My journey began with the gift of freedom of choice from my parents. At a time when parents typically picked careers for their children, mine never dictated my path. “If this is what you want to do, mama,” my dad would say, “then I will support you. But if it fails, there is also being a secretary.” They wanted me to nurture my own ambition, even when I was a child who “leaned both ways,” excelling in both arts and sciences. This was evident in my A-Levels, where I chose Physics, Economics, Mathematics, and Literature which was a very unusual combination at the time.
My career path revealed itself unexpectedly. I had been telling my dad I wanted to be a mechanical engineer, but everything changed after a school presentation on telecom engineering. I had a moment of clarity: “Oh my goodness, this is the thing.” I told my friends, “I’m going to do telecom engineering in Malaysia,” but you must know that this was just me daydreaming. And because it was just a dream I thought was unrealistic given our financial circumstances, I never mentioned it to my parents.
The key to succeeding in this environment I found, is confidence. The confidence to say “no,” to the unsavory propositions and hold out for those that honour you. If you are driven by fear, you will compromise your values and one day wake up not recognizing yourself.
Yet, after I finished S6, my mom took me to a university expo. To my astonishment, it was for the same program in Malaysia I had dreamed about. “I want you to come and do this,” she said. It was a moment of divine alignment. I took an on-the-spot exam, passed, and was accepted directly into the first year of engineering, which was a rare privilege.
My mother’s belief then moved mountains. On my travel day, I had no ticket. With unwavering faith, my sister took me to the airport and when we were beginning to get anxious, we were told a ticket was waiting for me at the Emirates office. In Malaysia, I was the only Ugandan student going straight to first year. I still don’t know how she managed it with our lean budget, but she felt this opportunity was too good to miss. Her unwavering belief in my education and her dedication to making it a reality taught me that every child needs an unconditional champion. Though I was young and lonely, isolated from all I knew and loved, I found strength in that distance. There were many tears, but that time also empowered me, forging an independence, a confidence, and a global perspective that has shaped who I am today.
Integrity in a Complicated World
As my career in IT progressed, my parents’ trust was replaced by professional tests of character. I learnt that certain values are cardinal, with integrity being the most important. The working world presented many ethical challenges. I encountered professionals who suggested I “buffer” project costs so they could take a cut. I also faced propositions, as a woman that demanded “more than just your knowledge services.” My former boss once told me he didn’t think I was “hungry enough.” He was right. My hunger wasn’t for wealth at any cost, but for a success I could live with. I saw how these pressures uniquely affect women, sometimes even threatening their marriages. The key to succeeding in this environment I found, is confidence. The confidence to say “no,” to the unsavory propositions and hold out for those that honour you. If you are driven by fear, you will compromise your values and one day wake up not recognizing yourself.
It is not enough to just know big words. It is not enough to be the smartest person in the room, to really create impact in this field you must be able to translate what a technology can do into real, actionable outcomes that serve everyone.
Ambition or Greed?
This journey forces you to question when you are ambitious and when you are just greedy. You must define what “enough” is for yourself, knowing it’s often a moving target. You must ask, what am I willing to forfeit? Every path is a choice, and you must be ready for its consequences. The fallout from choosing integrity might mean I’m not as wealthy as I could be, but I am at peace. We need a new personal scoring system, one where “sticking to your guns” is a key metric for success. This is a lesson my late uncle, a wealthy and accomplished man, stressed for me, he often declared: “You will not find anybody anywhere in this world who will say Martin stole a staple, let alone the stapler.” His pride was in his unwavering integrity which enabled him to remain someone he recognized at his retirement. We must make integrity a practiced verb, not just a corporate-speak noun, especially in a world that often fails to reward it.
Becoming the First Solution Architect.
My career picked me as opposed to me picking it. I studied telecom engineering, and when I returned home after four years, I found the market had changed. The jobs I had envisioned were few, and there was no opportunity readily available to me. Then, almost by accident, an opportunity landed in my lap. My brother met someone vaguely and mentioned, “I have a sister looking for a job.” I went for the interview and knew I had it within 15 minutes. As we spoke, I could see my interviewer was creating a whole new job role in his mind. For that company, which had been in existence for 20 years, I became their very first Solution Architect.
I feel privileged to sit in a position where I get to see how technology can fix our everyday issues. That is why it has my heart.
My role was to be a knowledge resource, a knowledge worker whose principal objective was to know what was happening in the technology space. The way he put it was, “We don’t want a fundi.” A lot of people think working in IT means you can fix everything from an iron to a TV, but it is so much more than that. It’s rich and diverse.
This role opened a channel for me to realize I am a technologist. I enjoy sitting in a unique position to see technology’s journey and the unique ways it can be used to make our experiences better. It is not enough to just know big words. It is not enough to be the smartest person in the room, to really create impact in this field you must be able to translate what a technology can do into real, actionable outcomes that serve everyone. Over the years, I’ve expanded my role. I took on cybersecurity with a lot of passion, and now I also manage IT projects.
Technology as an Enabler
We have moved from IT just being “my PC is not working.” Here in Uganda, where our uptake of technology can be slower, I focus on introducing ideas around digitization and digital transformation. Technology is merely an enabler; it may not be the core business, but it has to enable it. Let me give you a wonderful example. Many Ugandans are unbanked, often due to a lack of trust in the system. But think about what mobile money has done. It has unleashed capacity for people. As a Rotarian, I’ve been exposed to people whose lives are happening to them in real time. I have seen women who are not brave enough to come home with cash for fear of violence or theft. Do you understand the power of having a secret digital wallet protected by a PIN? I feel privileged to sit in a position where I get to see how technology can fix our everyday issues. That is why it has my heart.
