Kate Burleigh: for us as consumers or customers to just ask her 85 00:04:31,650 --> 00:04:32,760 Kate Burleigh: to do that, and she does it. 86 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:37,500 Sean Aylmer: Is that my older kids certainly use type, as in text. 87 00:04:37,740 --> 00:04:42,030 Sean Aylmer: My younger children and my youngest, she does everything by 88 00:04:42,210 --> 00:04:46,109 Sean Aylmer: voice, it's a 10- year difference there. But it's funny, 89 00:04:46,110 --> 00:04:49,140 Sean Aylmer: in that period, Rosie does everything by voice. 90 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:53,670 Kate Burleigh: And I think that really, Rosie's got it right. If 91 00:04:53,670 --> 00:04:57,000 Kate Burleigh: we had the tech industry, if we have had the 92 00:04:57,210 --> 00:05:00,150 Kate Burleigh: technical ability to be able to talk to computers from 93 00:05:00,150 --> 00:05:04,619 Kate Burleigh: day one, it's actually the first starting point. Voice and 94 00:05:04,620 --> 00:05:08,400 Kate Burleigh: communication is really the most natural way for us to 95 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,190 Kate Burleigh: all communicate with each other. But we've had to introduce 96 00:05:11,190 --> 00:05:14,310 Kate Burleigh: over the years, other ways of communicating via our technology, 97 00:05:14,310 --> 00:05:16,469 Kate Burleigh: because it was too hard to do with voice. It 98 00:05:16,470 --> 00:05:19,650 Kate Burleigh: took too much processing power, it took for Cloud to 99 00:05:19,650 --> 00:05:22,980 Kate Burleigh: become more pervasive. But what Rosie's doing, she sounds like 100 00:05:22,980 --> 00:05:25,740 Kate Burleigh: she's quite young as well, is very natural. It's very 101 00:05:25,740 --> 00:05:29,609 Kate Burleigh: natural to just speak and have your computer or your 102 00:05:29,610 --> 00:05:33,180 Kate Burleigh: device answer. So that's the opportunity of what we've got 103 00:05:33,180 --> 00:05:36,179 Kate Burleigh: now with this amalgam of different technologies, the thought that 104 00:05:36,180 --> 00:05:39,510 Kate Burleigh: we can actually have something that appears so simple to 105 00:05:39,510 --> 00:05:41,609 Kate Burleigh: interact with and is so helpful in your house just 106 00:05:41,610 --> 00:05:44,640 Kate Burleigh: by asking, that's the North star for us. 107 00:05:45,089 --> 00:05:47,040 Sean Aylmer: Stay with me, Kate, we'll be back in a minute. 108 00:05:53,100 --> 00:05:55,440 Sean Aylmer: My guest this morning is Kate Burleigh, Country Manager for 109 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,820 Sean Aylmer: Amazon Alexa, Australia and New Zealand. So let's move out 110 00:05:59,820 --> 00:06:02,130 Sean Aylmer: of the household and look at how businesses can use 111 00:06:02,130 --> 00:06:06,180 Sean Aylmer: Alexa to connect with customers. So to use Alexa, businesses 112 00:06:06,180 --> 00:06:11,250 Sean Aylmer: need to create a "skill", something that a user can ask 113 00:06:11,250 --> 00:06:16,170 Sean Aylmer: Alexa to do for it that benefits the business. What 114 00:06:16,170 --> 00:06:20,160 Sean Aylmer: kind of skills are businesses creating so they can use Alexa? 115 00:06:21,180 --> 00:06:23,130 Kate Burleigh: That's a great question. And the easiest way for your 116 00:06:23,130 --> 00:06:25,229 Kate Burleigh: listeners to think about a skill is, a skill is 117 00:06:25,230 --> 00:06:28,320 Kate Burleigh: to Alexa what an app is to a smartphone. So 118 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,680 Kate Burleigh: it's a way a business can build to have their 119 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:35,969 Kate Burleigh: brand or service discovered on Alexa. So you've obviously done 120 00:06:36,029 --> 00:06:39,750 Kate Burleigh: that with the