She began her computer science studies in India. This was followed by an exchange programme at RWTH Aachen University, where she completed her Master’s. She noticed that more men were employed in IT than women in Germany. “It is different in India, where informatics is a perfectly normal school subject”, says Nikita. But this is not a problem for her. “Sometimes I had to assert myself more emphatically as a woman, however, in order to convince others professionally.” Nikita has been working as a software engineer in the Volkswagen DIGITAL:LAB in Berlin for the past year. Together with her colleagues, she is working on an interface environment that allows cars to exchange data with smartphones or a cloud. Programming such interfaces is not that easy – the system has to be user friendly and offer a high degree of security at the same time. “It’s easy for me though thanks to the way we work here in the Lab”, says Nikita. “We basically program in pairs here in the Volkswagen DIGITAL:LAB. Different team members observe a problem from different perspectives. In this way, we not only find a good solution, we are also fast and learn constantly from each other.”
Her work at Volkswagen is something Nikita would no longer want to be without. “The last year has fulfilled everything I had ever hoped for”, she says with a smile. “Whether you are a man or a woman is not something that is important in our team. Rather, we see our strength in diversity at Volkswagen.” It is important to Nikita to do something in her everyday work that she believes in: “Our mobility is undergoing change and at Volkswagen we have an opportunity to help shape and revolutionise the mobility of the future. I want to be part of this change.” And software, she is certain, is the key to everything.
