Tell me about your AI journey so far. 

I was one of the early evangelists to rally around AI infusion into the business as early as 2015. In 2015-2017, every CXO presentation had discussions on AI, multiple trials, and PoCs, early reactions to the art of possibility with AI, and expectation of self-training ML models to where AI is becoming mainstream by solving real business problems. At Microsoft, I saw a huge opportunity to work with ecosystem partners who were leveraging AI for deep product innovation. I was amazed at how we use AI features and functionalities in our core products, including accessibility aspects.

What made you interested in AI? Who would you say is your inspiration in this field?

My interest towards AI was largely driven from what we call “AI for good”. I fundamentally believe this is one technology that can help us solve many problems that are hard for humans to address. Be it in healthcare to bridge the doctor-patient ratio, assisting farmers with precision farming, enabling citizen customer services 24*7 with chatbots, the potential of AI is enormous to transform businesses and society at large. 

My inspiration is Andrew Ng, Stanford professor and cofounder of Coursera; he is truly a visionary when it comes to AI. His belief described best in his own words “We're making this analogy that AI is the new electricity. Electricity transformed industries: agriculture, transportation, communication, manufacturing.”

What's your area of expertise in AI and why did you choose this?

I believe in making AI relevant for businesses and driving conversations at the CXO level. I enjoy working with CXOs to create an AI roadmap for organizations and facilitating journeys with technology innovation. I have seen AI for organizations stay as just an innovation charter, and adopted in pockets, which limits the full potential of leveraging AI at an organizational level. I choose to lead the business conversation when it comes to AI because, while technology skills in AI/ML are on good ramp, democratizing the business value conversation needs amplification.  

What do you think are the biggest limiting factors for women not to advance their careers in tech, esp product development? What can change?

First, we need to address the talent pipeline: early awareness of STEM careers during academia will be core. It is limited to a few professions currently. Secondly, a focus on continuous skilling is needed across the board for going deeper into tech careers. We need to widen the funnel and then focus on learning at advanced career stages will be key. 

What's the one thing that you see AI transforming completely? 

I believe that being the first point of contact across channels, rapid transformation can happen in customer service and sales with AI.

Your biggest AI nightmare?

My biggest concern is building ethical and responsible AI systems. As AI continues to evolve, it has the potential to drive considerable changes to our lives, raising complex and challenging questions about the future that we want to see. Hence fostering a culture of responsible AI is important, the key tenets for which are: fairness, transparency, accountability, inclusion, reliability & safety and privacy and security.

What's your advice for other women who wants to a journey similar to yours?

• Invest in skilling and learning. 
• Have a career roadmap aligned to your personal priorities. 
• Have mentors and coaches to discuss career readiness. 
• Growth and comfort do not go together: jump to the uncomfortable zone of unlearning and new learning often.