Thryv urges recognition of women leading tech in SMBs

Thryv has called for broader recognition of women building technology leadership through customer, operations and business management roles in small and medium-sized businesses, as AI becomes part of everyday operations.

Elise Balsillie, Head of Thryv Australia and New Zealand, said women are developing technology expertise outside traditional technical functions as they take responsibility for customer experience, revenue, education and operational change.

Her comments come as AI use becomes more common among smaller businesses. Thryv's 2025 Business Index and Consumer Report found 59 per cent of Australian SMBs and 56 per cent of New Zealand SMBs are already using AI.

Balsillie said this is changing who makes technology decisions inside a business. In smaller companies, those choices are often made by people also handling customers, overseeing staff and managing day-to-day operations.

"A job title tells you where someone sits in a business. The work they have led tells you far more about their technology capability," Balsillie said.

"Technology has several front doors. Some women enter through product or data. Others build their expertise by solving business problems with technology, introducing new ways of working and leading people through change. We need to become better at recognising technology leadership wherever that experience is being built."

Changing roles

Balsillie has worked across media, education, revenue and digital transformation over a 25-year career. She said technology has become a larger part of leadership roles as small businesses increasingly rely on digital tools to attract customers, manage relationships and support growth.

That shift is extending further with AI, moving technology choices into roles not usually described as technical. Balsillie said decisions about enquiry handling, the movement of customer information between systems, automation and the limits of human judgement now sit much closer to frontline business activity.

"AI is bringing technology decisions into roles that may never have been described as technology roles," she said.

"A business owner may now be deciding how an enquiry is handled, how customer information moves between systems, which tasks should be automated and where human judgement should remain part of the process. These decisions can directly affect the customer experience, the workload of the team and how effectively the business operates."

She said this creates an opening for women whose careers have developed close to customers, operations and revenue, because they often understand how systems work in practice rather than only in theory.

"Women who have spent years understanding customers, managing teams or improving how a business operates can bring a valuable perspective to technology leadership because they understand what needs to work in practice," Balsillie said.

"My own pathway taught me to start with the outcome. Where is information being lost? Which process creates friction? What could technology do better, and where does human judgement add greater value? The strongest technology decisions connect what a system can do with what the business, its people and its customers actually need."

Small business training ground

Balsillie said smaller businesses can be useful environments for developing technology leadership because staff often work across several functions and can quickly see the effects of digital decisions. A cumbersome platform can create immediate problems for customer enquiries, while automation can remove repetitive administration and ease pressure on teams.

That immediacy, she said, helps people understand not only what a piece of technology does, but also how it changes workflows, customer interactions and business performance.

"In a small business, you see the impact of a technology decision almost immediately," Balsillie said.

"You know quickly whether a system makes work easier, improves the customer experience or simply creates another task. That experience teaches people to look beyond the technology itself and understand how it affects customers, workflows and the wider business."

Thryv argues that technology responsibility often emerges within existing jobs rather than through a formal move into an IT department. Someone managing customer relationships may introduce a new CRM, improve an automated follow-up process or help decide how AI should be used.

For women already working in customer experience, operations, revenue or general management, those responsibilities can amount to significant technology experience before any formal technical title appears. Balsillie said that experience should be judged by complexity, decision-making, change leadership and measurable results.

"Look at the complexity someone has managed, the decisions they have made, the change they have led and the results they have delivered. Can they understand what the technology can do, challenge how it should be applied, bring people with them through change and connect an investment to a meaningful business result? For many women, those skills are already being developed in the roles they hold today."

She said small businesses can strengthen that pathway by giving women responsibility for digital projects with clear operational importance, such as introducing an AI-enabled process, improving customer journeys or leading the rollout of a new platform.

"Give women responsibility for technology initiatives that carry real weight and allow their results to speak," Balsillie said.

"The next generation of women technology leaders may already be running small businesses, leading customer teams or improving operations. Technology leadership is changing because technology now sits inside customer conversations, workflows and growth decisions. When we recognise the expertise being built through that work, we create stronger pathways for women while giving small businesses access to leaders who understand both the technology and the business it needs to serve."