Key takeaways

• Supportive leaders and collaborative teams can give technology professionals space to ask questions, share ideas and build new skills.
• As artificial intelligence changes how teams approach problems, curiosity and continuous learning can help technology professionals stay open to new ways of working.
• An employer of choice for technology talent can bring together meaningful technical challenges, opportunities to learn and grow, and a culture where people can contribute their perspectives.

Growing through support and collaboration

Technology is changing how Optum, part of the UnitedHealth Group family of businesses, is approaching some of health care’s most complex problems. Growing alongside that change takes more than learning how to use a new tool. It takes curiosity, a willingness to ask questions and opportunities to keep building your skills. The people around you can make a difference, too. For Lin F., support shows up when challenges get complicated:

“When we have difficulties or a hard problem to solve, [my managers] always stand with us together and help us to solve the problems.”

Lin F., Associate Director, Optum Insight

For Reshma B., it comes through collaboration and a sense of belonging:

“Working with the group of people that I work with every day, they are very kind, open, humble, and they listen.”

Reshma B., Director, Optum Technology

Those kinds of working relationships can become an important part of how you learn and grow. In technology, where the work is changing quickly, having room to ask questions, learn and test new ideas can help you build new skills and explore what comes next.

Curiosity changes the way you approach a problem

Artificial intelligence can give technologists new ways to think about familiar challenges. For Jordan W., that includes using AI to “pressure-test ideas, to develop prototypes, and summarize information.”

But new tools don’t eliminate the need for curiosity. They make it even more important. Jordan has seen that curiosity turn into action across technology teams.

That curiosity and willingness to learn can help technologists continue to grow as tools change. What problem are we actually trying to solve? Who are we solving it for? What can this technology really do? Could it help us look at the challenge differently? For someone building a technology career, learning to ask those questions can matter just as much as learning the newest capability.

Growth can mean stepping into something unfamiliar

Career growth does not always happen by staying with what you already know. Sometimes it means being willing to step into something unfamiliar.

For Troy K., career growth has meant being willing to step outside his areas of strength. After progressing through engineering and architecture into leadership, he saw an opportunity to take an individual contributor role that would allow him to build on the skills that he wanted to strengthen and he chose to make the move.

His experience is a reminder that career growth does not have to follow a straight path from one title to the next. Sometimes, stepping into unfamiliar territory can create opportunities to build new capabilities and broaden your perspective.

Growth can also come from moving across areas of technology, product and business, and from learning alongside people whose experiences and expertise differ from your own. Taking on something unfamiliar can create space to stretch your skills, keep learning and explore where your career could take you next.

You do not need to arrive knowing everything

Starting something new can also mean entering a team with different experiences from the people around you. Instead of focusing only on what you have not done, consider the unique experiences and perspectives that you bring to the team. Experiences gained on other teams or in other companies and industries can introduce different ways of thinking about familiar problems.

Jordan W. shares, “You’ll find that your colleagues around you are open to trying new things, and learning what you have to bring to the table.”

That openness can make learning a shared experience. You can bring your own perspective while learning from coworkers who bring experiences and expertise of their own. What you already know can become a foundation for what you learn next. What you learn from others can build on existing skills and perspectives to take with you as your career develops.

A workplace built for learning

When asked what has shaped her approach in her career in Technology, Renee E., Chief Technology Officer at Optum Insight, shares this:

That simple advice connects many of these employees’ experiences. Creating an environment where technology professionals can continue to learn, innovate and grow is part of what it means to be an employer of choice for technology talent. That experience is reinforced by external recognition, including TIME, America’s Most Iconic Companies 2026; and Fortune, America’s Most Innovative Companies 2026.

Growth can happen in different ways. It can come from learning a new capability, asking a question that changes how you approach a problem or stepping into an unfamiliar role to develop skills you want to strengthen.

As technology continues to change, staying curious and continuing to learn can help you build on what you know today while exploring where your career could take you next.