Every year, March celebrates women’s voices and inspires constructive change around us by focusing on important issues. This year, the theme for International Women’s Day is ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress’. Gender equality and women’s well-being in all facets of life are more important than ever for strong economies and a healthy planet. However, the $360 billion gender equality deficit by 2030 is a major issue. In 2024, the top 10 female CEOs in the AI industry exemplify excellence, innovation, and leadership. Their contributions redefine corporate success and inspire a new era of inclusivity and achievement.

Read: The Top 10 Female AI Influencers for 2024

AiThority.com TechBytes Insights: An IWD Special

The tech industry has a long history of not attracting or retaining women. From 2012-2022, 80% of the total  capital invested by venture capitalists (VCs) in AI was raised by all male teams. Yet McKinsey Global Institute found that $12 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2025 by advancing women’s equality. There are powerful arguments about why to invest in women. Let us commit on International Women’s Day to inspiring and investing in women scientists and founders of Deep Tech companies who push the boundaries of “the possible” to address complex, real-world problems to create entirely new industries and business models.

Dr. Anastassia Lauterbach, Founder and CEO of AI Edutainment

“The ecosystem must work on increasing technology literacy across geographies, industries, and age groups. Building safe and beneficial AI can’t happen if people don’t understand the basics of data technologies. I created www.romyandroby.ai to educate children and their clever parents about AI and robotics through lovely storytelling and engaging illustrations. I hope more girls and boys study neuroscience, computational linguistics, physics, and computer engineering. And I am convinced AI will enter every professional path, even for those who have never graduated in technology. Democratising AI will take time, but it will allow a better future for the whole planet.”

Helen Yu, Top 50 Women in Tech, Founder & CEO.

“The journey to achieving quantum productivity improvement in knowledge industries through AI is exciting but realistically several years away. The challenge with Enterprise AI adoption is to deploy real systems that can extract corporate knowledge from diverse sources, seamlessly integrate this information with LLMs, and govern the process to comply with regulations and ethical standards. This must be achieved economically without compromising short-term staff cost savings. Identifying initiatives and individuals actively addressing these challenges is vital.”

As we honor International Women’s Day, I pause to reflect on my two-decade voyage through the dynamic tech industry. From Operations to Program Management, traversing Analytics, Enablement, Sales, and beyond, my journey has been a tapestry of collaboration, innovation, and personal growth. In the ever-evolving tech landscape, collaboration has been the catalyst for progress. Through cross-disciplinary partnerships and strategic alliances, I’ve witnessed firsthand the transformative power of unity. Each role has not only allowed me to contribute my expertise but has also granted me invaluable insights from diverse perspectives.

Together, we’ve tackled formidable challenges, pioneered revolutionary solutions, and pushed the boundaries of innovation. Whether in services or product realms, the ethos of teamwork and cooperation has been fundamental in driving positive change and shaping the industry’s future. This International Women’s Day, I take pride in being part of a community that values collaboration, diversity, and inclusion. Together, we’ve sparked innovation, nurtured creativity, and left an indelible mark on the world. Here’s to perpetuating the journey of collaborative innovation, forging a future where technology serves society’s needs with unwavering dedication.

The Top 10 Female CEOs in the AI Industry for 2024

CEO and founder of Moonhub, a people search engine powered by LLMs🌙. Moonhub is developing the most advanced AI-driven people search engine currently available. We assist teams in growing and finding the most qualified individuals for any opening by sifting through billions of public and private data points. Engage a broad pool of individuals who have been discovered by Moonhub and are flying under the radar. While pursuing a doctorate in computer science at Stanford University, Moonhub’s CEO and founder Nancy Xu had a revelation regarding the employment process. Recruiters, in her opinion, are missing out on 90% of the qualified applicants for open positions because their search engines are too narrowly focused on a smaller range of keywords.

Canadian artificial intelligence (AI) scaleup AltaML, of which Nicole Janssen is a Co‐Founder and co‐CEO, develops and deploys AI solutions for enterprises.