Fear & Greed Podcast, so customers can ask 121 00:06:39,750 --> 00:06:42,360 Kate Burleigh: that. A couple of good examples that I can think 122 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:46,110 Kate Burleigh: of which are super popular is, Taste recipes already really 123 00:06:46,110 --> 00:06:49,440 Kate Burleigh: popular for people to access via their internet or on 124 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,109 Kate Burleigh: their smartphone. But they came to us and they said, " 125 00:06:52,110 --> 00:06:55,560 Kate Burleigh: Look, we've got literally tens of thousands of recipes that 126 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:58,710 Kate Burleigh: people can access. We think having it on Alexa is 127 00:06:58,710 --> 00:07:01,619 Kate Burleigh: a great usage model, because if people can ask for 128 00:07:01,620 --> 00:07:04,440 Kate Burleigh: the recipe and have Alexa read that through step by 129 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,260 Kate Burleigh: step, that will be easier for them to stay in 130 00:07:07,260 --> 00:07:10,350 Kate Burleigh: the recipe and follow the recipe." That it will, I 131 00:07:10,350 --> 00:07:12,210 Kate Burleigh: don't know if you've ever cooked with your smartphone, when 132 00:07:12,900 --> 00:07:16,680 Kate Burleigh: the screen times out, you've got messy hands, you have 133 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:18,570 Kate Burleigh: to swipe it up. It's hopeless, right? 134 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:18,690 Sean Aylmer: Yep. 135 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:21,239 Kate Burleigh: So we're like, " Yes, we'll build that with you. That 136 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,030 Kate Burleigh: sounds great." So we opened up our APIs to allow 137 00:07:24,030 --> 00:07:28,530 Kate Burleigh: them to be able to build a really sophisticated recipe 138 00:07:28,530 --> 00:07:32,580 Kate Burleigh: model where Alexa can take you through, and then they've evolved. 139 00:07:32,580 --> 00:07:33,929 Kate Burleigh: Now what they can do is you can say, " Oh, 140 00:07:33,930 --> 00:07:36,150 Kate Burleigh: what can I cook with zucchini tonight? Because I've got 141 00:07:36,150 --> 00:07:40,140 Kate Burleigh: leftover zucchinis." All the zucchini recipes will turn up or whatever, 142 00:07:40,140 --> 00:07:43,290 Kate Burleigh: if you may. So that's a great example. Radio is 143 00:07:43,290 --> 00:07:46,230 Kate Burleigh: a huge model. So we've seen NOVA do some fantastic 144 00:07:46,230 --> 00:07:49,860 Kate Burleigh: work on radio. So that maybe drive time for you, 145 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,290 Kate Burleigh: the breakfast drive time show isn't something you listen to 146 00:07:52,290 --> 00:07:53,940 Kate Burleigh: in the morning. It's something you listen to at 2: 147 00:07:53,970 --> 00:07:56,760 Kate Burleigh: 00 in the afternoon, because you can just ask Alexa, you 148 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:00,030 Kate Burleigh: can time shift with Alexa by just asking her to 149 00:08:00,030 --> 00:08:04,080 Kate Burleigh: play your favourite radio segment whenever you feel like listening 150 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:06,810 Kate Burleigh: to it. So really good work there. So there's lots 151 00:08:06,870 --> 00:08:10,740 Kate Burleigh: of different ways that we've noticed brands, especially consumer facing 152 00:08:10,740 --> 00:08:13,620 Kate Burleigh: brands that have a need to connect with their customer, 153 00:08:13,650 --> 00:08:17,610 Kate Burleigh: where they're adding that power of voice to the interactivity 154 00:08:17,670 --> 00:08:19,410 Kate Burleigh: of what they've built for their customers. 