The tech labour market is not shrinking. It is shifting: from mass hiring of “juniors who can do a bit of everything” towards a much more selective demand for people with concrete specialisations. This is particularly visible in Poland: according to the No Fluff Jobs 2026 report, nearly 60% of job offers are aimed at senior specialists, while only around one in twenty is addressed to juniors.
Where will your technical knowledge truly be needed?
The technology market is undergoing one of the most important transformations of recent decades. For years, young people were told: go into IT, learn to code, and you will find a good job. Today, that answer is far too narrow. Technology has moved much deeper: into energy, industry, medicine, finance, transport, space, defence, critical infrastructure and national security systems. That is why the question a young person should be asking today is broader: where will my technical knowledge truly be needed - and what problem facing the world, the economy or society will I be able to help solve with it?
This is precisely the question that the Perspektywy Women in Tech Summit 2026 seeks to answer.
This year’s Summit is taking place at a truly defining moment. We are witnessing several powerful processes at once: the AI revolution, the growing importance of cybersecurity, the energy transition, the rise of Industry 5.0, increased investment in defence and dual-use technologies, and rapid progress in quantum, space, semiconductor and nuclear technologies. These are concrete jobs, concrete projects, concrete laboratories, factories, data centres, energy grids, payment systems, medical platforms, satellites, reactors and algorithms that will shape our security, competitiveness and quality of life.
Our partnerships show very clearly where the market is heading. In one place, we bring together companies building AI systems, software, payment infrastructure, cloud solutions, health technologies, industrial automation, aerospace and space technologies, energy grids, cybersecurity systems, retail tech, data platforms and critical infrastructure. This is a response to the real needs of the economy: we need people who can code, analyse data, design systems, secure them, automate processes, understand complex technologies and work responsibly in sectors of strategic importance.
A particularly important area for us in 2026 is nuclear energy. Poland is preparing to build its first nuclear power plant in the Lubiatowo-Kopalino location in Pomerania. The project includes three AP1000 reactors, with Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe as the investor, working with the Westinghouse and Bechtel consortium. It is an infrastructure project of historic importance: for the energy transition, energy independence, national security and the development of the Polish economy.
And that is why, as the Summit, we want to be the first major platform for women in STEM, Tech & IT in Poland to bring the nuclear sector so strongly and so consciously into the mainstream conversation about future careers. We want to demystify nuclear energy: to show that it is not only about reactor physicists, but also about civil engineers, automation specialists, electrical engineers, cybersecurity experts, systems designers, chemists, materials scientists, radiation protection experts, lawyers, project managers, and specialists in public communication, quality, logistics and regulation. It is a vast ecosystem of competences.
That is why we are creating a dedicated space at the Summit: Nuclear. Powered by Women. We are working with Women in Nuclear Polska, the National Centre for Nuclear Research and Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe. We want participants to see what this sector really is: from science, through engineering, to large-scale infrastructure investment. We want to introduce the people who are building this sector from within. We want young women to see that there is a place for them in nuclear energy - and that they can enter this industry at the very beginning of its Polish history.
This matters deeply to me, because Poland needs strategic courage today. It is not enough to tell young people: “go into new technologies.” We need to show them which technologies will matter for the country, for Europe and for the world. Nuclear energy is one of them. So are smart grids, offshore energy, cybersecurity, AI in industry, quantum technologies, space tech, automation, robotics, electronics, semiconductors and defence technologies.
European reports show that this challenge is not limited to Poland. The European Commission points out that almost 80% of small and medium-sized enterprises in the EU struggle to find employees with STEM skills needed in ICT, AI and quantum technologies; at the same time, Europe wants to increase the share of STEM students and, in particular, encourage girls and women to choose these paths. The Digital Europe Programme 2025–2027 allocates €1.3 billion to AI, cybersecurity and digital skills, because Europe understands that technological sovereignty begins with people. Meanwhile, the European defence industry is facing rapidly growing demand for engineers, AI specialists, data scientists, mechanics and welders.
All of this leads to one conclusion: technical competences are becoming competences of security, resilience and agency - for individuals, companies, states and Europe as a whole.
The Summit responds to these needs on many levels. First, through its programme: we focus on the hot topics that truly define the present moment - AI, data, cybersecurity, quantum, energy systems, nuclear, biotech, robotics, industrial transformation, fintech, space, aerospace and critical infrastructure. Second, through the Career Expo: because young people need to encounter not only inspiring ideas, but also concrete companies, teams, recruiters, managers and entry points. Third, through mentoring: because one conversation with someone who has already walked this path can change the way you think about your own future. Fourth, through workshops and special events: because the market needs not only motivation, but also practical competences.
I also care deeply about speaking honestly about the transformation of the IT market. Computer science remains important, but the simple myth is coming to an end: that a short course and a basic portfolio are enough to enter a well-paid technology job. AI is automating some of the simpler tasks, companies are becoming more selective, and demand is shifting towards people who understand systems, domains, security, data, architecture, responsibility and the impact of technology on real processes. That is why we tell young women: learn programming, but do not confine your imagination to a single framework. Connect software with energy, AI with medicine, cybersecurity with finance, automation with industry, data with climate, electronics with defence, physics with quantum technologies, and engineering with social responsibility.
This is exactly the meaning of our motto: UNLEASH NEW ENERGY. Energy is electricity in the grid, but it is also human energy. The energy of young women entering sectors from which they were excluded for years - or to which no one actively invited them. The energy of companies that understand that diversity of talent is a condition for innovation. The energy of science leaving laboratories and entering the economy. The energy of a state that must build technological resilience. The energy of a Europe that needs its own competences, its own experts and its own solutions.
The Perspektywy Women in Tech Summit is where these energies meet.
We do not want young women to look at great sectors - nuclear, space, defence, quantum, energy, industry - as closed worlds. We want them to see in them their future workplace, their laboratory, their team, their company, their PhD, their startup, their mission. We want them to enter these fields earlier, more boldly and with greater awareness than previous generations.
Because the future of the STEM labour market will belong to those who can understand complex systems, work with AI, design secure solutions, keep learning throughout their lives and combine technical competences with responsibility for the world.
And that is exactly why the Summit is so needed today. It shows that the careers of the future have already begun. And that women must be at their centre.
