International Women’s Day: AI Leaders Discuss Success in Leadership

In celebration of International Women’s Day, senior female leaders working in the field of AI shared insights illustrating how governance, finance, marketing, and people strategy together determine whether AI becomes a durable enterprise capability.

Trust as the Market Differentiator, Bridget Perry, CMO,  Amperity

AI is often framed as a race for faster models, larger datasets, and quicker deployment cycles. But organisations that treat it purely as a technical pursuit are discovering that performance gains mean little without the leadership structures that make them accountable, fundable, trusted, and sustainable.

When diverse leaders, including women, shape how AI is communicated and operationalised, the conversation shifts. It moves beyond technical capability to clarity, accountability, and tangible customer benefit. As AI takes on a greater role in automating customer interactions, trust becomes the defining advantage for brands.

The future of women in technology

Caitlin Stephens, Chief of Staff APAC, Eagle Eye

Seeing women leading in engineering, product, operations or commercial strategy changes what feels possible for the next generation of women and girls entering work, especially in tech or tech-adjacent industries.

On the surface the barriers may feel more subtle in today’s corporate world, but they’re real. Access and representation at the executive level and commercial sponsorship is still not evenly distributed. When women do have a seat at the table, our leadership styles and performance expectations can still be judged differently.

In quickly evolving areas like AI and technology in general, these types of  representation gaps risk shaping products in ways that don’t fully reflect the diverse people they are designed to serve.

Change requires an intentional and proactive approach to ensure women receive access to the same opportunities. Who gets recommended for the stretch assignment? Who gets introduced to the investor? Who gets amplified in a meeting?

One of the most powerful tools I have in leadership is the ability to provide sponsorship, to be someone who highlights and amplifies the talents of women based on their merits and unique perspectives and to back this up with policies, and structures within organisations that aim to remove some of the traditional barriers that can hold them back. Think parental leave, flexibility, Women’s ERGs and our very own “Purple Women” initiative at Eagle Eye, mentorship and leadership development.

Governance as Strategic Infrastructure

Dawn Lepore, Chairman of the Board,  Amperity

At the board level, AI is often misclassified as an IT initiative. That framing narrows the discussion to tooling and timelines, while overlooking systemic exposure: data quality, model accountability, bias risk, regulatory change, and reputational impact.

Effective oversight starts with recognising that AI reshapes decision-making across the enterprise. Boards that focus only on speed to innovation risk missing the operational, ethical, and governance dependencies that determine long-term resilience. True stewardship requires scrutiny of data provenance, control frameworks, escalation paths, and cross-functional accountability.

That level of oversight is strongest when it reflects a diversity of experience and perspective. Complex technologies demand broad thinking. When women are meaningfully represented in these conversations alongside other diverse leaders, risk analysis becomes more expansive and grounded in real-world impact. Questions extend beyond performance to customer trust, governance maturity, workforce implications, and societal responsibility.

Inclusive governance does not slow growth. It strengthens it. When diverse voices are part of shaping AI strategy, boards are better positioned to guide innovation responsibly and sustain it over time.

Also Read: AiThority Interview With Arun Subramaniyan, Founder & CEO, Articul8 AI

True justice comes from dismantling bias in AI and emerging tech

Kathy Lu, Account Manager, Client Services, Nexxen

Equity in innovation means designing systems with fairness, and ensuring AI reflects the diversity and values of the society it serves, where “all are equal before the law”.

Action is turning that belief into reality. I am an advocate for female leaders and for mentoring the next generation of young women and girls into leadership in tech. Taking action ensures the next generation of women and girls in STEM can thrive without the barriers that still exist today, to look at a career in tech without scrutiny or judgement.

I want to look into the future career progression and know I have the rights to equal access, so that women like me can contribute meaningfully without having to justify our presence at every step.

