Diversity a Big Priority for Twilio's First Chief Information Officer

We need more women and girls interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), ultimately getting careers in technology. So says the new Twilio CIO.

As the company’s first chief information officer, Michelle Grover is responsible for improving Twilio’s technology systems and processes. This will allow Twilio, which offers a cloud communications platform, to better serve enterprise customers.

Twilio’s Michelle Grover

“Twilio is a high-growth company with a rapidly expanding enterprise customer base,” she said. “I am interested in scaling up a sophisticated infrastructure for Twilio that benefits all of our partners as they help Twilio better serve the enterprise market.”

The new Twilio CIO says it was the people that attracted her to the job. She says they were “kind and open, with a commitment to serving customers.”

“Over the years, I’ve been able to experience the employees’ dedication to service from the sidelines. A personal mentor and friend of mine sits on the board, and I sit on the board of Twilio-founded Techtonica, a nonprofit committed to getting more women and non-binary adults into STEM roles. I am excited to now be able to actively contribute to expanding the potential the company has to do good.”

Extensive Tech Experience

Grover has more than 20 years of technical experience. Most recently, she was the senior vice president of software development at SAP Concur. There, she led a global team of mobile and platform engineers that focused on TripIt and the Concur mobile app.

“I am most proud of my experience getting more diverse people into leadership roles at technical companies,” she said. “There’s a big opportunity for this at Twilio. The company has the goal to have an employee base that consists of 50% of women and 30% underrepresented populations by 2023. Working to ensure that these numbers are reflected within leadership roles as well is a top priority for me.”

The new Twilio CIO said she took her new job to help the company continue to grow.

“As the company continues to look upward, I want to improve its systems and help it better operationalize,” she said. “Twilio is in its teenage years; my goal is to help it age wisely and to solidify a long-term growth plan.”

“Twilio’s core philosophy is to embrace and empower developers,” said Chee Chew, Twilio’s chief product officer. “We want our CIO to be a true builder. Michelle’s an engineer at heart and in practice. She has an acute understanding of the systems we need to serve the enterprise and accelerate innovation at scale. I look forward to seeing the impact Michelle will have on the company’s next phase of growth and expansion.”