AI and Mentorship: A Match Made in Heaven with Inga Driksne
Ever wondered how Ok Mentor actually works?
Us too.
That’s why we caught up with Inga Driksne, Ok Mentor’s Director of Product, whose decade-spanning career has been focused in the tech and operations spaces.
Inga currently advises startup founders and solopreneurs on Strategy and Operations, whilst building out her passion project Welcoming Grief - providing safe containers for people to connect to their grief and live more fully.
Inga sat down with us to explain how mentors and mentees get paired, talked about her experience mentoring and being mentored, plus shared her tips on finding a role.
On Ok Mentor’s matching process…
We’re working with a platform provider, Intros AI, and they enable a beautiful AI-driven algorithm for matching.
Usually, we'll have mentors and mentees who sign up to a platform throughout the year and then two times a year we run mentoring cohorts where we invite people in for a crash mentoring programme which lasts up to 3 months at a time.
Once this happens, the platform matches mentors and mentees based on a number of things; especially years of experience, what support areas they are looking for, industry and personal interests.
One thing that is really important to mention here is that some mentors and mentees might not be from the same industry. We've had so many successful matches in previous cohorts where it really comes down to soft skills or the support areas that people are looking for.
An example, you might be up for promotion in three months time and you really need that support from your mentor to help figure it out. You need to think about how you present yourself, what values you bring up, how you negotiate and more so–how you even start the conversation.
That's why we also do short, three-month-long cohorts because they focus on very specific challenges, issues at work, or something project-based that our incredible network of mentors can support.
On mentoring as a concept…
Mentoring as a whole concept is beautiful because you see a lot of women who are starting off or maybe changing careers getting support from other women who have gone through the same experiences, changes, and transitions.
We have one life to experiment and try things, and mentors can help you do just that–mentally–or with something specific you're going through that is tough.
On the experience of being a mentee…
I was seeking out my first Mentor when I was 25, and I managed to get a recommendation through a network.
I was very proactive in wanting to find a mentor because when you work directly with a Founder, it's tricky to also rely on them as your mentor. I've also always worked with male Founders, which made my experience a little limiting–I’ve never had a female founder role model.
My first mentoring experience was incredible - we still speak today, in fact. It's been so many years since we connected and I still send her birthday gifts.
My first mentoring memories are really solid and precious to me, but I would say that it required a lot of proactivity from my side to build that kind of strong relationship. I was very much in the driving seat to find her, to reach out to her, to research her, to make sure that we got on the scheduled calls, and I came prepared for those calls with e.g. 3 topics that I wanted to discuss on the day.
This really helped with building a strong foundation because mentors are busy women running businesses, leading teams, inundated with their own work and so, they’re really short on time.
As a mentee from a mentor's perspective, it's on you to be proactive and come prepared.
On the experience of being a mentor…
I've mentored other operational professionals, women in the Tech space and through OK Mentor for some time and it's been incredibly rewarding.
You get to truly practise your coaching skills in a load of different ways, by active and reflective listening, critical thinking and guiding your mentees.
Instead of just advising, it’s more impactful when you ask the right questions and let your mentees figure out what actions they should take next on their own. .
I love connecting people - I’ve built a big network over the years, so if there’s someone I can introduce my mentee to - it truly fills me with joy.
On approaching a mentor…
Regardless of whether you’re dealing with a very particular problem at work or you need some support in a specific industry, it’s always the right time to consider getting a mentor.
Posing a specific question to a potential mentor can really kick-start a conversation and can feel less daunting and official than a direct request for mentorship.
Something like, “Hey, can you mentor me for the next six months?” can feel like a big commitment from both sides.
Instead, you could reach out with something like, “Hi, I read your recent piece on e.g. “how to communicate and manage a team better”; I'm currently in a position where I've just started managing a team and I would love to speak to you on this topic for 15 minutes–can I treat you for coffee next week?”
On following your curiosity when you want to change careers…
The current market is tough, competition is stiff, there's a lot happening in the world with AI and markets are saturated across every industry - no wonder people can feel a bit lost right now.
I’ve recently read an incredible book and I’ve already recommended it to a lot of people – Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. The key takeaway that resonated with me and I integrated into my day-to-day life, is to follow your curiosity.
If you are someone who's never had a job and you're not sure which direction you want to go in - that's quite a tough place to be because you won't know unless you try it.
The best way is to try new things and follow your curiosity.
I got really curious about neuroscience whilst going through a work transition and even considered doing a master's degree. However, I paused and thought, maybe before I enrol into University again, let me do an online course first. It was pretty intense and showed me which parts I enjoyed and which I didn’t.
That's a good place to start for someone who, say, is interested in publishing, but doesn’t have a huge amount of initial knowledge in the space. If they were to volunteer or support someone on a project in the first instance, they would end up in a much better position to know if it is something they want to pursue further.
It comes back to proactivity – in this world, we really need to be the masters of our own lives, so if you want something, you really have to go after it.
That's how I feel about someone who's thinking of changing careers.
What works really well is speaking to as many people as you can– this can be old colleagues, people who have gone through similar transitions or even friends.
When you start speaking to people and understand what and why they’re doing something, it provides you with data points about what you could be doing or what you don't want to do.
Be proactive in reaching out to your network, e.g. “Hey Jess, I'm thinking about changing my career. I've been in the tech industry for 20 years and I want to explore the creative space. Do you know anyone who I can speak to about this?”
You do that with 10 of your friends and at least one person is bound to come back with recommendations about what you could do next, or an introduction to someone you should speak to.
______________________________________________________________________
Want to stay up-to-date with our events and get the latest advice from our experts? Head to and follow OK Mentor’s channels to stay up-to-date with all of our online and offline events.