Tes CTO Camila Kill：教育科技領域的技術決策不能孤立作出

Tes’ Camila Kill discusses the cross-collaborative nature of the edtech sector and how the decisions made by engineers can impact an entire organisation.

Having first begun her career in software engineering after a move from Brazil to the UK in 2005, Camila Kill has spent more than 20 years working across engineering, architecture and technology leadership. 

Now the chief technology officer at edtech Tes, Kill told SiliconRepublic.com that the biggest impact her previous experience has had on her current role is the ability to see how systems fit together, not solely individual projects. 

She said, “That’s particularly relevant in education, where schools usually run lots of separate systems and need technology that works reliably alongside what they already do.

“I’ve also learned that technical decisions can’t be made in isolation. In edtech, understanding the needs of schools, as well as privacy and safeguarding, matters as much as knowing how to build the technology.”

Educate together

Kill finds that the best technologies come from bringing together different perspectives under the same roof. 

She explained, “Engineers know what’s technically possible, product teams understand what users need and other specialists will challenge assumptions and spot potential problems early on.

“This is particularly important in edtech because a solution can be technically perfect and still fail if it doesn’t fit how a teacher or school leader works. As a technology leader, I want people to feel comfortable questioning assumptions, sharing their expertise and working beyond their own teams.”

It is a sign of good leadership, she believes, when you can merge alternating viewpoints early on, rather than waiting for problems to occur down the line. With this in mind, it is also critical that engineers consider how their role is evolving in line with the increased focus on cross-collaboration. 

Kill said, “Technicality is still the core of the role, but engineers increasingly need to understand how their decisions affect the wider product, the business and the people using it. 

“AI is a good example of this. It’s not enough to understand how to build or integrate a model; you also need to consider how reliable its outputs are, how data is handled and where human judgement is needed.”

For the edtech sector in particular this is of great importance as professionals in this industry regularly deal with sensitive information pertaining to young people and educational institutions. 

She added, “My advice to engineers starting out is to understand the problem you’re solving and why it matters. It’s easy to get caught up in the technical details, but that wider context is what helps you design better solutions and confidently advise both technical and non-technical stakeholders on the options and trade-offs.”

Fresh challenges

When schools depend on various systems that are not always in sync with each other, it can lead to gaps in knowledge and increased errors. This can be compounded by financial and operating pressures, so solutions need to be practical and have purpose, rather than being adopted simply because they are new or novel.  

“As AI becomes more widely adopted, trust matters more. Strong data protection, reliability and human oversight are what will earn schools’ confidence. Across the UK and EU, data protection laws such as GDPR set clear requirements for handling personal information, while the EU AI Act introduces additional safeguards for higher-risk uses of AI in education.”

Adequate representation is also of key concern, as for Kill, technology can’t develop in a vacuum, meaning “the people who build technology shape which problems get prioritised and what assumptions are made”.

She said, “If decision-makers have similar backgrounds, needs will get overlooked. Having moved from Brazil to the UK early in my career, I’ve experienced what it’s like to find your feet in a new country while building a career in a male-dominated industry. 

“At one point, I was offered the chance to move into marketing at Expedia, but I chose to stay in technology. I felt a responsibility to keep progressing in a technical leadership role and hopefully help open doors for other women.”

Kill urged those starting out to be curious and unafraid to move between disciplines.

“The people who I’ve seen grow fastest in my career were the ones who were interested in the problem, not just the code. With the onset of AI, the human ability to understand a problem and think critically about how to solve it will only become more valuable.”

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