155 00:08:19,830 --> 00:08:22,710 Sean Aylmer: Okay. So that's from the brand side. What about from 156 00:08:22,710 --> 00:08:27,660 Sean Aylmer: the consumer side? How do consumers know to use Alexa to 157 00:08:27,660 --> 00:08:28,261 Sean Aylmer: engage with a brand coming the other way? 158 00:08:28,261 --> 00:08:33,179 Kate Burleigh: I think that the easiest way for them to do it is really 159 00:08:33,179 --> 00:08:35,550 Kate Burleigh: to actually look inside the Alexa app. So we do 160 00:08:35,550 --> 00:08:39,809 Kate Burleigh: have a companion app, but Alexa's the AI, the device 161 00:08:39,809 --> 00:08:42,300 Kate Burleigh: that people buy is a smart speaker. So that might 162 00:08:42,300 --> 00:08:46,740 Kate Burleigh: be an Echo device, that Amazon Echo smart speakers device. 163 00:08:47,220 --> 00:08:49,710 Kate Burleigh: And most of the ones that we sell don't have screens. 164 00:08:50,190 --> 00:08:52,710 Kate Burleigh: So for that reason, we'll say, " Look, download the app." 165 00:08:52,710 --> 00:08:54,780 Kate Burleigh: If you download the app, inside the app, you can 166 00:08:54,780 --> 00:08:56,849 Kate Burleigh: look up the skills and you get really what's a 167 00:08:56,850 --> 00:09:00,150 Kate Burleigh: little app store, but it's a skill store of all 168 00:09:00,150 --> 00:09:03,090 Kate Burleigh: of the different brands that have built cool stuff from Alexa. 169 00:09:03,090 --> 00:09:05,580 Kate Burleigh: And some will be from brands that you haven't ever 170 00:09:05,580 --> 00:09:09,030 Kate Burleigh: heard of. It might just be this some great little 171 00:09:09,090 --> 00:09:15,540 Kate Burleigh: idea for find my keys or play Me a meditation song. 172 00:09:16,410 --> 00:09:18,840 Kate Burleigh: People have come up with interesting business models around it. 173 00:09:19,350 --> 00:09:22,290 Kate Burleigh: Most of them are free, so you can play around 174 00:09:22,290 --> 00:09:25,020 Kate Burleigh: with them. And then there'll be big brands there as well. 175 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:27,599 Kate Burleigh: All your favourite radio stations will be up there. The 176 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,050 Kate Burleigh: big music brands, Uber's build an app. So I can say, " Alexa, 177 00:09:31,710 --> 00:09:34,980 Kate Burleigh: book me an Uber", et cetera. So there's also the 178 00:09:34,980 --> 00:09:37,920 Kate Burleigh: big brands who've done cool things for Alexa too. 179 00:09:38,670 --> 00:09:41,160 Sean Aylmer: Okay. Now there's another side to smart speakers and assistants 180 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:45,990 Sean Aylmer: like Alexa, they've got plenty of value for older Australians, 181 00:09:45,990 --> 00:09:48,929 Sean Aylmer: it might be, or vision impaired Australians. I know you 182 00:09:48,929 --> 00:09:51,059 Sean Aylmer: do a lot of work in this space, Kate. 183 00:09:51,990 --> 00:09:54,240 Kate Burleigh: Yeah. I'm glad you brought that up, because it's one 184 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:56,610 Kate Burleigh: of the areas that we're the most proud of really. 185 00:09:56,610 --> 00:09:59,100 Kate Burleigh: And it's one of the areas where Alexa wasn't built 186 00:09:59,100 --> 00:10:02,700 Kate Burleigh: for this, but we've discovered that as a general purpose 187 00:10:02,700 --> 00:10:05,790 Kate Burleigh: smart speaker in the house, she's actually become very helpful 188 00:10:05,790 --> 00:10:09,150 Kate Burleigh: for elderly people who are sight impaired, who are living 189 00:10:09,150 --> 00:10:12,329 Kate Burleigh: at home, who've suddenly realized that they can buy just 190 00:10:12,330 --> 00:10:15,420 Kate Burleigh: a general purpose off the shelf product, get Alexa up 191 00:10:15,420 --> 00:10:18,179 Kate Burleigh: and running, and it just becomes