WoW Woman in Tech I Georgina Denis, co-founder of PSi
Georgina Denis is the Co-Founder of PSi.
Before co-founding PSi, Georgie was working in the health sector, responsible for understanding what service users need from healthcare providers in order to improve the quality of services and policies. When it comes to health, every person has diverse and individual needs, posing the unique challenge of scaling the co-design of health services and products to be inclusive of all users. PSi co-founder, Niccolo (Chief Scientist) and Georgie developed a solution to this problem that gives everyone an equal say in important decisions, such as how to improve the services that support them to live healthier lives. It is Georgie’s practice in participatory decision-making and Nic’s scientific research combined that created the PSi platform, pioneering the use of Collective Intelligence as a basis for more effective and equitable decisions.
Originally founded in March 2020, PSi is pioneering Collective Intelligence to improve decision-making. Collective Intelligence is created when people work together, often with the help of technology, to mobilise a wider range of information, ideas, and insights to address a challenge. The PSi platform makes it easy to host large-scale consultations leveraging the collective intelligence of thousands of people using voice technology. PSi supports leaders with market research, employee listening, and community engagement so outcomes and decisions are smarter and more equitable - whether it's for their business, customers, employees, or communities. The data from conversations on PSi provide the stakeholder insights needed for companies to stay effective, innovative, and competitive achievements include winning the Imperial College Enterprise Lab’s WE Innovate program (£15,000 grand prize) and receiving €55,000 from the European Union (MediaFutures, Startups for Citizens track).
Tell us a bit about your background and your projects so far.
I am CEO and Co-Founder of PSi - People Supported Intelligence - which is the revolutionary intelligence-gathering platform using patented technology to analyse voice discussions to generate data and actionable insights.
Here at PSi, we are pioneering collective intelligence to improve decision-making and make sure that everyone is given a voice. We harness a scientific phenomenon called Collective Intelligence - it’s the science behind PSi’s algorithms. We make it easy to host large-scale online consultations so that leaders can make better decisions by leveraging the collective intelligence of hundreds or thousands of people. Those discussions can then be translated into measurable, actionable data outcomes in a matter of minutes.
After completing my dual master’s degree in Brain and Mind Science from University College London and the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris I joined a ‘fast track to leadership’ training programme with the NHS Leadership Academy. This led me to focus on working on the co-creation of services and policies with communities and the people that use them. I did this work for the Health Foundation to design the Q Community and in Boston when I was serving on a Global Health Fellowship to improve services for the city's most vulnerable people. I moved into femtech and worked for the female health app, Clue developing their Birth Control feature before I decided to found PSi.
How did you get into this industry? Has it been an easy industry to get into or have you had many challenges?
I knew I wanted a career where I would be able to see the impact of my work on people's everyday lives. When I completed my management training at the NHS Leadership Academy, I started finding roles that involved the potential to make a real impact. My background in leading focus groups, where people's emotions and multiple and diverse points of view come to the table, helped me to gain the skills to bring people together and find a way forward.
All leaders face this challenge, especially as business gets more complex there are more stakeholders to consider and people have an increasing expectation to have their voices heard. My experience meant that I could build a technical solution to solve this problem and that’s how I ended up working in tech. At PSi we are pioneering the power of collective intelligence using voice technology, it’s real innovation and there aren’t many other companies like us. The way we position the tech has been challenging.
How long did it take you to be where you are now? What was the biggest obstacle? What are the challenges of being in the industry you are in?
Not many people understand the power of Collective Intelligence outside of the scientific community, this has been the biggest obstacle. This meant I had to focus on explaining a very cool science in a really approachable way. This includes PSi’s customers and our investors. I understand the issues leaders face when making decisions that impact lots of people and I know what it takes to make you have enough data and feedback from everyone to get those decisions right. It makes me capable of building a product with a great value proposition for our customers. However, it has been difficult to convince investors and others to support the mission because I’m not an engineer and focus more on product design. Sometimes it felt like investors valued engineering expertise over my 8 years of understanding the problem we are solving for our customers.
What are your biggest achievements to date?
Raising PSi’s seed round! We found an awesome lead investor (IDEO Collab Ventures) that understands the power of collective intelligence and the scale of what we are building at PSi.
What are the projects you are currently working on?
We are currently working with a range of organisations and businesses internationally. In England, the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) is using PSi to hear from Londoners about how to improve trust between London’s Black communities and the police. Our team has been supporting their work to generate insights into the lived experiences of Black communities with the aim of understanding how they can better engage with the police and hold them accountable for their actions.
PSi also supports decision-making at other organisations including US-headquartered Slalom Consulting and multinational pharmaceutical giant Merck, a Belgium-based non-profit organisation dedicated to the protection of human rights defenders, Protection International, and Stellantis.
Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
Absolutely, I am very passionate about social advocacy and the ways that technology can work with organisations and the public to improve communication around education, health, social policy, and science. I firmly believe that more needs to be done to get women passionate about tech and careers in technology from a young age!
If I could wave a magic wand, with the aim of getting more women into tech, I would target parents, with the goal of helping them to see tech roles as exciting and viable options for their daughters. Role models and teachers are great but even with these figures, it can still be hard for young girls to pursue a career if their parents or guardian has a gender-biased view of a career in tech.
What is the most important piece of advice you could give to anyone who wants to start a career in this industry?
I believe that young women and girls wanting to start a career within the tech industry need to be supported as early as possible in their development and passion for the tech industry. For lots of young people, their career is often determined at a very early stage. Due to gender biases within the tech industry, many women may feel apprehensive about starting a career in tech or even changing to one later in life. It is crucial for parents to see a role within the tech industry as a potentially brilliant choice.
Who are three inspirational women in your respective industry you admire?
I would say Carrie Walter and Audrey Tsang - the Co-CEOs at Clue. I used to work closely with Carrie at Clue and she is a fantastic leader. She is grounded and a clear thinker even in very complex situations. I think it’s so brave that Carrie and Audrey embarked on their journey as Co-CEOs.
Arion Long, who is CEO at Femly. Arion was part of my Techstars cohort and is a hugely inspirational woman. She is very generous in supporting other women, making new connections, and providing access to shared opportunities.
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This interview was conducted by Marija Butkovic, Digital Marketing and PR strategist, founder, and CEO of Women of Wearables. She regularly writes and speaks on topics of wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT, entrepreneurship, and diversity. Follow Marija on Twitter @MarijaButkovic and read her stories for Forbes here.