True fulfilment at work comes from more than just developing new skills or taking on leadership roles. It’s about aligning your passions and values with the work you do every day.

We spoke to Emma Adby, our Head of Global Marketing and Managing Director of AdaCore Ltd, about her career evolution at AdaCore from intern in Paris to Global Head of Marketing and UK Managing Director. Read on to learn how, through her passion for inclusion and diversity, she has been able to pursue projects that align with her personal values at work, all while helping to make our workplace more inclusive.

What's your educational background?

I studied International Business with French at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. During my degree, I spent a semester abroad at ESSEC Business School near Paris and completed a year-long internship in France. I chose AdaCore for my internship because of its affiliation with my university—it offered the ideal opportunity to deepen my understanding of international business while practicing my French.

After completing my internship, I returned to the UK to finish my studies. Upon graduating in 2015, AdaCore offered me a full-time role, and I didn’t hesitate to accept. At the time, I was only the second marketing intern the company had ever had, and the team was much smaller than it is today. This gave me the chance to take on a variety of tasks that aligned with my interests and to assume a level of responsibility rarely found in graduate roles at larger companies. What drew me to AdaCore was the opportunity to make a meaningful impact, something I felt would be harder to achieve in a large corporate environment. Additionally, being able to maintain and improve my spoken French in a professional setting made the role even more appealing.

How has your career progressed at AdaCore?

After joining AdaCore full-time as part of the marketing team, my career quickly gained momentum. Within a few years, I took on increasing responsibilities and set my sights on a managerial role. I began by co-leading the department as Marketing Operations Manager alongside the Marketing Director, which eventually led to becoming the Team Lead—a position I held for several years.

In early 2019, AdaCore presented me with an exciting new challenge: to establish a UK division, AdaCore Ltd, as its Managing Director. This role encompassed a wide range of responsibilities, including incorporating the UK company, setting up our Bristol office, and managing operations across HR, finance, and legal domains.

Today, I balance two significant roles: Managing Director of AdaCore Ltd and Global Head of Marketing, where I continue to support AdaCore’s growth and success.

Can you tell us more about your current role and what you’re working on?

As the leader of AdaCore’s marketing department, my primary focus is people management. Our team is currently tackling several major projects, including a complete redesign of the AdaCore website. Strategy also plays a central role in my responsibilities—I ensure that all our initiatives across web, PR, and events are aligned with the company’s global go-to-market strategy.

Equipping the team with the right tools is essential, so I’m working to strengthen our marketing infrastructure. For the website redesign, this involves creating rebranding materials and collaborating closely with other departments like Product Management and Sales to ensure alignment and consistency across the board.

In my role as UK Managing Director, I oversee financial and legal operations and participate in board meetings. With our UK team now at 13 members, I focus on fostering a healthy, high-performing environment that supports their success. Our Bristol office is managed day-to-day by an office manager, whose work I oversee to ensure smooth operations.

Apart from your main role, are you involved in any other global projects or committees at AdaCore?

Before the establishment of AdaCore Ltd, I had the opportunity to channel my passion for the Ada user community into meaningful action. Collaborating with AdaCore’s community advocate, I co-developed the Ada Advocacy and Community Circle team to enhance our support for the Ada ecosystem. Our goal was to strengthen community engagement and broaden our marketing efforts to make a more significant impact within the Ada developer community. One of our key achievements was launching the interactive e-learning platform learn.adacore.com. This platform helps developers learn Ada or SPARK from scratch or enhance their programming skills. The project allowed me to work closely with our engineering experts, which not only made the initiative more impactful but also significantly deepened my technical understanding of our products — a rewarding bonus.

In recent years, I’ve had the privilege of spearheading a project fueled by my passion for fostering equality both within and beyond the workplace. Over two years ago, I began discussing the concept of an Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) Committee at AdaCore. After completing training on “Managing Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion,” I started advocating for greater focus and investment in this area, believing it was an opportunity AdaCore should embrace.

Guided by my goal to create an initiative centered around fostering inclusion first as then diversity follows, I collaborated with the HR team to secure buy-in for a comprehensive I&D initiative. This involved forming the I&D Committee and securing both time and financial resources to support its launch. Through extensive research — analyzing industry trends, benchmarking initiatives, and preparing data — I developed a proposal that gained enthusiastic support from senior leadership, paving the way for AdaCore’s commitment to this mission.

In September 2022, I formally established the I&D Committee and introduced it during a company seminar.

In just over two years, our group has achieved meaningful milestones. We’ve launched an annual engagement survey, our I&D newsletter, and have made significant progress in leveraging data to drive I&D efforts. For example, we can now move to report on diversity related metrics, enabling informed decisions to promote equity. Additionally, we’ve implemented a full management training program to help leaders navigate critical conversations around inclusion and diversity and foster inclusive behaviors across teams.

Looking back, I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished so far — not only in creating a more inclusive workplace but also in delivering tangible benefits to the company. We’re looking forward to continuing our work and launching new projects in 2025.

What inspired you to set up the I&D committee and how has this initiative evolved over the years?

AdaCore is a place where there is a big focus on career development. There’s scope and flexibility to move around and be involved in different projects where your skills and interests lie. In the case of my I&D work and our Ada Community efforts, it was because I showed interest and motivation that AdaCore made this happen for me. There will always be opportunities here to work on projects that may be adjacent to or even totally different from your day job, as long as a business need has been identified and you have the passion to make it a reality.

As with so many businesses in the Software Engineering industry, there’s so much we can still do at AdaCore to improve our efforts in inclusion and diversity. Being mindful of our own potential biases and raising awareness means we can take action. Key areas for improvement are looking at our presence at conferences and exhibitions, as well as how we organize our own customer events, continuing to diversify our hiring pool, and partnering with organizations that can support us on our I&D journey.

We co-organize the High Integrity Software Conference, for instance, and have made significant progress in improving the fairness of our Call for Papers process. We switched from using personal networks to establishing an open process for anyone to submit their application.

What would you say to someone interested in joining AdaCore?

There’s always space at AdaCore for career development.

Working for a global company means I’ve had opportunities to work in different offices here. After starting out as an intern and then marketing executive in the Paris office, I’ve now progressed to becoming the Managing Director of our Bristol office in the UK. Equally, collaboration with different teams has meant that I’ve spent a lot of time in our New York office, so I’ve got to know different AdaCore environments and met a lot of interesting people, which I really enjoy.

What do you value most about working at AdaCore?

The people at AdaCore are a big part of why I’ve stayed here for over a decade. The company fosters a friendly, approachable atmosphere where collaboration comes naturally. As someone without a technical background, I’ve always felt welcomed and valued — colleagues are genuinely eager to share what they’re working on, both professionally and personally, and are open to collaborating.

What sets AdaCore apart is its culture of openness and respect. Employees are encouraged to express their thoughts and opinions, creating a motivated and passionate workforce. Our team is in some ways very diverse, representing a wide range of nationalities and backgrounds from around the world. It’s rare to work in an environment where you interact with such a variety of perspectives, and I find that inspiring.

Even though we’re spread across different locations, there’s a strong sense of connection and teamwork. At AdaCore, you’re not lost in a vast corporate machine— you can see the tangible impact of your work. And when you get to collaborate with people you genuinely enjoy working with, it makes the experience all the more rewarding.