User Empowerment and Strategic Initiatives: Q&A with Tuba Kacikoc, VP of Strategic Programs at Quickbase

Tuba Kacikoc has spent most of her career in the technology space. Born and raised in Turkey, Tuba started out as an engineer and has held many roles in the technology sector ever since. We sat down with her to talk about her new role as VP of Strategic Programs at Quickbase, as well as the opportunity in the market.

Tuba, tell us a bit about your background and what has brought you to Quickbase?

I grew up in Turkey and studied for computer engineering in Istanbul. After receiving my undergraduate degree, I went directly into system technology consulting. I moved to the U.S. to get my MBA at Northwestern University and spent 4 years at McKinsey post-graduation. I later joined venture-backed technology companies to drive business strategy and operations, including Qualtrics, which was sold to SAP for $8B a couple of days before its planned IPO.

What has brought me to Quickbase is a very strong product that customers love. I also believe this is just the beginning for the no-code/low-code space. There is a ton of adoption in the market and a huge opportunity for us to be a part of this growth story. I also wanted to join this visionary leadership team that has a focus on diversity and inclusion. Finally, getting to work with Vista Equity Partners on their best practices is a huge plus to this role, because they have proven to be very successful.

Now, tell us a bit about your role at Quickbase, with it being a new role to the organization what are you hoping to accomplish?

My role as VP of Strategic Programs is about identifying opportunities for strategic growth, evaluating those opportunities, and bringing them to life in the business with the rest of the senior leadership team. My role is at the center of everything, I need to work with each functional area end–to–end and help understand what goals they are running to and make sure we are consistently and cohesively operating to achieve our growth objectives

Quickbase is in a unique position to really change the way business think about digital transformation, what is your perspective on the impact we can make?

I really think it is about user empowerment. If you look at our user base it is full of citizen developers without typical technical backgrounds that can quickly build workflows and applications. Also, when you look at the market, there is a tech talent shortage. Companies need to empower other users to help with building applications and empower them with the opportunity to solve business problems quickly.

What are you most excited about in your new role?

The opportunity is big and there are so many things to learn and shape, Quickbase has a 20 year history but, in many ways, still operates like a startup. We’re at the very beginning of the next chapter with a product that is proven. I’m excited about this journey. I’m currently on the West Coast and meetings have me up very early over on PST, so I’m excited to be back on the East Coast and to meet my new co-workers in person once we do go back to the office.