AI's Future: Boosting Female Innovators - Innovation & Tech Today

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a beacon of innovation, revolutionizing industries and societies worldwide. At the helm of these advancements are individuals shaping AI's future; among them, women are increasingly leaving their mark.

Despite significant strides made in recent years, the representation of women in AI roles still falls short. A recent feature by The New York Times glaringly omitted women while spotlighting influential male figures in AI, sparking controversy about gender disparity within the field.

To address this imbalance and shine light on deserving female contributors to artificial intelligence, Innovation and Tech Today attended an insightful webinar last week hosted by Alumni Ventures featuring notable women in the field.

Sanjana Basu is one such remarkable woman making waves at Radical Ventures, where she focuses on investing in technically differentiated AI startups. She emphasizes assembling diverse and skilled teams to drive innovation within AI. Predicting a surge of AI applications across scientific domains like biology, chemistry, and physics due to talent migration from top labs towards startups, Basu is setting new precedents for what can be achieved via collaboration between different disciplines.

Vivian Cheng serves as a partner at Next47, a global venture firm supporting enterprise founders specializing across early and expansion-stage companies focusing on various sectors including SaaS, enterprise IT & cybersecurity, deep tech, and artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML). Prior to joining Next47, she was pivotal as an investor at CRV while also playing an instrumental role during Uber’s initial phase. Cheng’s passion lies firmly rooted in helping visionary founders create innovative products that make substantial impact globally.

Sophia Zhao holds the position of Senior Principal at Alumni Venture Group's AV Fund, with extensive expertise spanning capital advisory services through corporate development initiatives alongside operational enhancement strategies forging impactful partnerships with CXOs and Founders alike. Her broad industry exposure spans from cloud computing to consumer goods dipping into mining minerals right up to Web3 technologies, where she’s been deeply involved since 2018, working closely with Galaxy Digital, Huobi US, and Crypto.com.

Taylor Chartier, the founder and CEO of Modicus Prime, brings vast experience from the pharmaceutical industry. She has leveraged machine learning and artificial intelligence to optimize pharmaceutical production processes, conduct root cause analysis, and generate leads during her tenure at Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Taylor's academic background encompasses an accelerated five-year bachelor's and master’s program in chemical engineering at the University of Rochester, followed by a PhD pursuit in applied AI focusing on wearables research for Parkinson’s patients at the University of Luxembourg.

The contributions made by these women are instrumental in propelling forward AI innovations. Their insights, along with their experiences and predictions, provide invaluable guidance as we navigate through uncharted waters towards an AI future.

In conclusion, it is vital to amplify the voices of women making strides within this field. Highlighting their achievements not only addresses gender disparity but also enhances diversity, which is key to driving innovation within artificial intelligence.