Treasures of the unexpected: the tech career of Betty le Cao McIntosh (EDHEC Master of Science 2011)

As Senior Business Development Manager at Alibaba Cloud, it is Betty le Cao McIntosh’s job to help American companies say “Open Sesame” to the Chinese and Asian market through an integrated suite of cloud products and services. Based in Nevada and working mainly with large, often Fortune 500 businesses, she supports clients stateside to use the company’s infrastructure cloud service in Asia to enhance their network, boost their business in the region, and achieve local compliance. 

However, for all her success, a career in the tech industry was not always on the cards for Betty, who graduated. “I got my degree in Business Administration in 2009, the year of the worldwide financial crisis, and graduated with an EDHEC Masters in Risk and Asset Management the following year. I knew it was going to be hard to get a job in the finance sector,” she says, “so, in January 2011, when I found an internship at a Paris-based software company called Euris, I was open to other options. That job put me on a most unexpected career path that has led to my living and working in Nice, Paris, Beijing, San Francisco, and now Nevada.”   

Betty’s journey began in the city of Xian in China, where she was born and raised. An exchange programme at university there took her to the Montpellier Business School in the south of France and then to EDHEC’s branch in Nice. If Betty’s tech career seems to have been a result of circumstance, and perhaps fate, her arrival at EDHEC for her Masters was very much a conscious choice on her part. 

“In Montpellier, I simply fell in love with France, and I knew I wanted to stay. I also knew that I wanted to do my Masters in Finance, so EDHEC was the obvious choice for me. In fact, it was the only postgrad programme I applied for; what a bold and risky move! I’m so lucky I was accepted.”

At Euris, Betty found support in the form of two managers who quickly became mentors for her. When they moved to Veeva Systems, they persuaded her to jump with them, which led Betty to return to her native China for a while before another international move took her to San Francisco. In 2019, she accepted the position of Senior Strategic Sales Executive for Tencent Cloud before joining Alibaba Cloud in 2021. 

While Betty is modest about her achievements, saying “I was often in the right place at the right time”, she clearly brings a lot to the table in each of her roles. “I bring together a very international profile with an experience in tech that is quite niche,” she says. “There aren’t many people who do what I do. In my job, it’s important to understand both sides of the equation—to know our offer well but also to understand where our customers are coming from.”

Betty also brings infectious enthusiasm and energy to her work. “I really enjoy using my Chinese heritage in my job,” she explains. 

“Alibaba is doing well globally, and we’re doing valuable work helping big international companies get a foothold in the Chinese market. I love being part of a small US team within a giant global company. I really feel like I have impact. We have the funding that goes with a large organisation but the autonomy and flexibility of a small group. And, of course, I love working in an international environment, talking to people with different backgrounds and a global mindset.”

Betty is keen to thank the mentors she has encountered along her journey, and also acknowledges the advantage of having the prestigious EDHEC name on her resume. “The EDHEC stamp of approval has helped me unlock opportunities, as has the school’s alumni network. I am an EDHEC Alumni Ambassador, which means I help organise local alumni events, and it is always so helpful to get advice and guidance and expand both your professional and personal network.”

When asked what advice she might give to EDHEC students or graduates, Betty laughs, “Be more confident! It’s so easy to get frustrated and give up when you’re young, inexperienced and your network is small. Job rejections can be brutal, and you can feel so defeated and unsure of your own worth. If I could, I would tell my 20-year-old self: ‘Know what you want and then work for it. Whether you receive 10 rejections or 100, just find your niche and grow from there’.”