From interns to innovators: how Nine’s Women in Tech+ Community is driving the future of engineering, digital, and AI

For early-career talent, this supportive foundation bridges the leap from university into the fast-paced world of technology, empowering newcomers to take ownership, innovate, and make an immediate impact from day one.

Putting this mission into practice, Angeline Parrella, Rupali Palikhe, and Anu Jawahar recently returned to university campuses to represent Nine and inspire the next generation of graduates. Here, the trio reflect on their progression from ambitious interns to system owners and mentors – and how the WIT+ community championed their growth along the way.

Launching a career with impact

Both Angeline and Anu began their journeys at Nine through the internship program, navigating the shift from academic theory to industry velocity.

“What really stood out to me once I started was the company culture at Nine, and how professional and capable everyone around me was,” Angeline recalls of her 2020 internship in the Data Engineering team.

She notes that a supportive environment is essential for emerging tech talent. “As an intern, no one expects you to know everything, but showing up with curiosity and an eagerness to be challenged makes all the difference.”

“Handling enormous volumes of web data right out of university, especially having never taken a database course forced me onto a steep but incredibly rewarding learning curve. I went from learning data fundamentals (such as SQL) on the fly to building end-to-end data pipelines, custom models, and interactive dashboards that directly informed and shaped key stakeholder decisions. Taking a complex project from an initial concept all the way to production pushed me out of my comfort zone, but successfully delivering tools that drove real-world impact built immense confidence in my technical abilities and problem-solving skills.” – Angeline Parrella, Developer.

Anu, who joined as an intern in late 2025, found the environment equally supportive when making the jump from university to a corporate tech stack. “The internship at Nine gave me the foundation and trust to bridge the gap between lecture hall theory and enterprise scale engineering.”

“The transition from university to real-world engineering at Nine was smooth, even while balancing my Master’s in Computer Science and double major in HCI and Digital Media. My manager, Sonal Gaur, provided clear direction, allowing me to build proficiency across Nine’s tech stack iteratively. The main shift was moving from academic theory to industry velocity, especially leveraging AI tools to accelerate daily engineering workflows.” – Anu Jawaha, Associate Data Engineer.

This psychological safety is built directly into the team dynamics at Nine. “At Nine, my colleagues, mentors, and managers created an environment where asking questions was encouraged and mistakes were treated as valuable learning opportunities rather than setbacks,” Angeline explains.

Finding autonomy and driving innovation

At Nine, young engineers are trusted to own complex problems and turn them into scalable solutions from day one.

Rupali, who transitioned into the streaming industry as a Product Tester at Stan, emphasises the level of trust given to employees to do their best work. “At Stan and Nine, you are given the autonomy to drive real impact from the start.” 

This autonomy allows early career engineers to grow rapidly. For Anu, the journey has been transformative. “My biggest milestone has been my trajectory from a first time data engineer to a system owner and mentor.” 

Innovation is also at the core of their daily work, particularly as the business continues to explore modern tools. ” Continuous learning and experimentation are woven directly into our engineering culture rather than being treated as afterthoughts,” says Angeline.

Embracing these new technologies requires a balanced, human centric approach. Anu highlights this by stating, “This experience not only highlighted the power of AI as an accelerator for technical execution but also reinforced that human empathy, teamwork, and stakeholder collaboration remain essential, irreplaceable components of successful innovation.”

Fostering belonging with Women in Tech+

A significant part of the supportive culture at Nine is driven by the Women in Tech+ community.

As WIT+ co chair Juliane Djidi explains, “Women in Tech+ at Nine exists to foster connection, development and belonging for women across Nine’s technology.”

The internal network has a profound impact on its members’ daily experiences. “Being part of the WIT+ community has been a game changer; it has effectively bridged the gap between Stan and the broader Nine organisation for me,” shares Rupali.

She also points out the broader industry importance of such internal groups for career longevity. “We cannot focus solely on attraction; we must cultivate environments that support long term career growth.”

For Angeline, the community is a constant source of inspiration. “Being a member of the Women in Tech + community at Nine has given me a deep sense of connection and purpose that directly shapes my day to day experience.” 

Anu agrees, noting the professional benefits of seeing diverse leadership in action. “It proved that technical capability and authentic leadership go hand in hand showing me that owning your space, staying unapologetically yourself, and driving continuous improvement are how you accelerate impact.”

Inspiring the next generation

The journey for these engineers is full circle. They are now taking their industry insights back to universities, representing Nine and inspiring emerging talent.

“The proudest moment in this growth was returning to USYD to co-present alongside Kelli Dudley, Director ofTechnology, Data and AI. Presenting my industry work back at the lecture where I was first recruited made me realise how much my confidence and technical depth had transformed” –  Anu Jawaha, Associate Data Engineer.

“It’s inspiring to see students so deeply engaged with technology and exploring the potential impact they can make on the industry. I make it a priority to attend at least one program annually, such as at UTS last year and UNSW this year. I believe it’s vital for emerging tech professionals to gain real-world industry insights and to receive encouragement, as I did when I was a student” – Rupali Palike, Developer.

This outreach is vital for the future of the tech industry. As Juliane notes, “By engaging with students and emerging talent, we’re strengthening Nine’s visibility as an employer of choice while helping build a more diverse pipeline of future technology professionals.”