Breslin and her team were focused on amping up what Alexa could do and understand, with the ultimate goal of making a faceless computer programme feel like a personal assistant and a friend.

“It’s so rewarding to work on something that you know that millions of people are going to use,” she stresses. “You know that the programmes you’re developing are going to have real impact on people’s lives.”

Breslin is motivated by the direct impact her work has on the way we interact with computers. However, she observes that there is a general lack of awareness about the personal and tangible nature of tech – something she thinks is a contributing factor in keeping women out of the industry.

“It’s so much more creative than people imagine,” she explains. “There’s a lot problem solving and collaboration. The idea that you’re stuck in front of your computer all day coding is not true.

“The stereotypes around what a programmer is, and what it takes to work in technology, make a lot of people presume that they won’t belong.”

Looking back, Breslin says she would have just one piece of advice for her younger, more uncertain self. “Don’t give any weight to what other people think you should do.”

The Woman of the Week series is part of Stylist’s Visible Women campaign, dedicated to raising the profiles of brilliant women past and present. Find out more about the campaign here, and see more Visible Women stories here.

Meet the woman who teaches Amazon Alexa how to understand humans