The courage to lead: Women, technology, and the work that remains

Courage is a word I return to often in leadership.

Sometimes courage means making a difficult decision. Sometimes it means building something entirely new. And sometimes it is much simpler: walking into a room where you weren't expected to be.

For women in technology, that experience is familiar.

At a CEO conference last year, attended predominantly by men, I was mistaken more than once for a spouse or a member of support staff. In moments like that, you have a choice. You can shrink, or you can stand firm in who you are and why you're there.

I chose the latter. I reminded myself that I belonged in that room in exactly the same capacity as everyone else: as the chief executive of a technology company. 

That quiet, internal act of courage, the decision not to listen to the imposter voice in your head, is something many women in this industry practice regularly, even when no one else sees it.

But while individual courage matters, the real opportunity ahead of us is how we lead change across the industry.

The Systemic Challenge

Technology has made enormous progress over the past two decades. Yet the numbers still tell a story we cannot ignore.

Women remain underrepresented across the leadership pipeline, particularly at the most senior levels. According to McKinsey's Women in the Workplace 2025 report, women hold just 29 percent of C-suite roles.

The issue is not a shortage of talent or ambition. One of the biggest hurdles we still face is systemic unconscious bias; the subtle but powerful force that shapes business decisions and social expectations about what leadership is supposed to look like.

These biases influence who gets hired, who gets promoted, and whose ideas are heard in the room. Often they operate quietly, reinforcing familiar patterns about who is perceived as confident, decisive, or "CEO material."

I see this in everyday moments across our industry. A woman may begin a well-reasoned argument with an apology. We should save apologies for when we make an error, not for an expression of opinion or ideation. A salary negotiation may be approached more cautiously than it should be. Over time, these small dynamics compound.

The responsibility is not simply for individuals to overcome bias on their own. It is for leaders to recognise it, challenge it, and build organisations where talent and impact are what define leadership.

Where AI Can Help Level the Playing Field

The technology industry now has a rare opportunity to accelerate that progress.

No one has ten years of experience with agentic AI. We are all learning in real time. That creates a moment of reset, a chance for a new generation of leaders, including many women, to step forward and help shape how this technology evolves.

AI, deployed thoughtfully, can also help reduce some of the bias that has historically influenced career progression. By surfacing clearer performance data in terms of what someone has delivered, against which goals and metrics, AI can bring greater transparency to conversations about promotions, compensation, and leadership opportunities.

For anyone entering those conversations, data clarity is powerful. It shifts the discussion from perception to evidence.

The Work Ahead

I often tell my two daughters something that is both a belief and a commitment: that they will be paid fairly and equally for their work, and that their potential will not be limited by their gender.

But that future is not inevitable. It is built deliberately by the choices leaders make today.

It is built through who we hire, who we promote, how we design the technologies that shape work, and whether we use whatever platform we have to open doors for others.

I am proud to have broken through the glass ceiling to become a CEO in the technology industry. Not because it represents personal triumph, but because it demonstrates what is possible.

Every day, you can do one act of courage, no matter how small. And ask yourself the simple question, "What would a man do?" 

Leadership should not be lonely. The goal is not to be the exception in the room. The goal is to change who the room is built for.

The next generation of leaders, including my daughters, should not need courage simply to belong in technology.

They already belong in the rooms where technology's future is being shaped.