Disruption for success

From Ireland to San Francisco, Laura Hughes has had a sterling career in high technology, including time at Google and Airbnb. Now she is hoping to reform education with a new technology platform

Laura Hughes blazed a trail with Airbnb

Ireland’s bust years saw an estimated 200,000 people leave the country in search of a better life, but not all stories have the making of folk songs. Indeed, some Irish emigrants left in search not only of economic stability, but in pursuit of dreams.

For Laura Hughes it was a bit of both.

“I went to DIT, studied marketing and after that went to work in Google in Dublin,” she said.

A good ...