EMPOWERING WOMEN IN THE A.I. GOLD RUSH

Supporting female leaders can create a more equitable future for artificial intelligence and data.

COMPANIES ARE RAPIDLY WORKING TO IMPLEMENT, and realize business value from, artificial intelligence (A.I.) systems. In fact, 94% of business leaders believe A.I. is critical to success over the next five years, yet only 34% report having the A.I. talent they need, according to a 2022 study by Deloitte. As a result, many businesses are unable to develop the diverse teams needed to build a truly inclusive, trustworthy, ethical, and non-biased A.I. system.

“We need all perspectives at the table to inform the decisions we make with A.I.,” says Beena Ammanath, executive director of the Global Deloitte AI Institute. “If we leave half of our intellectual capital out of the A.I. lifecycle, we deprive our work of vital input that is needed for A.I. to contribute the most good in the world.”

Despite making up nearly 50% of the U.S. workforce, women specifically are still vastly underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) industries—including A.I. design and development. This lack of women in the field can increase the risk of gender bias reproduction in the algorithms and data behind A.I.-powered applications.

“When men design algorithms, it can be according to their own values and points of view, which can sometimes differ from women’s,” explains Kawtar Arahou, manager, risk advisory, at Deloitte France. “We can mitigate such inequalities by promoting gender parity in STEM education, fostering skill development, and supporting career growth paths for women.”

With this in mind, Deloitte opened the Deloitte AI Academy in 2021 to help bridge the technology talent gap by developing and reskilling today’s workforce with immersive training in the A.I. capabilities required for the digital economy. Academy participants can learn technical data and A.I. skills and how A.I. is being applied across different industries.

“A.I. is, above all, a human endeavor, so it’s vital that the people leading A.I. initiatives and programming A.I. models span all categories of human diversity, across a range of professional and industry backgrounds, to help ensure empathy and reduce biases,” says Gina Schaefer, managing director, A.I. and data consulting, at Deloitte Consulting.

As the adoption of A.I. continues, companies should take concerted steps to develop more women leaders in the A.I. and data field and equip them with the tools they need to identify and remove A.I. biases while interpreting data, testing solutions, and making decisions.

“My advice to women is don’t be scared. Be bold. Be very inquisitive. And always try to think outside the box,” says Reny Vargis Cheriyan, partner, consulting, at Deloitte UK, who leads the A.I. team aiding some of the largest financial services institutions in the U.K. “Don’t ever be bound by thinking you have to follow a particular process.” ■