Women’s Day 2023: Meet six women spearheading technology one code at a time

Representational image. (Photo: Christina via Unsplash)

The tech sector has long taken heat for its male-dominated “bro-culture”. Tech giants such as Microsoft and Google consistently report that women make up roughly 30 per cent of their workforce, with fewer still in positions of leadership or technical roles. The same disappointing numbers are also true of startups. What deters women from entering tech?

Apart from the gender stereotype of "boys being better at science and math" one of the main reasons for the small number of women in technology could be the lack of role-models for women within the sector. Although, in recent years there has been an increase in women entering tech roles in high positions, women are still in the minority compared to the number of male role models in the sector. According to Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Meta, “No industry or country can reach its full potential until women reach their full potential. This is especially true of science and technology, where women with a surplus of talent still face a deficit of opportunity.”

Thankfully, things are changing, albeit slowly. Big Tech is now facing a new reckoning with several smart, savvy and innovative women leaders blazing the trail and paving the way for future innovators.

Meet six tech luminaries shaking things up in the field of technology:

Debjani Ghosh
President, NASSCOM

Debjani Ghosh, president, NASSCOM

Meet the first woman to head NASSCOM in 30 Years! Prior to joining NASSCOM, or the National Association of Software and Service Companies, the umbrella body of India’s software industry, Ghosh was heading the sales and marketing function for Intel in South Asia. “We have to work towards accomplishing our dreams if we really believe in them. This will always involve taking risks and stepping out of our comfort zones. The worst that can happen is failure, and with every failure comes rich learning that can open up new ideas and opportunities,” she said in an interview. For a veteran of the technology industry, Ghosh’s background is surprisingly non-tech — graduation in political science followed by an MBA. It gives her a 360-degree understanding of the business, she believes. Ghosh was instrumental in developing "Think Digital, Think India" strategy aimed at establishing India as a hub for digital talent and innovation. “I don’t consider myself the ‘token’ woman because I do add value to whichever table I am at,” she said in another interview. Ghosh believes that learning never stops and a trainable mindset is the biggest strength one can have.

Rohini Srivathsa
National technology officer, Microsoft India

Rohini Srivathsa, National technology officer, Microsoft India.

A shining example of a tech role model is Rohini Srivathsa. In spite of a successful research and development (R&D) career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Srivathsa decided to move tracks and do an MBA. “I was rejected by every single business school I applied to. It really felt like a slap on my face. So I had to go deep inside me and really think about what I wanted to do. I went for a 10-day Vipassana course, came back and I reapplied. Eventually got into Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the US, and did my MBA. So, life will throw many curve balls at you. You need resilience to deal with them. And resilience, like any other skill can be learnt. But it takes some practice to dip into the energy deep inside you be able to take that next step when you feel like there is nothing to go on,” says Srivathsa, who also went on to do her PhD in computer engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Any advice for those looking to be in tech sector? “Raise your own tech intensity. You have to understand how tech is changing the industry you are in. How it is disrupting it? And keep learning constantly. There is also an issue of trust. So your awareness and engagement on issues around security, privacy, data, ethics and responsibilities are also important as you look at going deep into the sector,” she says.

Padmasree Warrior,
Founder-CEO of Fable

Padmasree Warrior, founder-CEO of Fable.

This innovation pro has a strong tech background — seven years as the chief technology and strategy officer at Cisco and 23 years before that as the CTO at Motorola. She is currently the founder-CEO of Fable, a platform for social reading and book clubs. It raised over $28 million in 2021. Warrior has also been busy on the boards of Microsoft and Spotify, mentoring other women in the tech industry and staying in touch with her 1.3 million Twitter followers. A Cornell-trained engineer, she believes a STEM education informs creativity: “Increasingly it's not about knowing all the answers but asking the right questions and figuring out how to get the right answer.” As a passionate reader and someone who built a company around the joys and benefits of reading Warrior believes that reading has incredible benefits for every aspect of our mental health and intelligence. “To assume that your mind cannot be improved by the collective wisdom of humankind, or be inspired by great works of art, or be expanded by another’s perspective, is indicative of a terrible failure of imagination.”

Komal Mangtani
Senior director & head of engineering and business intelligence, Uber

Komal Mangtani, senior director & head of engineering and business intelligence, Uber. (Photo: Twitter)

From Surat to Silicon Valley, Mangtani has had quite a bumpy ride. Coming from a conservative family in Surat, it wasn’t easy for Mangtani to choose coding as a career. “For me, computer engineering became a ticket to freedom, to independence. Coding was like my version of video games. You have to think, analyse, solve problems and if the code doesn’t work, it becomes even more engaging, to the extent that you forget everything else until it does. Soon, it became the answer to me becoming self-dependent, and finding some purpose in life.” After graduating in computer engineering Mangtani honed her skills at Wipro before moving to Oracle and VMware. She works extensively with communities such as Women Who Code and Girls Who Code, in order to increase access to computer science and encourage more female participation in technology. What’s her advise to aspiring women in tech?  “Don’t give up or underestimate your talent. Women, largely, just work hard and try to do the right thing every day. But sometimes that’s not enough. You need to know where you’re going and not be bogged down by failures. Have a clear purpose, and move towards it and don’t let anyone else define you.”

Neelam Dhawan
Independent director, ICICI Bank

Neelam Dhawan, independent director, ICICI Bank.

This tech veteran who has been instrumental in shaping the Indian IT industry had long and impactful stints with HCL, IBM, Microsoft and HP. During her tenure at HP, she built the "Omen" series of gaming laptops, showcasing her intellect and problem-solving abilities as she evaluated the global fall in PC shipments. Dhawan has some good advice for women in general. “If there is one thing I learnt in life, it is to put up your hand and say this is what I want to do. The worst case would be that people will say you aren’t ready for it. You just have to ask what do I need to learn to do it,” says Dhawan who believes women have the strength to run businesses very efficiently. “We are by nature are good at multitasking; it's in our DNA. Women normally have great ideas, but they keep questioning and doubting themselves. My advice is don't doubt yourself. You know what you want to do, so just do it. Listen to opinions, definitely think things through, but do what your heart tells you to do.”

Nivruti Rai Country head, Intel India

Nivruti Rai, country head, Intel India, was bestowed the Nari Shakti Purushkar 2022.

A well-known tech pundit, Rai was bestowed the Nari Shakti Purushkar 2022 for her commitment to women's empowerment. “I may not be the smartest person, but I’m a go-getter. I never give up,” said Rai at the award function. A native of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, she grabbed a bachelor's of Science in mathematics and operations research from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, followed by a master's degree in engineering from Oregon State University before joining Intel in 1994 as a hardcore technologist in 2005. She worked her way up to represents Intel India's product development activities in artificial intelligence (AI), 5G (fifth-generation cellular network technology), autonomous systems for SoC (system-on-a-chip), the Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud computing. “Stop worrying about technology taking away your jobs. Instead work toward reskilling yourself. Look at the jobs of tomorrow and build your skills according to that. Many of the jobs require a lot of EQ and it will take a long, long time for machines to get EQ. So, focus on building that EQ like capability and stay on top,” she says.