a great assistant to 192 00:10:18,179 --> 00:10:21,270 Kate Burleigh: them in their home. So blind and low vision, we've done 193 00:10:21,270 --> 00:10:23,910 Kate Burleigh: a lot of work with them around taking all of 194 00:10:23,910 --> 00:10:27,270 Kate Burleigh: the audio books that they have historically always had available 195 00:10:27,270 --> 00:10:30,510 Kate Burleigh: to their customers, and setting them up so that their 196 00:10:30,570 --> 00:10:33,000 Kate Burleigh: blind and low vision customers can just ask to listen 197 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,000 Kate Burleigh: to their audiobooks, for example, which is a great usage 198 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,929 Kate Burleigh: model. Adding things to shopping lists, so that their carers 199 00:10:39,929 --> 00:10:42,540 Kate Burleigh: or assistants know what they can go and buy. That's 200 00:10:42,540 --> 00:10:45,510 Kate Burleigh: a simple Alexa function. It's a function I use every 201 00:10:45,510 --> 00:10:49,200 Kate Burleigh: day, just asking Alexa to add grocery items to my 202 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:51,270 Kate Burleigh: shopping list. But imagine if I had a carer, how 203 00:10:51,270 --> 00:10:54,300 Kate Burleigh: useful that will be for the carer to know that, " Oh, now 204 00:10:54,300 --> 00:10:56,340 Kate Burleigh: there's just a shopping list, I'll just pick that up 205 00:10:56,340 --> 00:10:58,140 Kate Burleigh: when I go around to see the person I care 206 00:10:58,140 --> 00:11:01,559 Kate Burleigh: for." So yeah, really great work in that area. And 207 00:11:01,770 --> 00:11:04,170 Kate Burleigh: I think another area where we're proud of the work 208 00:11:04,170 --> 00:11:09,510 Kate Burleigh: is with the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation. They came 209 00:11:09,510 --> 00:11:11,910 Kate Burleigh: to us with a great proposal on how they could 210 00:11:12,330 --> 00:11:15,569 Kate Burleigh: help children who are struggling to learn to read for 211 00:11:15,570 --> 00:11:20,130 Kate Burleigh: whatever reason, and help improve their literacy and numeracy by 212 00:11:20,370 --> 00:11:26,069 Kate Burleigh: building fun, interactive, entertaining stories that test the comprehension of 213 00:11:26,100 --> 00:11:30,450 Kate Burleigh: the students as they listen to these fun stories, using 214 00:11:30,450 --> 00:11:33,359 Kate Burleigh: Alexa. So it's a little bit more engaging than maybe 215 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,780 Kate Burleigh: some of your typical educational books that might be around, 216 00:11:37,050 --> 00:11:39,240 Kate Burleigh: but using the power of Alexa and the power of 217 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,599 Kate Burleigh: voice to help young children learn how to read. 218 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:45,360 Sean Aylmer: Kate, I know another area you are passionate about is 219 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:49,680 Sean Aylmer: improving representation of women in technology. We talk about it. Are 220 00:11:49,770 --> 00:11:52,980 Sean Aylmer: we actually getting any better at it? Are we lifting 221 00:11:52,980 --> 00:11:55,920 Sean Aylmer: the number of women, not just in the sector, but 222 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:57,479 Sean Aylmer: also in senior roles like yours? 