Envisioning better living through tech

Katrina Troughton is managing director of IBM New Zealand. Picture / Paul Estcourt

Katrina Troughton can't wait until she no longer has to wait in mind-numbing queues at the supermarket.

Luckily, it's an annoyance that will soon be a thing of the past if the coming technological explosion she's predicting comes true.

"We'll see as much technology change in the next five years as we've seen in 20," says Troughton, managing director of IBM New Zealand.

It's an evolution that will change the way we live and work, she says.

"[You may] walk into a shop and use your phone to read a barcode [and] get a price comparison from other shops or even globally."

Technology could even eliminate those dreaded queues, with shops capable of automatically scanning goods in shoppers' trolleys and debiting their bank accounts accordingly.

It's a fast-track to change that company leaders will need to ready themselves for so that if an opportunity arises they'll be able to respond quickly, she says.

For IBM, a company that has recently moved away from the business it's traditionally been known for - computers - that involves investing in research and development, including nanotechnology, health, life sciences, e-government and microprocessors.

"Some of it's around technologies we think maybe one day will have an application, but we couldn't tell you what for."

Troughton, who has a double degree in science and commerce from Auckland University, joined IBM "to some degree by accident" as a graduate in 1990.

Having turned up to the job interview merely for the experience, she was quickly sold on a career in technology. It's a career that in retrospect has challenged her at every step, Troughton says.

Before becoming managing director of IBM's New Zealand business a year ago, her roles included general manager for the software business in Australia and New Zealand and business unit executive for data management in Asia Pacific.

"One of the key things out of that [previous experience] is I think it gives me a really acute sense of where our competition will come from and what it looks like," she says. "And I still think a lot of New Zealand companies don't necessarily understand and see that, [in terms] of what's happening in China and India in particular."

However, as well as growing competition from Asia, she says one of the biggest challenges to New Zealand's future economic wellbeing is sustaining growth with low unemployment and an ageing labour pool.

"You look out to 2020, where the estimates are a net 3000 new employees in the workforce compared with 35,000 today. That's a big change we're going to have to really think through."

Although technology is increasingly important, Troughton says it is people that ultimately bring success.

To that extent, she says IBM actively seeks out a diverse workforce in terms of gender, culture, disability and age to gain a competitive advantage.

"Innovation often comes from applying ideas in one field to new fields," Troughton says. "It comes from the different experiences people may bring to how they might approach things."

Katrina Troughton

Favorite gadget: Video conference mobile phone.
Next big thing: Technology-enhanced shopping.
Alternate career: Fulltime mother.
Spare time: Family, skiing and walking.
Sci-Fi: The Sixth Sense.