Her Story
About Nouran
My typical day is always being under pressure, because handling a crisis room means being on call, so I cannot really rest. I have to always be close to my phone or in the operations room and watch room, because something might happen any minute. It's always being ready for what's coming, and it's about people's lives - it's not something I can put on hold. Most of the crisis involves people and livelihoods, and I have to be alert, try to manage evacuations or operations and help people out. It's stressful, but you get used to it. I have to be calm under pressure, and I always have to report to senior leaders to update them on what is happening. I don't have to make them feel overwhelmed, so I have to absorb most of the shock and then give them the real picture for them to take strategic decisions. My most notable achievement is something I'm doing right now - I have created an ethical AI system that can support municipalities under crisis. Through assistance of AI, not totally relying on it, they can transform information into possible scenarios so they can take proper action before things escalate. Nobody has done this before, and I'm invited to a conference next Monday in Stockholm to talk about it. I'm a bit proud of this work.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Nouran
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my very hard path in life. I was born and raised in the Middle East, where women's rights are not very prominent. I had to fight my way starting from my family, where boys were a bit more evaluated than girls. And then, through life, I always had to fight to prove myself that I'm as good as someone else. That's why maybe when I joined the Joint Operations Center or the Emergency Operations Center, it was all military people and mostly men, and I became the chief of that operations room. I think it was just because of my fight in life to always show that women can do anything. Until now, when I do something great, I see that my brothers are astonished. I always feel that I'm still there - I've done it, but still, I have to prove it.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received was to be a bit more patient in getting results. I used to burn myself a bit because I wanted things to happen fast. But I learned from my mentor, who was my chief also, that sometimes you should just slow down, and it is okay if things don't happen so fast. It really helped me see things in a different perspective.
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