Women in Cloud is focused on creating economic access in the AI-powered economy. From your perspective, how can emerging technologies become stronger enablers of inclusive growth and opportunities?
Emerging technologies hold a great future. However, for technologies like AI, cloud, and automation to be truly inclusive to drive growth, we need to ensure that these are inclusive at every layer. Right from who designs the technology, who it is trained on, and who ultimately benefits from it.
At Women in Cloud, we believe that economic access should be engineered into the system and not just be a byproduct of innovation. For this to happen, we have to ensure access to the emerging technologies for underrepresented entrepreneurs and professionals. We also have to ensure that they participate not just as consumers of technology, but as builders and decision-makers, and also make AI tools affordable and accessible to small businesses and women-led enterprises.
Inclusive growth can be achieved when we create an ecosystem of access, partnerships, skills development, capital, and community.
As more women step into leadership roles across technology and innovation, what changes are still needed to build a more inclusive and equitable tech ecosystem?
We are seeing progress as we see women entrepreneurs increasingly founding companies and leading engineering organizations. Today, they are getting a lot more play in shaping AI policies. But the representation is very thin, as there still exist some structural barriers.
The first thing that needs to change is access to capital. Equitable access to the financial resources needed to scale. Secondly, women entrepreneurs need sponsorship over mentorship. Sponsorship will open many doors, and women at mid and senior levels need a voice who advocate for them in the rooms they have not yet been invited into.
Last but not least. Companies must move beyond diversity statements. It is high time for companies to walk the talk with measurable goals like pay equity audits and transparent promotion criteria.
Cloud, AI, and cybersecurity are evolving rapidly. Which technology area do you believe is currently driving the biggest transformation across industries?
Undoubtedly, AI is the biggest driver for transformation at this moment. It is reshaping every industry. However, we should not see AI in isolation. AI married with cloud infrastructure and secured by cybersecurity practices is an incredible force. These three are interdependent layers of the modern digital economy.
AI is fundamentally changing how work gets done, how decisions are made, and how value is created. This impact were are being witnessed across a wide spectrum of industries like fintech, healthcare, manufacturing, agriculture, and etc. Insight that would have taken months now takes just a few minutes thanks to AI.
What excites me more is that AI provides smaller organisations and entrepreneurs a level playing field against large corporations. What is more important right now is to ensure that AI is governed responsibly — with ethics, transparency, and inclusion built into it.
How can organizations ensure that digital transformation initiatives create measurable business impact rather than becoming only technology-led projects?
This is a question that I have often encountered. History tells us that expensive technology deployment has never translated into successful business outcomes. The reason is very simple: people who implemented it thought technology-first and business-second. In reality, it should have been the other way around.
Every business must ask fundamental questions, like what is the specific outcome we are trying to achieve? Reduced cost, faster time to market, improved customer experience, new revenue streams? Technology becomes an efficient enabler once the goal is defined.
We also must understand that digital transformation is a continuous process and every initiative must be tied to measurable KPIs from day one. Without clear metrics, transformation becomes a journey with no destination.
Also, one place where many organisations fall short is in human adoption. A technology that employees do not trust or use delivers zero business value. Change management and training is as important as the technology itself.
Women in Cloud recently launched the #FoundHerWorld initiative in India to support women founders in the AI-powered economy. How important are such collaborative platforms and mentorship-driven ecosystems in accelerating women-led innovation and entrepreneurship?
As we move towards adopting an AI-centric world, one thing that comes to my mind is how inclusive these emerging technologies would be. Our past experiences have taught us that for any technology wave to become successful, we must democratise it. India’s next frontier in tech-led growth has to be inclusive for all so that we move together as a society.
In the age of cybersecurity, it should not just benefit a few but must protect the subaltern class as well. The real success will be in how these technologies are helping the marginalised section of society. Keeping this in mind, we have launched our new initiative #FoundHerWorld, which is designed to offer economic access to women entrepreneurs in tech.
We have to convert visibility into real economic access for women founders building in the trillion-dollar AI-powered economy. The truth is that the future of the AI economy will be defined by who has access, not just who is seen. Our endeavour is to offer a level playing field to all and ensure that women founders move beyond visibility into real economic participation.
Looking ahead, which technology capabilities should businesses and professionals prioritize to remain future-ready in an increasingly digital economy?
Today were are living in a system that has to have a symbiotic relationship between AI, Cloud, Data, and Cybersecurity. It has become pertinent for every business leader to learn how AI works, how it will add value, and its limitations. Similarly, cloud is no longer an optional infrastructure. It is the reality of the modern economy’s operating system. And in the centre of all is data intelligence. Data is the raw material of the AI economy. AI’s ability to collect, interpret, and act on data is a core capability for every function, not just data teams. Technologies will continue to evolve, and professionals and organizations that thrive are the ones that build a culture of continuous learning.
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