It’s not a given that everyone has access to technology, notes Nat Lyckowski, global neurodiversity advancement leader, IBM. But tech can provide opportunity for many, including people who are neurodiverse.

Lyckowski joined WorkingNation’s editor-in-chief Ramona Schindelheim for WorkingNation Overheard at CES 2024 in Las Vegas to share her thoughts on how technology is changing the manufacturing industry and how Siemens is keeping up with the changes.

Lyckowski – who identifies as neurodivergent – says technology has been transformative. “I look at all of the tech that we have today, and I think of myself struggling 20, 30 years ago trying to get through college, trying to get information, just trying even to find community and peer support, empathy, and not be so alone.

“I think tech has changed for all of those things. It’s allowed virtual safe spaces for neurodivergents to come together. It’s helped remove biases and blockers for people who read differently, who need to process information differently. And all of the tech that’s been put in place for people with disabilities or differences really goes to that human universal design.”

She notes, “IBM is part of the Disability:IN Neurodiversity@Work Employer Roundtable, which is another great thing where companies are coming together to share best practices. And a lot of these companies are competitors in the real world, but everyone is coming together because this is so important.”

About her attendance at CES 2024, Lyckowski says, “While IBM is here to feature our amazing things that we’re doing in quantum, in AI, and cloud – one of the other great things that I think we’re doing is focusing on one of the most important resources on our planet, and that’s people.”

Learn more about IBM.
Learn more about CES 2024.

Funding for WorkingNation Overheard at CES 2024 was provided, in part, by Walmart.