Meline Soulie, the Vice President of Marketing & Development at Obvious Technologies, speaks to Security on Screen about her history with Obvious Technologies, what drew her to the security industry and her experiences as a woman in the sector

How long have you been with Obvious Technologies and in what role?

I became a part of Obvious Technologies and the OODA team in February 2021 as the VP of Marketing & Business Development. As we were in the process of opening a new branch in the UAE, I became the first team member based in the country.

Since then, we have achieved significant growth, and we now have our regional office located in Dubai, from where we operate in the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Currently, we have a team of 12 people and our team is continuously expanding!

What drew you to the security industry?

Ever since my university days, I’ve been passionate about international business development and technology innovation, as well as the opportunity to work on large, complex projects and engage with top government stakeholders.

I was also drawn to the purpose-driven nature of the security industry and the opportunity to make critical assets and communities safer. After completing my Master’s in Defence & Security in 2000, I jumped into the private sector and have been in the industry ever since.

What’s the working environment like at Obvious Technologies?

I would say that our working environment is definitely unique and there would be more than one way to define it. But first, it’s important to point out that we pride ourselves on being a disruptive tech company, both in our Dubai office and our headquarters in France.

As a company which is mostly composed of talented young engineers, software developers and data scientists, innovation is everywhere! But innovation isn’t the only defining aspect of our working environment.

We have a challenging and ambitious working environment that offers many opportunities for success and growth. Can you imagine the opportunity where there can be 3-figures of growth in one year?

That’s what makes our team stand out. We’re driven by hard work, passion and talent and everyone, regardless of age, role, or background, shares a common goal of success.

Teamwork is also a crucial part of our culture. Everyone has their own individual role, but we know that we can rely on each other at any time of the day, and we work collaboratively to achieve success.

There are no egos or hierarchy when it comes to helping each other and by having this type of model, we also are able to provide a lot of ownership for each team member to achieve a positive impact within the organisation, which can be extremely rewarding.

We’re also very customer-centric and our growth has mostly been achieved thanks to customers who trust us. Therefore, our team is driven by a desire to provide a unique experience for our customers and partners, no matter the project cycle or level.

Something we really value is kindness, humility, and trust, which are qualities very close to my heart, and from personal experience, I have found those qualities to be quite often overlooked in many other working environments.

I believe that once you reach your 40s, you really pay attention to these values, so I am grateful that at Obvious Technologies our acting President, Thierry Orosco, has the same outlook and is a role model in that aspect for me.

For those of you who recognise yourself in the above, you are most welcome to join the adventure!

What are your ambitions within the security sector?

Our ambition with OODA is to become a global leader in creating and displaying actionable data for security and other mission-critical organisations.

We’re filling gaps in the market between traditional PSIM products, expensive Command & Control solutions, and stand-alone Data visualisation platforms.

We also believe that the security sector is about human people and not just technology. Therefore, we focus on providing disruptive user experiences that allow end-users to use, adopt and leverage advanced software, wherever they are and whatever their role, to make faster and smarter decisions.

We’re pioneers and frontrunners in a relatively conservative and traditional industry and we bring digital twin solutions to create new opportunities for the new generation of operators, managers, and decision-makers, not just for security but also for operational performance, incident response, and business continuity.

Do you feel the security industry is welcoming towards women?

I haven’t personally suffered from gender bias in the security industry, but I do believe that more women should be encouraged to pursue careers in this field. I see more and more women in security exhibitions, but we’re still not equally represented.

Most important is that young women interested in such careers should not feel shy or discouraged to pursue their dreams! At Obvious Technologies, women are more than welcome to join us in engineering, development, sales, or operations. The sky is the limit!