Thank you
Thank you to everyone who joined us at The Merrion Hotel for our Women in Leadership panel. It was a genuine privilege to host a room full of senior leaders, from teams just starting to scale to some of the biggest names in Irish business.
A special thank you to our four panellists, who gave the room something far more useful than the usual leadership talking points.
What we covered
The conversation moved through some genuinely sharp territory, including:
- Why having it all might be the wrong goal, and what work life harmony actually looks like in practice
- How AI is changing what leaders spend their time on, and why EQ may matter more, not less, as a result
- The leadership habits that get dismissed as too soft, but deliver the harder result
- What imposter syndrome looks like from the other side, once you’re the one leading
- The real, unglamorous challenges of senior leadership that nobody warns you about
- Where Ireland’s pipeline for women in leadership stands right now, and what’s still stuck at the top
Get in touch
If you’d like to discuss more around how some of the outstanding women in the room can help you with your Salesforce journey please reach out to Aisling or Emma.
Please give us your feedback
Chief Commercial Officer | CarTrawler
Since joining CarTrawler in 2012, Aileen has been instrumental in the growth and expansion of CarTrawler, leading new partnerships within the travel industry over this time.
As Chief Commercial Officer, Aileen is responsible for the commercial success of the business in areas such as Commercial Strategy, Commercial Enablement, Business Development and Marketing. Prior to joining CarTrawler in 2012, Aileen was the Deputy Head of Ancillary Revenue at Ryanair, where she developed significant knowledge and expertise within the travel industry – specifically across ancillary revenue and revenue growth.
Aileen’s contributions to CarTrawler are particularly notable in fostering new B2B partnerships, facilitating the company’s expansion into new segments and establishing CarTrawler as the leading B2B technology provider of car rental and mobility solutions to the global travel industry.
Aileen is passionate about nurturing talent through development and coaching. She is a champion in driving high performing teams & delivering exceptional results.
Director of Global Customer Operations & Pay | Phorest
Lesley is Director of Global Customer Operations & Pay at Phorest, having spent over 20 years across payments and customer experience roles, including at Elavon and Cash App, before that. Phorest recently hosted a company wide AI Buildathon so this theme is critical for their strategy and planning.
Outside Phorest, Lesley volunteers with Mellon Educate, travelling to Cape Town to help build classrooms and playgrounds for under-resourced schools.
Country Leader, Ireland | Head of EMEA Sales Development | Salesforce
Nadja D’Arcy is Country Leader for Salesforce Ireland, where she leads the Ireland Hub of approximately 3,000 employees and helps shape Salesforce’s long-term growth and impact in the Irish market. She works closely with customers, partners, and public sector stakeholders to strengthen Salesforce’s role within Ireland’s technology ecosystem.
In parallel, Nadja leads Salesforce’s EMEA Sales Development Representative organisation, overseeing large-scale pipeline growth and early-career talent programmes across the region. She brings over 20 years of international leadership experience in global technology organisations
Managing Director | Cosimo Consulting Group
Jessica became Managing Director of Cosimo in October 2024.
Since then Cosimo has been named by Steadman Brown, in a LinkedIn post, as one of the fastest growing SMB Salesforce consultancies, and separately shortlisted for two Digital Revolution Awards, Consulting Partner of the Year and AI Innovation of the Year. Strong recognition for a consultancy that only launched in February 2025.