By Shiro Theuri, CTO at Glovo
In the high-stakes world of global tech, we often treat “scaling” as a purely technical challenge. We obsess over system latency, data architecture, and 22-market synchronization. But by leading a global team of over 400 engineers, I’ve learned that the most complex architecture isn’t the software: it’s the human infrastructure that powers it.
If we want to truly transform the tech sector, we have to stop treating women’s empowerment as a side project or a diversity metric. We need to treat it like any other mission-critical system: with high-intensity goals, clear ownership, and radical intentionality.
Moving Beyond the “Organic” Career
Early in my career, navigating fast-moving environments from startups to mobile technology, I learned a bold truth: formal structures rarely keep pace with innovation. In “move fast and break things” cultures, leadership is often assumed to be something that happens naturally to those who shout the loudest.
But for women in tech, “natural” progression is frequently blocked by a lack of access to high-impact projects or strategic inner circles. We cannot wait for talent to be “discovered” by chance. At Glovo, we view leadership development as a shared responsibility, not an individual one. This means shifting from passive mentorship to active, results-driven sponsorship.
I personally make it a point to mentor at least two women at any given time. This isn’t just about advice; it’s about providing a pragmatic roadmap for navigating complex systems and ensuring that “potential” is converted into “presence” at the decision-making table.
From Mentorship to Radical Allyship
There is a critical difference between a mentor and an ally. A mentor talks to you; an ally talks about you in the rooms where your career is decided.
Throughout my journey, many of my strongest allies were men. This reinforced a core belief: empowerment is a collective mission. To build a truly equitable tech ecosystem, we need to embed three things into our daily operations:
Structured Progression: Programs like LeaderSHE at Glovo replace informal “coffee chats” with rigorous skill development. We provide women with direct access to senior leaders and clear development goals, reducing the reliance on “who you know” and focusing on “what you can lead.”
Ownership as a Cultural Pillar: We encourage our engineers to think beyond implementation. When an engineer takes responsibility for how their work performs across different cultures and operations, they develop the resilience and decision-making skills required for management.
Deliberate Exposure: One of the greatest barriers for women is the lack of early access to cross-functional initiatives. We must intentionally place women in roles that sit at the intersection of technology, product, and operations. You cannot lead a company if you have only ever seen it through a code editor.
The Skills of the New Guard
As the next generation enters the sector, technical proficiency is merely the baseline. The true differentiators will be adaptability, resourcefulness, and the ability to navigate constant trade-offs. The technology sector is highly competitive, but it is also one of the few places where a single person’s curiosity can impact millions of users.
My advice to women entering the field is to stay hungry for complexity. Seek out the “stretch roles” and the projects that feel slightly out of reach.
A Call to Action for Tech Leaders
To my fellow CTOs and engineering leaders: the gender gap in tech is not a pipeline problem; it is a structural one. We must move beyond “support” and toward “intent.”
When we treat empowerment as a core engineering principle (optimizing for growth, removing bottlenecks, and debugging our own biases) we don’t just build better teams. We build a more resilient, innovative, and high-performing industry. The future of tech isn’t just written in code; it is written in the opportunities we are brave enough to create today.
Shiro Theuri is a Kenyan engineering leader and Chief Technology Officer at Glovo, appointed in May 2024 after joining the company in 2022 as Senior Director of Engineering in Barcelona, Spain. In her role as CTO, Shiro leads Glovo’s global technology strategy, driving innovation and development to enhance the platform’s experience for customers, couriers and partners across its 22 markets worldwide.
Before joining Glovo, Shiro built a strong track record in senior engineering leadership across the African tech ecosystem. She served as VP of Engineering at Sendy, an end-to-end fulfilment platform, and as Chief Technology Officer at FrontlineSMS, a mobile campaign messaging service, bringing deep operational and technical expertise to her work.
Shiro holds degrees in computer science and software engineering and is recognised for her commitment to innovation, diversity and mentorship, helping to build high-performing teams in a fast-paced, competitive industry.
LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/shiro-theuri-b27a7150
