We spoke with Amanda Levay about taking the unconventional career path, how frustration can spur you on and protecting privacy.
For Amanda Levay, the founder and CEO of AI redaction software platform Redactable, it was never a childhood dream to break into the tech industry. Rather, via an unconventional journey, born of frustration, she began to ponder how she could address and mitigate the many challenges hindering her career in loan consultancy.
“I was working as a loan consultant and constantly dealing with documents full of sensitive information,” Levay told SiliconRepublic.com. “Redacting them meant drawing boxes over PDFs. Today most people use a black box to cover the information in a PDF editor, hoping it remains secure.
“It blew my mind that in our digital age this was still how things work. I started thinking there has to be a better way. That’s what pulled me in, not tech for tech’s sake but solving a real problem I saw every day.”
She noted that frustration often brings opportunity and if you are constantly faced with an issue, instead of waiting and hoping for a solution, take charge and be the answer you are seeking. You never know what your creativity and curiosity could spark when it is pushed in the right direction.
“If there’s something bugging you, some problem that keeps showing up in your work or your life, pay attention to it. That annoyance could be the beginning of something big. I never set out to build a company around redaction, but solving that one problem opened a much bigger mission, giving people control over their information. And I think that’s something worth fighting for.”
Identifying opportunity
For Levay, her foray into the tech space began with “wanting to fix something broken”, as she saw a repetitive and inefficient task and correctly assumed that she couldn’t possibly be the only person dealing with this issue.
“And I wasn’t,” she said. “That shift from being a user of bad systems to wanting to build better ones is happening all the time. More people are realising you don’t need a computer science degree to start a tech company. You just need a real problem and the grit to figure it out.”
She explained that every professional, regardless of their industry, could benefit from staying curious and seeking out new opportunities. “I didn’t come into this knowing how to build software or run a company, but I asked a lot of questions, found great mentors and was willing to keep learning.
“Resilience is also key. There were plenty of days I felt in over my head, but I kept going. Looking ahead, I think empathy is going to be even more important, understanding your users, your team, your market. The tech is only as good as the people behind it.”
Getting to that point, where she began to see Redactable grow from a concept, to a tool being used by government agencies was, for Levay, a key career highlight and one that demanded a commitment to continuous upskilling.
“We recently landed a contract with the US Air Force which was a huge moment and extremely validating for our work. But getting here wasn’t easy. I didn’t have a tech background or a clear roadmap for building a company.
“I had to learn quickly, make mistakes and keep pushing forward even when things felt uncertain. Fundraising in particular was tough especially as a woman and a first-time founder. But I kept showing up, kept refining the vision and eventually found the right people who believed in it too.”
Protecting privacy
When it comes to developing skills built for a modern and secure working environment, Levay is of the opinion that artificial intelligence, or AI is no longer just a popular buzzword. Rather it is a useful and crucial aspect of privacy-based technologies.
“We’re seeing tools that can intelligently detect sensitive information across documents without someone needing to go line by line. It’s changing the game in terms of speed and accuracy.
“There’s also a growing awareness around privacy, not just because of regulations like GDPR or HIPAA but because people are realizing their data matters and should be protected. That cultural shift is exciting.”
We are in an era where we are producing more data than ever before, via email, contracts, health records, personal documents and more, the majority of which contain information that ought not to be made public. Yet most people don’t realise just how vulnerable their information is until something goes wrong.
“The risks don’t just grow with the volume, they grow with the speed at which things are shared and the number of people who can access them. It’s like trying to manage a flood with a leaky faucet. That’s where better tools and better awareness come in.
“Privacy is going to move from being a compliance checkbox to a competitive advantage. People care more than ever about how their information is handled, and companies that take privacy seriously will build more trust.
“I also think privacy tools are going to get more intelligent and more invisible, integrated into our workflows without us even noticing, which is how it should be. AI will help make that possible, but we also need to build it responsibly with transparency and accountability at the core.”
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