"I am happy to show women that intelligence is a beautiful and attractive thing"
Lina Flat has turned cyber, algorithms, and quantum computing into successful online content. In a conversation with mako, she shares why she rejects almost every commercial offer, why she does not trust AI with closed eyes, and how she turned being a woman in a male-dominated industry into an advantage.
Social networks are not exactly known as a place that encourages serious content or depth — quite the opposite. But 26-year-old Lina Flat decided to use those same platforms to talk about cyber, machine learning, algorithms, and quantum computing. Flat, originally from Ashdod and currently living in Tel Aviv, has been working full-time for the last six months at the cyber company Echo while simultaneously studying for a master's degree in machine learning.
"I had an affinity for mathematics and programming from a young age," she says. "I loved mathematics very much, and it was prominent in school as well. My parents are from the field. My mother is a programmer and my father works in the world of development, so it was always something very natural for me." According to her, the fact that her mother worked in programming also influenced how she perceived her place as a woman in the field. "Many say there aren't enough women in engineering and STEM professions, and I think there is a direct connection to what we see at home. Because my mother was from the field, for me it was never strange. It was clear to me that this is something I could do too."
The idea to create technological content came during the third year of her computer science studies. "An American creator who makes videos in this style popped up. I looked at her and said, 'Wow, I'm going to be that girl.' It wasn't something I planned, and I didn't think it would become a central thing in my life. Within two or three weeks, I had already uploaded the first video — and it exploded." Her first video explained what an API is. A year and a half later, she admits it's hard for her to watch it. "I look at it and say, 'What is this thing? With what courage did I upload this?' But in retrospect, I wasn't really afraid. I just said that this is what I want to do and I don't care what people say."
Despite the success, Flat does not define herself as an AI influencer. "When people say 'AI influencers' today, they usually mean people who explain how to adopt AI in daily life or implement it in a business. That's less of what I talk about. I talk more about machine learning, cyber, and quantum computing. I am more in the educational world." Although she uses AI for research and refining sentences, she insists it should not write for her. "People might expect me to have an AI agent that sets tasks for me and prepares a brief for me every morning, but that's not really what happens. I was a tutor and a private teacher, and that helps me understand how to explain things." Even when she uses a chat, she does not take its answers for granted. "I can send it for an hour of research, but then I ask, 'Bring me the source from which you brought this data.' Precisely because I understand AI, I don't trust it one hundred percent. I always look at the studies and check the sources."
Why do you think deep content is so successful on social networks? "First of all, it's new. It doesn't exist in Israel, at least not much, and abroad it does exist. The second thing is that my content is not generated. I really sit and learn and write the script the way I would want to be taught. I think my background in teaching helps me a lot." Creating the videos joins a full-time job and a master's degree. "It requires proper time planning and filtering of tasks. I work hard, unequivocally, but everyone here at the office works hard. I don't think I work harder than the guys here. My profession is very related to my curiosity. If something that interests me is published on Friday, I will read it on Friday. It's part of me."
At Echo, they knew in advance that her content activity would continue even after she joined the company. "They allow me to create content that isn't necessarily directly related to cyber, to go to conferences, and to do my own things. It's important to them that I succeed with my brand no less than it is important to me." This activity also led to connections with NVIDIA, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and AWS. In the past, large companies worked mainly with reporters. Today, they are adding another group of content creators who publish and talk about technologies. Soon, Flat is expected to fly with content creator Noa Zilberman to NVIDIA's GTC conference in Berlin, after a previous trip to the conference did not materialize due to the war. "It's a privilege and I'm really excited."
However, she is still trying to understand where this activity could develop. "I don't have anyone to learn from or take business inspiration from. Will I be a full-time influencer? What should it look like? I don't have a model I can look at and say, 'This is how it's done.'" According to her, she receives at least one collaboration offer a day, but rejects most of them. "I don't want this to be my economic model and I don't want to do collaborations just for the sake of doing them." One of the few collaborations she approved was with a pension agency, because financial awareness is a topic she believes in. Even then, she asked to keep the DNA of the videos and provide educational value to the viewers.
And what about campaigns, coupons, and invitations to events? "I don't want to sell coupon codes. They offer me retainers or to come to events, but most of the entities that pay today don't necessarily fit my content. There will always be startups that want to pay and PR people who will invite me to a party, but I need to focus my time and deal with what is important to me." According to Flat, her success has another factor. "I have no doubt that being a girl is an advantage. This might be an unpopular opinion, but for me, being a woman in this industry is an advantage, not a disadvantage. There are disadvantages to being a woman in men's worlds, but there are also advantages, and I take them to my benefit."
What are the disadvantages you feel today? "At the moment I don't feel them, I won't lie. I know that it will probably meet me when I become a mother. Motherhood occupies me to the level that I plan my career accordingly. I know that in three years I will probably want to be a mother, so I want to build my career in a way that will allow me to be in a stable and independent place then too." Flat emphasizes that she did not start creating content out of a conscious desire to promote women's empowerment. "I just did something that interests me. When people write to me, 'Wow, you're doing women's empowerment,' I say that wasn't my goal. But I do see how much room there is for a personal example. I am happy that I can influence women and show them that intelligence is a beautiful and attractive thing."
From her perspective, the way to bring more women into technology starts in childhood. "It starts with what we see at home, at school, and on the internet. A little girl can see me on Instagram and say, 'Wow, how cool is what she's doing, I want to do that too.' The very fact that I opened her mind in this direction could lead to a change in the balance of power." In the future, she considers integrating into the worlds of venture capital and the tech industry, but she does not intend to give up on content. "My advantage is knowing a little bit of everything, seeing the big picture, and making it accessible. I will continue to do this. It's the thing that is most interesting and fun for me in the world. I love it."
