Lidiane Jones Named Top 100 Latina Powerhouse© JOSH EDELSON

Disrupters

Lidiane Jones

The future of dating apps


SEPTEMBER 29, 2024 3:00 PM EDT

Lidiane Jones's professional future solidified when she was 13 years old and had her first encounter with technology. Jones was involved in a school event in her native Sao Paulo, Brazil, where she won a scholarship to take a course in programming, creating a basis for her investment in technology. Jones continued her studies at the University of Michigan, graduating in 2002 with a degree in Computer Science. 

© Dia Dipasupil

Lidiane Jones Named Top 100 Latina Powerhouse

Her passion for technology paid off, with her acquiring an internship in Apple, right around the time when the brand's name and cultural imprint were on the rise. Shortly after, she got a job at Microsoft, where she stayed for 13 years. Her time there was valuable, having Bill Gates as a boss and allowing her to meet her future husband. 

In 2015, she was hired as the vice president of software management at Sonos, a tech company known for its quality speakers and home sound designs.

© JOSH EDELSON

Lidiane Jones Named Top 100 Latina Powerhouse

In 2019, Jones joined Salesforce, working as the Senior VP Product of Commerce Cloud. She continued to work there until 2023, when she joined Slack Technologies as CEO. Later that year, her career took another turn, becoming the CEO of Bumble, the dating app that has quietly revolutionized the dating industry.

"In Slack, I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about the user's emotional state. I wanted it to be productive."

Bumble is an app where women must take the first step in contacting partners, prompting a shift in dynamics that has proved successful. Through AI, users get help creating their profiles, picking their best photos, and generating conversation topics. 

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Lidiane Jones Named Top 100 Latina Powerhouse

"Users experience a lot of anxiety when they create their profiles. We're making this as fluid as possible. We want to understand your emotional journey." 

With that in mind, Jones puts Brazil, women, and Latin America as a whole in a high place, infiltrating tech, an indistry that grows more and more important with each passing year.