The 9 Inspirational Women Leaders In AI Shaping The 21st Century Posted on : Mar 11 - 2022

Women's day and Women's History Month are especially meaningful to me as a proud father of a daughter. I want my daughter to understand how wonderful and invaluable she is, not only to me and her mother, but also to everyone else in the world. Second, I want her to be exposed to amazing women who are accomplishing great things on a daily basis. I live, work and breathe AI and Technology. Through my work and research, I have encountered the work of countless amazing women in this sector. This month, I'd like to introduce you to nine incredible women who are making a difference in AI and Technology, as well as what barriers we all still face. During International Women's History Month, it is our pleasure to highlight and honor 9 women who are pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence and ensuring that technology advancements contribute to the greater good.

The following is the first of ten articles in this series. This piece will center on the nine women I've spoken with over the last few weeks and their suggestions for other female professionals, young women, and girls who want to pursue a career in artificial intelligence, as well as what changes they see that must be addressed for true equality in the AI and technology field. The subsequent nine articles will feature the in-depth conversations we had.

Dr. Jane Pinelis is the Chief of AI Assurance at the Department of Defense Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC). In this role, she leads a diverse team of testers and analysts in rigorous test and evaluation (T&E) for JAIC capabilities, as well as the development of T&E-specific products and standards that will support testing of AI-enabled systems across the DoD. She also leads the team responsible for instantiating Responsible AI principles into DoD practices.

If we truly believe that gender diversity positively affects outcomes in the tech industry, which I believe to be true, then I think the right thing to do is to focus on fixing the supply chain of women into these roles. We must start from very early education, and encourage little girls and young women to consider jobs in technology and national security as potential career options.

I see people who care about gender diversity, and they try to include women on panels, or they make an effort to hire women into certain jobs. But the issue is that there are not enough qualified candidates to go around. That's where we need to put our attention. We need to make sure that the supply chain is fixed, that we have a diverse set of talented individuals with whom we can collaborate. View more