An industry-leading applied AI studio and developer of machine learning (ML) software, AltaML was founded in 2018 by Nicole and her co-CEO Cory Janssen. The company is renowned for its strong AI tools, pursuit of product opportunities through industry-specific joint ventures, operational efficiency, reduced risk, and new revenue sources for customers. Nicole spearheads AltaML’s expansion into new markets, including agriculture, banking, energy, and healthcare. Nicole is a dedicated advocate for ethical AI who has been honored by the Responsible AI Institute for her efforts in educating corporate executives. Edmonton Unlimited, Mitacs, and the Canadian Council of Innovators (CCI) are all organizations where she is actively involved as a director.

Also Read: Top 10 CIO Influence Interviews with Influential Women in Tech

After serving as chief financial officer at JD.com (a leading Chinese e-commerce platform) since 2020, Sandy Ran Xu was promoted to CEO three months ago. In addition to being a “great CFO,” Sandy had made substantial contributions to the company’s operations and “demonstrated profound insights about our business and strategic development,” as stated by Richard Liu, chairman of JD.com. Following its 2014 Nasdaq listing, JD.com diversified into e-commerce, logistics, health, insurance, real estate, and technology. The company has also grown internationally. Revenue increased by 30.1% year over year, setting a new quarterly record for marketplace merchants, according to the company’s recently announced second-quarter data. In 2018, Xu, a seasoned auditor, became a member of the Beijing-based firm. He is now the chief financial officer (CFO) of JD Retail and oversees the group’s finances, accounting, and taxes.

One of the biggest online travel agencies in the world was founded by Chinese entrepreneur Jane Sun, who is credited with growing the company from a startup to a multinational. In 2005, I became a part of Trip.com. Since then, the company’s market cap has increased from $1 billion to $26.13 billion. Today, the multinational listed on Nasdaq and HKEX has over 400 million users and 45,000 workers. Jane, who started in engineering, was made chief financial officer and chief operating officer before being named chief executive officer and founder’s successor in 2016. Known for her remarkable expertise in mergers and acquisitions, financial reporting, and the development of novel goods, Sun has established herself as a formidable figure in the global group and travel industries. She is also the sole female chief executive officer in China’s online travel sector. She was the driving force behind the Travel On project, which united the industry during the COVID-19 epidemic and revitalized travel with new safety standards and flexibility assurances.

Mikela Druckman, CEO of GreyParrot

The CEO and co-founder of GreyParrot is Mikela Druckman. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision (CV), GreyParrot develops software to track, audit, and sort massive amounts of recyclables. The CEO of Greyparrot, an AI garbage analytics company with a worldwide reputation, is Mikela Druckman, and her team’s goal is to drastically cut down on trash pollution and increase recycling rates. The Cleantech Group named Greyparrot one of the “Top 100 Global Cleantech Companies” during her tenure as CEO, while CB Insights named the company one of the “Top 100 Most Promising AI Companies” worldwide.
She has been honored with several accolades for her innovative spirit and entrepreneurial spirit, including the High Growth Woman Founder of the Year from the UKBAA and the esteemed Technology Pioneer from the World Economic Forum (WEF). Her experience as Chief Commercial Officer at Blippar, a pioneering UK digital unicorn, gave her a solid grounding in expanding AI computer vision technologies. There, she not only contributed to the advancement of state-of-the-art technology but also played a crucial part in the company’s expansion across Europe and the Middle East.

Anjali Sud, CEO of Vimeo 

Since 2014, Anjali Sud has been an integral part of Vimeo’s leadership team, and she now serves as CEO. She first joined Vimeo in the role of Head of Global Marketing. Sud earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Management from Penn and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard. Her focus (obsession) over the last decade has been on empowering video creators, by giving more people the tools to produce content and reach their audience. She had the fortune to do that at Vimeo, working alongside some of the most brilliant and passionate minds in the space to serve over 300 million users worldwide.

 

Jayshree Ullal, CEO of Arista Networks

Arista Networks named Jayshree Ullal as CEO in 2008. Silicon Valley Engineer to Executive for almost 40 years. Networking Industry, Board Member of Snowflake, Ex Board Member of Zscaler, Storesimple acquired by Microsoft. Her previous employers include Cisco, AMD, and Fairchild Semiconductor. Both Santa Clara University and San Francisco State University awarded Ullal with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in electrical engineering and engineering management, respectively.

Wrapping Up