Adela Mehic-Dzanic

The 50 Most Influential Business Leaders in Tech 2021

Playing the Infinite Game

It is a characteristic of leader that he or she is motivated by the spirit of contribution to the society by using technological advancements. This is what makes him or her an influential leader. Giving back and serving the community are essential traits of an influential leader. Such a leader wants to be part of something great and make the world a better place. Adela Mehic-Dzanic genuinely believes in giving back and serving the community. Apart from making the impact within the industry, Adela, the Head of CSP segment at MAVOCO AG works making sure each customer of MAVOCO AG loves company’s software. She is actively involved within two communities, WU Executive Academy Female Leaders Network as well the Businesswomen of BiH (as the Vice President), with the mission to empower, connect and share among themselves; under the motto “Together we are stronger”.

Apart from that, Adela has started her mission “1000 Women” to share her career story and inspire more women to pursue the career in the Tech industry and to follow their dreams. As we all know it, the role models, and stories we share to lift one another are crucial and that is why Adela is committed to working with the future leaders, be it through her mission or serving as a mentor in the various communities, such as the BOSNIA and Herzegovina Futures Foundations as well the WomenTech Network.

Passionate about Technology

Adela’s journey started back in 2015 when she joined the Tele2 M2M /IoT Global Unit as a Solution Consultant responsible for the CEE (Central Eastern Europe) market. This took her career to a whole new level and enabled her to work with customers and partners looking to launch global IoT solutions for the very first time. As for someone who is passionate about people and technology and committed to making the world a better place, IoT is the place to be. Her recent move to the software company MAVOCO AG was a strategic move to go even deeper into the world of Data and IoT platforms and influencing the Telecom industry while deploying the connectivity management platform of the new generation.

Huge Market Presence

Adela says that MAVOCO AG’s core market includes world largest telecom operators that are using the company’s connectivity management platform & subscription billing software to manage, analyze and bill their subscribers. However, the very same platform and its capabilities are perfectly suited to be deployed for the needs of the global MVNOs as well the large Enterprises (such as the Automotive industry sector) who have the volume and resources to manage their own connectivity deployment. At the end of the day, it is a matter of configuration. MAVOCO AG is currently working with the customers and partners that bought the private 5G license and they as well have the needs of managing their connectivity and their customer base.

Appreciating Culture of Experimentation

Adela believes that passion, vision, perseverance, and generosity are the essential traits every leader should possess. She is currently reading this book from Simon Sinek “The Infinite Game” and she highly recommends it to every business leader. Adela believes that the culture of failure and experimentation and playing the infinite game is beneficial. She asks to experiment, be open to new ideas, collaborate with the startups and be ready to try it all over again as well to pivot. It is a greenfield and the rules are yet to be written. She suggests looking beyond one industry and to be curious about the other industries and their approaches to tackling the challenges.

Empowering Employees

There are endless ways to create new sets of data and start or apply a new model. The data can be re-created, as it is not a limited resource.

Adela considers it is important to empower one’s employees, set high priorities on diversity and inclusion, and make sure that the product reflects one’s customers. Unfortunately, we still read about too many examples where women are completely left out and women are the half of population. Adela thinks that women must be at the

table discussing the products and services meant to make their lives better.

From Adela’s experience, a healthy company culture with strong values and a vision is way more than just profit and a short-term game. Of course, with the opportunities to grow, leaders do take time for their employees and create a culture where they feel appreciated and safe to raise their voices and have their opinions heard. It is not about the ping-pong table, free coffee, and goodies. Quite the opposite.

Being Updated with Latest Technologies

Adela keeps herself updated with the latest technologies using books, workshops, trainings, podcasts, magazines, LinkedIn community and respective feeds as well as various groups and communities focused on the specifics, such as IoT, AI and Data science etc. She tends to mix it up and use the best of all the options available out there.

Gratitude to Colleagues, Mentors, and Managers

Throughout her career, Adela has been the only woman and the youngest team member, as well woman in tech and working in the multicultural environment. It was not once that she would get a reply to her email as “Mr.” and during the customer meetings that they would ask her male colleague to answer the technical question, even though he was in sales. On the other hand, it was a major advantage, and she feels grateful for the colleagues, mentors and managers who believed in her from the day one and cultivated the culture of talents, hard work and supportive environment.

Valuing Culture, People and Values

If there is one advice Adela would like to give to her younger self is to choose wisely your boss and the company, you are joining. Back in 2014 when she moved to Austria from her home country Bosnia and Herzegovina, and when deciding the company to join, her priority was the culture, people, and the values. Once she felt aligned with those values, she did not think for a second and used every single opportunity along the way, to grow, learn and connect. Then it is true what they say, nothing is impossible.