The Women Behind the Code: Celebrating Casumo’s Tech Wizards

At Casumo, we’re all about celebrating the brilliant minds behind the scenes—especially when they’re breaking barriers in tech. And what better occasion than the 10th anniversary of International Day of Women in Science?!

So, we gathered a power squad of Casumo’s tech talents for a chat. No slides, no formalities—just real talk about inspiration, challenges, and the little wins that make it all worth it.

Tech Role Models: Not Always in the History Books

First up: Who inspired you to step into science and tech?

For Zorica Maneva (Senior Backend Engineer), it was a family affair. Her cousin, a computer science professor, was the one who nudged her toward the field. “I’ve always loved maths, so tech felt like a natural step. Seeing my cousin thrive in the field gave me that extra push.”

Meggan Petersen (Scrum Master) found inspiration in Lyssa Adkins, an expert in agile team dynamics. “She’s helped shape how I see the balance between logic, teamwork, and growth.”

Marija Popovikj (Backend Engineer) and Biljana Veselinovska (Senior QA Automation Engineer) didn’t have one single science heroine—instead, they drew inspiration from powerful women in all sorts of fields. Doctors, psychologists, managers—the real-world role models who led by example. Biljana summed it up: “Seeing their resilience and leadership made a huge impact on me.”

And then there was Cristina Turbatu (CTO), who pointed out something many in the group related to: an actual lack of female role models growing up. “In Romania, the focus was always on strong male scientists. There weren’t many stories about women in tech, so my role models were my mother, an engineer, and my computer science teacher—both incredibly strong professionals.”

The (Un)Expected Gender Divide in Tech

We’ve all heard that tech is a male-dominated field, but the team uncovered some surprising regional differences.

Cristina revealed that in Romania, women in science and tech were completely normal—many companies had an even split of male and female developers. But the moment she moved to Western Europe? Suddenly, she was the only woman in the room.

Marija noted a shift in Macedonia, saying: “There are more and more women going into computer science now—it’s almost 50/50.”

This sparked a discussion about Casumo and the wider industry. What’s working? What could be better?

Meggan had a simple but powerful take: “Of course, expertise and skill levels matter most, but I’ve noticed that teams with more women tend to have a better balance overall.”

Eureka Moments: That Chef’s Kiss Feeling

You know that moment when a bug finally makes sense or a code snippet works perfectly? We asked the team about their most satisfying “Eureka!” moments—the times when everything just clicked.

Zorica wasted no time: “Honestly? Every day. Because what we learn at university and what we do in real life? Completely different.”

Biljana nodded along: “It doesn’t matter if it’s a small bug fix or a huge breakthrough—every win feels just as satisfying.”

And Marija? She had the perfect analogy: “It’s like cooking. You experiment, you tweak, and then suddenly—bam! You find the missing ingredient.”

If You Could Invent One Tech Tool to Make Your Life Easier…

Because let’s be real—we all have that dream feature that would make work a breeze.

Zorica went for the big one: “An AI that reads our minds and just writes the code for us.” (Same, Zorica. Same.)

Cristina had a more practical wish: a dedicated R&D department at Casumo to foster creativity and innovation. “Most companies play it safe, but since we own our platform, we have a real chance to think outside the box.”

Meggan agreed, adding: “Even within teams, just having the space to experiment would change everything.”

Breaking Stereotypes: What’s the Biggest Myth About Women in Tech?

We gave the team a chance to debunk some outdated nonsense, and Cristina didn’t hold back:

“The worst myth? That women just aren’t biologically built for tech.”?

Marija laughed at the Hollywood stereotype of the socially awkward “tech girl” in a dark basement coding all day. “I know so many incredibly talented women in tech who break that mould.”

And because Cristina never misses a chance for a joke: “To be fair, I do like working in the dark. But I guess that’s just my Romanian vampire side.”

(LOL.)

Gamifying Work: What’s Your Ultimate Achievement to Unlock?

Since we’re in the gaming industry, we had to gamify their roles—what would be their ultimate work achievement?

Cristina had an unexpected but genius answer: “I’d love to gamify the feeling of actually enjoying your job. Imagine if leaders could track how many people are genuinely excited to start work each morning. That would tell us way more about success than any report.”

Biljana had a more technical take: “Unlocking the ability to code in multiple languages and build frameworks from scratch.” “Oh yeahhh, that too!” - the rest unanimously agreed.

Final Question: Tech Nostalgia—What Would You Bring Back?

We wrapped up with a nostalgic throwback—if they could bring back one outdated piece of tech, what would it be?

Cristina: “Those old-school Nintendo knockoffs we had in Romania.” Biljana: “The duck-hunting arcade game with the plastic gun!” Marija: “Classic Tetris on a chunky old phone.” Zorica: “Snake on the Nokia 3310. Hours of my childhood gone.” Meggan: “Yes to all of it!”

From breaking stereotypes to craving more innovation, this conversation was full of real insights, real laughs, and real inspiration.

A huge thanks to Cristina, Zorica, Marija, Biljana, and Meggan for taking the time to chat with us. The future of women in science and tech is bright, bold, and—if this panel has anything to say about it—just getting started.