223 00:11:58,590 --> 00:12:02,100 Kate Burleigh: Yeah. Look, I always feel like we are, because I tend 224 00:12:02,100 --> 00:12:04,380 Kate Burleigh: to know where all the great women in tech are, 225 00:12:04,380 --> 00:12:07,260 Kate Burleigh: because we all know each other. But it can become 226 00:12:07,260 --> 00:12:09,540 Kate Burleigh: a little bit of a trick in a way, because 227 00:12:09,540 --> 00:12:11,400 Kate Burleigh: when you step back and you look at the numbers, 228 00:12:11,670 --> 00:12:14,370 Kate Burleigh: we've got marginally better, but there's still a long way 229 00:12:14,370 --> 00:12:18,059 Kate Burleigh: to go. I look in my team as 60% of 230 00:12:18,059 --> 00:12:21,120 Kate Burleigh: my product managers are female, so I'm super proud of that. 231 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:23,939 Kate Burleigh: People say they have trouble finding good tech women, but 232 00:12:24,300 --> 00:12:26,280 Kate Burleigh: maybe I've found them all, but I doubt I have. 233 00:12:26,700 --> 00:12:29,370 Kate Burleigh: I think I've just known where to look and maybe 234 00:12:29,370 --> 00:12:32,130 Kate Burleigh: been a little bit more deliberate about it. But I do 235 00:12:32,130 --> 00:12:35,130 Kate Burleigh: think we have a pipeline challenge still, in Australia and 236 00:12:35,130 --> 00:12:39,059 Kate Burleigh: indeed around the world of young students choosing to do 237 00:12:39,059 --> 00:12:43,080 Kate Burleigh: computer engineering or computer science or learning how to code, 238 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,680 Kate Burleigh: we still see a high propensity of males versus females 239 00:12:46,950 --> 00:12:49,679 Kate Burleigh: deciding to sign onto those careers. And if they've got 240 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:53,580 Kate Burleigh: that foundational learning, they'll tend to gravitate towards a tech 241 00:12:53,580 --> 00:12:57,630 Kate Burleigh: career on a more traditional path and are therefore easier 242 00:12:57,630 --> 00:13:00,480 Kate Burleigh: to find than some of the women who've come into 243 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:04,110 Kate Burleigh: the industry who haven't come up through those classical pathways. 244 00:13:04,110 --> 00:13:08,760 Kate Burleigh: So I think the industry, our hearts and minds are 245 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,940 Kate Burleigh: in the right space, especially if you are building a 246 00:13:11,940 --> 00:13:16,020 Kate Burleigh: general purpose, consumer- centric product like Alexa, you want to 247 00:13:16,020 --> 00:13:18,420 Kate Burleigh: make sure you've got good diversity on your team, because 248 00:13:18,420 --> 00:13:23,160 Kate Burleigh: you're building for the general population. So everyone wants to 249 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:27,420 Kate Burleigh: find more females, but I think as a society, we 250 00:13:27,420 --> 00:13:30,780 Kate Burleigh: need to work out how we can get more young 251 00:13:30,780 --> 00:13:35,790 Kate Burleigh: women inspired to want to follow technical careers. And I 252 00:13:35,790 --> 00:13:38,640 Kate Burleigh: spend a lot of time trying to inspire them out there, 253 00:13:39,330 --> 00:13:42,000 Kate Burleigh: because it's in fact a great career to have, really 254 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,720 Kate Burleigh: good money too. Pays well, great sector. Come on down. 255 00:13:45,990 --> 00:13:48,420 Sean Aylmer: Yep. Fantastic. Kate, thank you for talking to Fear & Greed. 256 00:13:49,110 --> 00:13:50,370 Kate Burleigh: My pleasure. Thank you. 257 00:13:50,790 --> 00:13:54,120 Sean Aylmer: That was Kate Burleigh, Country Manager for Amazon Alexa, Australia 258 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:56,910 Sean Aylmer: and New Zealand, a supporter of this podcast. This is 259 00:13:56,910 --> 00:13:59,220 Sean Aylmer: the Fear & Greed Daily interview. Join us every morning for 260 00:13:59,220 --> 00:14:02,130 Sean Aylmer: the full episode of Fear & Greed. Australia's most popular business 261 00:14:02,130 --> 00:14:04,439 Sean Aylmer: podcast. I'm Sean Aylmer. Enjoy your day.