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We didn’t come to ask for a seat at the table. We came to reimagine the future — and architect it ourselves. The AI frontier isn’t a glass ceiling. It’s a blank canvas. And women are stepping in with bold strokes.
Inside the HP Customer Welcome Center in Palo Alto, I joined an extraordinary community of AI leaders, innovators, and visionaries at the EmpowerHer.AI Summit, hosted by FalconX Gateway and HP.
The mission was clear: Shift the narrative. Close the gaps. Lead the future.
Here’s the truth:
- Only 26% of AI jobs are held by women.
- 80% of the jobs most impacted by AI belong to women.
- Women are 2.7 times more likely to face career disruption from AI. And while only 2% of venture funding goes to women-led startups — we are building anyway.
📺 When KTVU 2 News covered our summit, they captured the urgency: this isn’t just about opportunity. It’s about ownership.
As I shared in my interview:
“AI is still a new frontier. But it starts with access — making it visible, possible, real. Women need to be ‘in’ to explore, create, and lead.”
I shared the stage with some of the most remarkable minds shaping the future of AI — and are building industries, advancing equity, and redefining leadership on their terms – visionaries like Sree Menon, Guayente Sanmartin, Anu Chirala , Ashley Finch , Deepa Vivekanandan, Navya Davuluri, PhD, Shivani Govil , Anamarie Huerta Franc, Praveen Mathew, Jocelyn Mangan, and Khaled Zubair.
Each brought their brilliance to the stage — challenging assumptions, breaking barriers, and showing what’s possible when audacity meets action. Together, we aren’t just imagining a better AI future — we are creating it.
One speaker said, “We’re not behind. We’ve just been building elsewhere.” That stayed with me — because it’s true. We’ve always been innovating. Now we’re claiming the mic, the model, and the mission.
Together, we aren’t just imagining a better AI future — we are creating it.
Why This Moment Matters
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), AI and automation will displace 85 million jobs globally by 2025 — but create 97 million new ones. The question isn’t whether AI will change the world. It’s who will design it — and who it will serve.
We are standing at a once-in-a-century crossroads where AI is reshaping everything — and if women aren’t leading, we risk building systems that don’t see us, serve us, or scale for us.
At EmpowerHer.AI, the mission is bigger than representation. It’s about democratizing AI creation itself — equipping women not just to use AI, but to invent it, reshape industries, and own our share of the future economy.
Reimagining AI with Women at the Helm
Women aren’t just future users of AI. We are the innovators, entrepreneurs, ethicists, and technologists who will solve today’s most urgent business and societal challenges — while expanding what’s possible tomorrow.
We’re not waiting for access. We are creating new frontiers, new opportunities, and new power structures. Starting now.
What Comes Next: A Vision for Inclusive AI Leadership
If we want a future where AI truly serves humanity, then we must:
- Fund women founders boldly. No more token capital. We need high-capacity investments in women-led AI ventures.
- Design AI with lived experience in mind. Diverse teams build smarter, safer tech — period.
- Teach AI fluency at every level. From middle school to boardrooms, AI literacy isn’t a bonus — it’s a baseline.
- Give women real access — not just event invites. We should be shaping platforms, policies, and procurement systems.
- Make the invisible visible. Highlight the women already shaping AI behind the scenes — and bring them forward.
This is more than a pipeline issue. This is about power, perspective, and presence.
This isn’t inclusion. It’s revolution. It’s audacious by design. And it’s already underway.
This was more than a summit — it was a signal. If you’re a woman in tech, AI, or leadership, drop a link to your work, startup, or research. Let’s amplify each other.
What’s one audacious way you believe women can shape the future of AI today — not 10 years from now?