The bigger thing inside technology is innovation; using ones and zeros to fix our unique challenges. I love Ugandans innovating in the digital space. In larger economies, you have the gift of being able to try and fail. We don’t have that privilege here. Technology allows people to explore deeper ways of fixing problems. I love that we now have young people brave enough to convert an idea into an actionable outcome, regardless of how foolish it seems. It helps build the skill to convert ideas into utility. The number of problems we have is vast, and we need people who can ideate and come up with solutions.
Once your name is spoken, you must prove who you are. As a woman, you will practice harder and study more. Women who rise in technology really rise because they will do the most.
Women Who Rise in Technology
This brings me to a crucial point about women in our field. Girls are often afraid to do what might seem like foolish things. But how can you truly learn if you never try and fail? We need to teach girls to embrace what I call “foolish confidence.” I am currently managing a large, complex project with many brilliant people, and I am the only woman on the supplier’s side. I don’t know everything, and I occasionally make a misstep or say something that isn’t perfectly formed. Sometimes, men on the team pull me aside to suggest I shouldn’t have voiced a particular idea or question.
In these moments, I make a conscious choice: I refuse to participate in shaming myself. I said what I said. If I am wrong, by all means, correct me. But there has to be a better, more constructive way for us to engage than through silent correction or subtle reprimand.
My advice to girls is this; no one is coming to rescue us. We must build our own internal confidence. You are not the mistake you have made. From every error, there is a learning outcome. No one in this business has gone through it without making mistakes. It’s okay not to know something. It’s okay to say, “I don’t know what that is. Can somebody help me clarify?” You need to be okay with yourself.
The hill is steeper for a woman. Technology is an ego space. You will be challenged. Years ago, I went to a bank with my male boss and male colleague. The Executive Director sent for tea, and they brought exactly three cups; one for him, one for my boss, and one for my colleague. I was erased from the room. He would ask my colleagues a question, they would turn to me, I would answer, and they would relay it to him. We were all speaking English. What empowered me was what happened next. When we walked out, my boss said, “Erina, I saw how you experienced this thing. We will not work here.” Having that backing from a male boss validated my experience. This leads to my second point; young girls need to find allies, sponsors, and people who will speak their names in rooms where they are not. Every job I’ve gotten has been because someone, said my name where I wasn’t present.
Once your name is spoken, you must prove who you are. As a woman, you will practice harder and study more. Women who rise in technology really rise because they will do the most. My father used to tell me that nobody has a monopoly over knowledge, and in the same way, nobody has a monopoly over stupidity. If you believe tech is your space, put in the work. Women inherently see things that people might miss. The quality of output from a woman-built product often has something new. For example, give two people a project to build a website; a woman will often have an eye for beauty that the other might not. And beauty inside of innovation is magic.
You need three things:
Master Your Craft with Discipline
To build a foundation that cannot be easily shaken, you must commit to a deep and disciplined understanding of your craft. This goes beyond surface-level knowledge or knowing the right buzzwords. It means immersing yourself in the established standards, guidelines, and frameworks that define your field. For instance, if your space is cybersecurity, you must be intimately familiar with global standards like ISO 27001, data privacy regulations and established frameworks. This foundational knowledge is what separates a knowledgeable professional from a mere fundi. This expertise becomes your bedrock, the unshakeable ground you stand on.
Ground Your Innovation in First Principles
In a field as dynamic as technology, staying relevant requires more than just keeping up with the latest trends; it demands an appreciation for its evolution. This means paying attention to the trajectory of your field, understanding where it has come from to see clearly where it is headed. Start from the first principles; the fundamental concepts, like the bits and bytes, the ones and zeros that remain the building blocks of all digital technology. Just as a mathematician must understand basic arithmetic to grasp calculus, a technologist must appreciate the history of the computer to truly innovate with AI. This historical and fundamental perspective prevents your knowledge from being fragile and context-dependent. It allows you to adapt, pivot, and learn new technologies with ease because you understand the core problems they are solving.
Be Your Own Advocate
Finally, technical mastery is insufficient without the courage to own your voice and your space. You must learn to be your own advocate. This means refusing to wait in the shadows to be discovered or picked. You must raise your hand, ask questions, challenge assumptions, and be unapologetically curious. This requires a foundation of “foolish confidence” or the audacity to speak, even at the risk of being wrong, and the resilience to learn from the correction without internalizing shame.
Do I Consider Myself Successful?
Absolutely. I am successful. My definition of success is rooted in a sense of purpose and gratitude. For every role I’m given, I ask: “Why, out of seven billion people, was I uniquely selected for this?” This belief that “no place is an accident” transforms duty into purpose. I measure success through the privilege of choice and the ability to see my dreams through. It is in the organizations that have my “fingerprint” in their systems and the competitive fellowships I was granted. The freedom to dream, to pivot, and to remain true to myself is the ultimate success. I grade myself on an A-scale. And yes, I have touched success. I am successful.
Just as a mathematician must understand basic arithmetic to grasp calculus, a technologist must appreciate the history of the computer to truly innovate with AI.
Erina Nafula leads the Presales Engineering function at Konvergenz Network Solutions, serving as the critical bridge between business strategy and technology. She holds certifications as a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and Project Management Professional (PMP), bringing both technical expertise and strategic vision to her role in driving digital transformation.
