'AI with purpose, not just speed': Roshni Nadar Malhotra on women in tech
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Roshni Nadar Malhotra said the board of HCL Technologies has one of the highest representations of women at 50%. “Change and most important conversations begin at the top,” she said.
Speaking at the AI for Her initiative under the Global Impact Challenge, she said the focus should not only be on building fast or scalable systems, but meaningful ones. “Today we are celebrating women who are building AI that matters, not AI for speed or scale alone but AI with purpose, with context, with human outcomes as its core,” she said.
How HCL Tech is pushing for women's inclusion in technology
Speaking about the TechBee programme, she said, “Today this cohort that we call Tech Bees is 10,000 in HCL Tech.” She added, “What’s also most amazing to me is that 50% of this cohort is women.” She further said, “Our ambition is that 35% of the new joinees at HCL Tech should be this Tech Beasts cohort.”
Referring to HCL’s shift into software products, she said, “In the world of software, you had 30 to 40% women who were building software, and from now, this particular business line for us is about 25% of our revenues, and the number of women that are in this is about 40%.”
On the GUVI initiative in collaboration with the Government of Uttar Pradesh and South Asian Women in Tech, she said, “That moment was not about records, it was about intent. Tens of thousands of women showed up to learn and claim their place in the AI economy.” She added that there is a larger commitment to upskill 500,000 women across South Asia in generative AI.
Speaking about women’s participation in STEM, she said, “Globally, women account for less than a third of the overall STEM workforce, and this share is even lower in data and AI.” She added, “In India, we actually fare slightly better, which is great. We are higher than the global average, and that’s something that we can be extremely proud of.”
However, she cautioned, “But this picture changes dramatically when you look at middle management, and of course, when you look it up. It’s not just a representation gap, it’s also an innovation gap where important perspectives are absent,” she said.