Glasgow and Edinburgh go head-to-head as Scotland Women in Technology unveils 2025 award finalists

Scotland Women in Technology (SWiT) has announced the shortlist for its 2025 awards, with Glasgow and Edinburgh competing head-to-head with the most finalists.

Announced during a shortlisting event at JPMorganChasein Glasgow earlier tonight, 38 individuals and groups working across 27 organisations in 10 categories were recognised for their contribution towards the progress of a diverse and inclusive technology ecosystem in Scotland. Almost half of all individuals and organisations shortlisted are based in Glasgow (18), with 14 finalists from Edinburgh.

Amongst the categories, individuals from Arnold Clark, The Scottish Parliament, Morgan Stanley, IBM, FreeAgent, Edinburgh Napier University, Henderson Loggie, Insighting LTD and Grünenthal Group have been recognised for their passion, skills and dedication to progressing gender equity in their careers.

The Career Changer of the Year category is particularly inspirational, where individuals with academic backgrounds in psychology as well as the hair and beauty industry have been shortlisted. Those nominated in the category include Dr Clare Daly, Founder of Dynamigo; Tracey Aitken, Co-founder at HairTracker; Melissa Fogwill, Chief Technology Officer of Henderson Loggie; and Carolanne Devlin-McLean, Entry Level Developer at The Scottish Parliament.

As in previous years, the Inspirational Woman of the Year category will be hotly contested with five women in the running for the award. Those shortlisted in the category include Amanda Stewart, Managing Director and CTO of Illuminate Technology; Katherine Leyland, Software Test Engineer at 2i Testing; Prachi Agrawal, Executive Director at JPMorganChase; Megan Reutin, Global Head of Data Science and Strategy at Grünenthal Group; and Patty O’Callaghan, Technical Director – Head of AI at Charles River Laboratories.

Silka Patel, Founder and Chair of Scotland Women in Technology said: “Gender equity within the technology ecosystem is something that has been under threat for many years. However, as we have seen at a global level, it is vital that we recognise that the time for conversation is over on how we achieve this. What I love most about the awards is that each entry is testament to action being taken within industry and the fact we have received more than 300 entries this year – the most in the history of the SWiT Awards – reinforces the high regard that exists when it comes to driving diversity in Scotland.”

The winners will be announced at a prestigious awards ceremony in the Radisson Blu in Glasgow on Thursday 6th November. JPMorganChase is the 2025 Headline Sponsor the awards this year and CreateFuture are Gold Sponsor.

Mark Napier, Glasgow Technology Centre Lead at JPMorganChase said: “Investing in top tech talent is a strategic imperative for any company aiming to drive innovation and maintain a competitive edge, and women remain critical to that mission. The Scotland Women in Technology Awards is an outstanding event that honours the talented women in the tech industry in Scotland, and I’m proud to say that I work alongside many of them in our Glasgow Technology Centre.”

The full shortlist of nominees for the SWiT Awards 2025 include:

More information on the awards can be found here: https://www.scotwomenintech.com/swit-awards2025