International Women’s Day is important to celebrate no matter what industry we are in, it fosters a culture of inclusion, empowering women to speak up and advocate for themselves

It becomes most poignant in the tech and ad-tech industry, as we are helping to shape the future world we live in. To programmatic media easing the process to selling and buying digital ad spaces, to tools like Meta AI, Galaxy AI ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Apple Intelligence, Claude (and so on and so forth) helping us write better emails and drive better outcomes, advocating for women’s voice amongst the madness is more important than ever.

Celebrating International Women’s Day shines a light to women in tech, inspiring the next generation whilst reinforcing the importance of building ethical and inclusive technology. Recognising women’s contributions strengthens the industry’s ability to retain talent and reduce attrition among women in tech.

Financial Ownership of AI Outcomes, Amy Pelly, CFO,  Amperity

Many AI initiatives stall not because of technical gaps, but because the economic model is unclear. Without a defined, high-value problem to solve with clear accountability and target success metrics, projects drift in pilot mode or fail to scale.

Strong financial leadership changes that trajectory. Clear investment thresholds and scenario planning connect AI initiatives directly to measurable outcomes: customer lifetime value, margin expansion, operational efficiency, and revenue growth.

This discipline is most effective when capital allocation reflects diverse leadership perspectives. Risk is surfaced earlier and portfolios are more balanced. Oftentimes, the greatest risk comes from not embracing innovation quickly enough. Financial governance turns AI from experimentation into a systematic method to accelerate progress against a company’s highest priorities.

AI and the career pathways for women

Pip Stocks, Director, Pip Stocks Consulting

It is important to look at balancing the scales in women’s careers as a whole in the age of AI. AI is removing many traditional entry-level jobs especially the repetitive, process-driven roles that used to be a young person’s way in. Pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone.

The real question is whether we respond with fear or redesign. We need to stop preparing young women for ladder-based careers and start preparing them to build, direct, and collaborate with AI.

The future belongs to those who can think critically, create value, and use intelligent systems as leverage, not those waiting for permission to enter through old doors.

Design the systems that are sustainable

Dr Anna Harrison, Founder, RAMMP

We talk about AI bias, algorithmic fairness, venture funding gaps. All real issues. But underneath it sits something far more basic: time. Cognitive bandwidth. Freedom from default domestic responsibility.

We can debate venture funding percentages and AI governance – and we absolutely should. But until domestic labour is culturally redistributed, leadership pipelines will continue to leak.

You can write policy all day long. But if one parent is still the default for school lunches, sick days, permission slips and emotional logistics, the scales are already tipped. Technology doesn’t fix imbalance. It amplifies whatever already exists.

What accelerates real, tangible change?

Sarah Richardson, Founder and Director at Australian Loyalty Association

In our industry, a lot has changed in loyalty because women have had a seat at the table. Loyalty used to be much simpler. When I started, mobile phones were hardly in operation. Now it’s about understanding the complex customer journey, commercial modelling, relevance, data, personalisation, emotional connection and AI.

Real, tangible change comes from backing women to trust their judgement, giving them space to shine, and removing systemic barriers. Our business is like a rollercoaster. Hang on tight or jump off. I choose to hang on to see the next chapter of this wonderful journey and to work with the exceptional women and people on our team.

Talent as the Durability Layer

Susan Hill, SVP of People,  Amperity

Even the most robust governance frameworks and funding models cannot sustain AI without a stable leadership pipeline. AI is an evolving capability that depends on institutional knowledge, cross-functional collaboration, and continuity of expertise.

The retention and advancement of women in technical and leadership roles are critical to this continuity. Sponsorship, flexible career pathways, and inclusive team design are key mechanisms that preserve knowledge, reduce turnover, and maintain strategic momentum.

Organisations that invest in these structures build teams capable of adapting to regulatory shifts, managing the model lifecycle, and responding to changing customer expectations. Those that don’t often find their AI strategies resetting with each leadership transition, losing velocity and institutional knowledge.

Also Read: Cheap and Fast: The Strategy of LLM Cascading (Frugal GPT)

[To share your insights with us, please write to psen@itechseries.com]