At just 19 years old, Natasha Hougaard made a decision that would shape her future. She chose to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, long before AI became a global buzzword. Back then, the program was still in its infancy, and Natasha was part of only the third class ever admitted.
“There were just 20 women out of 120 students. It’s gotten a little better since then, but there’s still a long way to go,” she recalls.
The field itself was very different at the time.
“When I started, we were building super simple facial recognition systems. It’s crazy to think about how far the technology has come in just a few years, further than I could ever have imagined back then,” Natasha says, adding that she still thanks her 19-year-old self for choosing a path that felt uncertain and untested at the time.
Today, Natasha is 24 and the Co-founder and CEO of Skjoldet, a company working to make the internet a safer place for everyday users. She also serves on the board of DTU and is passionate about helping shape the tech industry so that more diverse profiles feel inspired to join.
“If we want a more representative industry, it has to start at the universities. It matters to see someone who looks like you,” she says.
At Skjoldet, they also experience firsthand the challenges of gender imbalance in tech. Even though the company has built a well-balanced team of eight employees, finding qualified female candidates for new roles isn’t always easy, simply because there aren’t enough women in the field.
“We’d love to see a bigger talent pool with more diverse profiles to choose from,” Natasha explains.
An Idea Born Out of Necessity
The idea for Skjoldet came after an incident in her co-founder’s network, where someone was scammed out of 20,000 DKK through a fraudulent link. A situation that could have been avoided with the right tools. With their combined expertise, Natasha and her co-founder decided to create a solution themselves.
The result was Skjoldet: a free browser-based tool that uses artificial intelligence and advanced security algorithms to warn you in real time if you click on a potentially fraudulent link.
“It’s about giving people peace of mind online. We use AI to detect scam sites before you get caught in the trap,” Natasha explains.
Since then, the company has secured funding and grown to a team of eight. The journey hasn’t been easy. It’s taken hard work, countless conversations, and the courage to step into the unknown. Natasha credits much of their progress to simply daring to act, saying that a good idea means little without execution. She encourages others to reach out to their networks, ask questions freely, and not be afraid of taking the leap even when everything isn’t perfectly in place. “Opportunities come to those who move, not to those who wait,” she says.