The Top 10 Female Entrepreneurs in the Field of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and robotics are still predominantly male domains. There are a lot of remarkable women on this list, but overall, women are still very rare in these traditionally male-dominated industries. It is high time that we acknowledge the significant contributions that female innovators are making to these fast-developing technologies and work towards eliminating the gender gap. Scholarships, more female employees, and more support for women in STEM fields are just a few ways that tech companies of all kinds and types can do their part to promote gender diversity. The future of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robots is unclear. But these pioneers will keep pushing young women to follow their passions and work in fields like engineering, technology, and computer science.
Read: The Top 10 Female AI Influencers for 2024
Top Female Executives Speak to the AiThority.com Editorial Team
This IWD, organizational diversity, and gender equality emerged as the top keywords during our discussions with the leading female executives based in the US, the UK, and India. Many organizations attract and retain female talent through diversity recruitment and career planning. Impact.com, for example, is a great example in this context.
Smita Pillai, Customer Success, impact.com said “The marketing industry has done a lot around diversity over the last couple of years. Nevertheless, we’re only just beginning to make tangible progress, and there is still so much to be done in fostering diversity both through the industry’s ranks and in leadership.
Inclusion in the workplace takes a huge amount of thought. It’s about stepping back, giving space for diversity to flourish, and dedicating time and energy to face uncomfortable truths around these topics. Discomfort is part of the process. It’s only through having open conversations about what makes people feel included that we (as an industry) can move forward with positivity. Mentoring and Coaching programs go a long way in developing talent through the ranks and giving them the support they need to thrive, while also offering managers the tools to lead their teams in empathetic, inclusive ways that encourage diverse points of view.
At impact.com, we’re always on the hunt for new ways of promoting greater diversity within the business. The impact.com Parental Leave program has been huge in bringing greater gender equality to the company.
I’ve also had the pleasure of hosting impact.com’s Coffee and Conversations panels, where we broach topics that people struggle to discuss openly (such as imposter syndrome and burnout). These chats highlight where impact.com stands on difficult subjects and help to develop company policy that makes people feel included and valued.”
We sat with Mary Wells, Chief Marketing Officer at Cloudera for a discussion on the occasion of IWD. Here is what she said:
Question: The New York Times’ list of top AI leaders highlights a significant lack of women on boards for leading AI companies. Any comments?
“The underrepresentation of women we are seeing in AI leadership, as highlighted by the New York Times’ list, shines a light on the gender biases we still see in the tech world. Addressing this from a leadership standpoint requires prioritizing mentorship and providing more training opportunities for women to gain the skills needed to advance their careers in this area. Establishing programs that pair aspiring female leaders with experienced female mentors for guidance and networking in the AI business landscape is a great first step to empowering women in tech.
Moreover, democratizing AI skills training is an essential piece in improving these statistics, as many women face barriers with breaking into job fields connected to AI. By investing in accessible online courses, workshops, and boot camps, we can promote a broader and more diverse audience.”
Question: What methods do you consider most effective for cultivating a diverse team? How do you prioritize collaboration within your approach?
“Cultivating a diverse team starts with hiring the best person for the role – regardless of gender – and creating an environment where everyone has a voice. Throughout my career, I’ve always prioritized collaboration and teamwork – it’s key to success – by encouraging individuals on my team to be vocal about their unique perspectives and at the same time listening to other differing views and opinions. Open and supportive conversations are vital for fostering inclusive environments with diverse teams where all contributions are valued, and everyone sees where they personally fit into the overall strategy.”
Manal Saho, Regional Business Growth Consultant at Preciso, shared her views on the importance of mentorship programs for women executives, especially in the adtech industry. Manal said, “The adtech industry – like many sectors – is lagging when it comes to gender diversity. It seems crazy that adtech isn’t doing more to benefit from the extra performance 50% of the world’s brains would provide.
I think many businesses struggle to know what practical steps might be taken to combat the issue, but there are plenty of great ideas out there ready for adoption.
For example, businesses must establish a diversity, equality, and inclusion policy and apply it rigorously. This will help shape how to improve gender equality. Flexible, paid parental leave is an obvious place to start, empowering women to look after their children while maintaining a career trajectory.
Full salary transparency is also a bold, brave policy that helps people understand they are valued, and avoids the murkiness surrounding the pay gap, while mentorship programs provide the opportunity for young women to make a start in an ad tech career.”
The underrepresentation of women in tech is not a new problem. It’s even weaved its way into the very fabric of technology itself. Gender bias in generative AI exemplifies how stereotypes lurk within the data used to train these models. Neglecting these biases risks perpetuating harmful stereotypes, and hinders the technology’s potential. To create truly inclusive AI, improving diversity in the tech industry is one critical approach.
