From male dominated geekery to inclusive creative powerhouse: Panintelligence CEO talks International Women’s Day 2019

Businesswoman Zandra Moore knows plenty about surviving and thriving in a traditionally patriarchal corporate world.

Her passion for equality and empowerment is clear when she talks about her thoughts on the importance of International Women’s Day: “It’s crucial that the fight for equal rights continues to be highlighted as long as there are injustices against women in the world.

“In this country alone the difference between men’s and women’s earnings still stands at around 18%, a disparity that, unfortunately, means that International Women’s Day remains highly relevant today.”

Zandra chose to redefine the gender status quo herself by co-founding software development company Panintelligence in 2014.

The Leeds based company specialises in Panintelligence Pi software, a secure cloud-based business insights and analytics platform that is used across a wide range of industry sectors, from retail and education to local government and healthcare.

In Zandra’s opinion, the tech industry image is changing for the better: “My own tech industry is growing in appeal to more women as its image slowly shifts away from male dominated geekery to more inclusive creative powerhouse.

As CEO she makes sure to practice what she preaches at Panintelligence, adding: “I’m passionate about the benefits to business of diversity…employing more women at Panintelligence, and properly supporting them, has been a game changer for us, making the workplace more open, empathetic and tolerant.”

As well as being at the helm of Panintelligence, Zandra is a passionate advocate for networking, particularly to help women in business.

Since setting up networking group Lean in Leeds two years ago, Zandra has devoted time and energy to helping women in the area create and nurture supportive professional relationships, and believes this is the key to gender equality in business.

She explains how a supportive environment can be a catalyst for progress: “These days there are many extremely supportive business networking groups such as Lean in Leeds, which I set up two years ago.

“Lean in Leeds alone has over 300 members now and is growing quickly. I’ve seen my members grow in confidence and flourish, which is so rewarding.”

With Panintelligence increasing turnover from £330,000 to £1.8m in five years, neither Zandra nor the company show any sign of slowing down.

This inspiring female CEO isn’t afraid of what the future holds, and encourages ambitious women not to be either: “Be prepared to fail and fail fast – you’ll overcome the challenge and find it extremely empowering.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →