Flash Memory Summit: Amy Fowler, VP and GM, FlashBlade, Pure Storage

Flash Memory Summit (FMS) and the Futurum Group announced that the SuperWomen in Flash Leadership Award for 2023 goes to Amy Fowler, VP and GM, FlashBlade, at Pure Storage.

Now in its 5th year, the SuperWomen in Flash Leadership Award recognises women who make invaluable contributions to the flash memory ecosystem and who serve as role models for women in leadership.

Over the past 20 years, Fowler has empowered women in IT by showing them the impact that they can have by embracing curiosity, seeking out challenges, and collaborating with teams to find meaningful solutions. In the industry, this was shown by her leadership as part of the team that launched FlashBlade. FlashBlade became available in 2017, achieving over $1 billion in revenue within 4 years of launch. It is approaching $2 billion in sales since launch. In addition to her business acumen, she regularly provides the women on her team with organisational visibility and opportunities to drive initiatives. In fact, she has long been involved in Women@Pure, an internal organisation providing an open forum where women and their allies aspire, develop, and collaborate to reach their potential, and serves as the executive sponsor of Pride at Pure.

“At Pure Storage Amy created the operational design of the FlashBlade business unit and built the organisational structure, strategy and product marketing surrounding this BU,” said Chuck Sobey, Flash Memory Summit general chair. “Her drive and passion in collaboration with Pure’s innovative teams, have allowed Pure’s customers to boost their Formula 1 race strategy, accelerate DNA sequencing, power key environmental research, and more. Without a doubt, Amy is a worthy winner of this year’s SuperWomen in Flash Leadership Award.“

“I’m honoured to receive this year’s SuperWomen in Flash Leadership Award. It’s been an incredible journey collaborating on the industry’s first unified fast file and object platform, FlashBlade. With our immensely talented team, we have succeeded in launching new performance-dense and energy-efficient versions of the FlashBlade platform – including FlashBlade//S and FlashBlade//E – to address the growing challenges of unstructured data. I’m excited for Pure to continue to innovate and expand our portfolio to eliminate the status quo and drive meaningful innovation in flash,” commented Fowler.

SuperWomen in Flash
SuperWomen in Flash was formed 8 years ago to promote and celebrate the success of women in the flash memory industry with the goal of encouraging more women to enter and succeed in the marketplace. It continues to grow each year and is supported by a broad group of women and vendors including Kioxia and Micron, this year’s sponsors.  SuperWomen in Flash draws all genders and nationalities interested in expanding enthusiasm and devotion in the storage industry.

“I am proud of the work the SuperWomen in Flash team has been doing to attract more women to our industry, and our SuperWomen in Flash Leadership Award program is a reminder of the talent women bring to the flash memory industry,” said Camberley Bates, VP and practice lead, The Futurum Group, and founder of the SuperWomen in Flash Leadership Award program. “As in previous years, we had many entries for the award, and choosing a winner was no easy task. On behalf of the entire team, I would like to congratulate Amy on being the 2023 winner of the SuperWomen in Flash Leadership Award.“

Special Peer Exchange Event
The SuperWomen in Flash event offers an opportunity to network with key industry players, and to see new products on display in the FMS exhibit hall. This year’s event will include a rapid Peer Exchange – covering everything from flash technologies to career advice from women who already play leading roles in this industry. Kicking off the session will be this year’s SuperWomen in Flash Leadership Award winner, who will share her perspectives on women in the industry, and how to drive more top talent to address the pressing needs of our data-driven economy.

During the Peer Exchange, attendees will meet talented women and men, and gain insight to help build your business and career further. Participants will be paired up for quick, 10-minute discussions on important topics, and will then rotate to meet with the next group to continue networking and gathering more knowledge.