Empowering women to pursue STEM careers through education and mentorship programs is key to building a more inclusive workforce. As more women join the ranks of developers, researchers, and AI leaders, this will bring a range of perspectives to the table that will be vital in developing models that reflect the full spectrum of human experiences. Organizations working on AI models should also leverage outside stakeholders to identify biases in training data. We need broad frameworks in place that include safeguards like explainability and data transparency, enabling innovation while also mitigating bias. This should serve as a baseline as regulation is too slow to address evolving issues. We must concentrate our efforts on developing ethical frameworks and best practices that ensure AI serves as an inclusive tool for all of humanity.
Tendü Yoğurtçu, chief technology officer at global data integrity leader Precisely
Many organizations are still missing a crucial element of DEIB initiatives – the representation in their data. While we like to think of data as being impartial, the truth is that human biases create data biases too. This presents a major challenge, particularly as the use of AI and automation grows. After all, AI models are a product of the data they are trained on. It’s already creating real-world issues – from impaired facial recognition software that less accurately identifies women and people of color, to inequities in healthcare provision, and more. To address this, businesses need to ensure that AI/GenAI and automation programs are being fuelled with high-integrity data – allowing leaders to make better, more representative, decisions.
“Ahead of International Women’s Day, it is essential for organizations to realize that AI programs need fuelling with high-integrity data. Data integrity is built on the core pillars of enterprise-wide integration, accuracy and quality, location intelligence, and data enrichment. By leveraging these pillars, organizations can ensure there is access to the right data, enrich it with trusted third-party datasets, correctly prepare it for use in intelligent models, and ensure data and AI governance. As sophisticated AI models continue to evolve in 2024, data integrity will play a pivotal role in unlocking their true potential, allowing organizations to elevate AI initiatives to new heights, and deliver trustworthy and dependable results that propel their business toward success.
Many organizations are still missing a crucial element of DEIB initiatives – the representation in their data. While we like to think of data as being impartial, the truth is that human biases create data biases too. This presents a major challenge, particularly as the use of AI and automation grows. After all, AI models are a product of the data they are trained on. It’s already creating real-world issues – from impaired facial recognition software that less accurately identifies women and people of color, to inequities in healthcare provision, and more. To address this, businesses need to ensure that AI/GenAI and automation programs are being fuelled with high-integrity data – allowing leaders to make better, more representative, decisions.Sandy Mahla, District Sales Manager, Datadobi:
International Women’s Day (IWD) is a good time to both reflect and set our sights on the work that remains. As a working woman in a field still dominated by men, I see how far women have come through sheer grit, determination and necessity to provide for ourselves and our families. The battles fought by previous generations like Grace Hopper, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, our moms and aunts make our journey easier. And, I am grateful for organizations, like Datadobi, that provide opportunities for employees to thrive based on their merits and contribute to their full potential. But there is still work to do. How is it that in 2024 we are still dealing with pay gaps, being passed over for promotions, and having to fight twice as hard to get a seat at the table? And why do we as women feel we must be more than fully qualified for a new role while our male colleagues are willing to “go for it” with half the experience? The hard work is figuring out how to build organizations that don’t just give lip service about diversity but genuinely hear and value different voices and perspectives. It’s easy for companies to initiate some training and call it a day on diversity. But creating a culture where each person feels empowered to speak up, turn off their phones at night, take their PTO and be part of something bigger than themselves is the trick. That’s the difficult part we’ve got to keep grinding on, day in and day out. Creating workplaces where people feel secure enough to offer new ideas, point out obstacles and discuss discrepancies without fear of reprisal is key.
International Women’s Day (IWD) is a good time to both reflect and set our sights on the work that remains. As a working woman in a field still dominated by men, I see how far women have come through sheer grit, determination and necessity to provide for ourselves and our families. The battles fought by previous generations like Grace Hopper, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, our moms and aunts make our journey easier. And, I am grateful for organizations, like Datadobi, that provide opportunities for employees to thrive based on their merits and contribute to their full potential. But there is still work to do. How is it that in 2024 we are still dealing with pay gaps, being passed over for promotions, and having to fight twice as hard to get a seat at the table? And why do we as women feel we must be more than fully qualified for a new role while our male colleagues are willing to “go for it” with half the experience? The hard work is figuring out how to build organizations that don’t just give lip service about diversity but genuinely hear and value different voices and perspectives. It’s easy for companies to initiate some training and call it a day on diversity. But creating a culture where each person feels empowered to speak up, turn off their phones at night, take their PTO and be part of something bigger than themselves is the trick. That’s the difficult part we’ve got to keep grinding on, day in and day out. Creating workplaces where people feel secure enough to offer new ideas, point out obstacles and discuss discrepancies without fear of reprisal is key.In the UK, retaining female talent is a very challenging task.
Marcela Oguntoye, Commercial Operations Director at SeenThis, said — “Recent studies by research agency Hallam and The Agency Collective have shown that in the UK only 40% of senior management team members are female. This is even though there are more women than men in the workforce (54%), which shows that the industry has a lot of work to do about retaining female talent.
International Women’s Day offers an opportunity to look at how female talent retention might be improved, with flexible parental leave a key consideration – as is ensuring women feel welcome and valued in the workplace. Unfortunately, many feel discriminated against for a variety of reasons, which might include their age and relationship status.”
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