Artificial Intelligence is sweeping the world in every aspect of life. But who are the big faces behind the technology? According to a list produced by the New York Times, the “who’s who” in AI was shockingly lacking in diversity – they didn’t name one single woman. Whether inside the walls of Clayco or beyond, I am committed to helping foster inclusive communities and uplift the voices of underrepresented demographics to the best of my ability. The exclusion of women in high-ranking positions, public media, and authoritative roles is unacceptable, and we must work to ensure they have the resources and respect they deserve. For my January Inspiration of the Month, I am highlighting 12 incredible women who are the driving forces behind AI and the wave of tech that is evolving global societies.
Dr. Anandkumar is the Sr. Director of AI Research at NVIDIA and a Bren Professor at Caltech. She is an expert in developing AI algorithms for scientific applications and a key player in the “AI for Science” movement.
Dr. Buolamwini is a computer scientist, activist, and the founder of the Algorithmic Justice League – an organization that fights AI bias with art and research. Dr. Buolamwini is a perfect embodiment of the power of art and science!
Dr. Choi is a MacArthur Fellowship recipient and a University of Washington professor. Her research explores the intersection of natural language processing and social common sense while drawing attention to the obstacles of large-language models and computer vision.
Koller is a computer scientist, a former professor at Stanford University, and a MacArthur Foundation fellowship recipient. She is also one of the founders of Coursera, an online education platform, and is the current CEO of Insitro, leading AI-driven drug discovery.
Kozyrkov is the ex-chief Decision Scientist at Google and the current CEO of Data Scientific, which champions Decision Intelligence and secure, reliable AI. She has personally trained 20,000+ Googlers and advised on 100+ projects by shaping data-driven decision-making and AI strategy.
Li is a computer scientist widely known for establishing ImageNet, the dataset that enabled rapid advancements in computer vision and deep learning research. She is the Sequoia Capital Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, former board director at Twitter (now X), and co-founder of AI4ALL, a nonprofit championing AI education for a diverse generation.
Murati is a mechanical engineer, researcher, and the chief technology officer of Open AI. She contributes to the company's mission to "ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity” and leads the charge on AI products like Dall-E, Codex, and ChatGPT.
Pineau is the Vice President of Meta's Artificial Intelligence Research department, also known as (FAIR), and a proponent of open-source machine learning. She also built the programs No Language Left Behind and SeamlessM4T and is an Associate Professor at McGill University.
Dr. Rossi is IBM’s AI Ethics global leader and has published over 200 scientific articles. She is currently the AAAI President (a premier worldwide AI association) and contributes to various thought-leading groups like the OECD AI Expert Group and the World Economic Forum.
Dr. Su is the CEO of AMD and a major player in the semiconductor industry. With AMD’s eye on AI chip dominance, she’s significantly shaping the future of AI hardware – something our Clayco team knows about via our construction of several American semiconductor plants.
Dr. Sze is an Associate Professor at MIT and a pioneer in energy-efficient AI accelerators. She has advanced areas from autonomous navigation to digital health and IoT, making AI more accessible and widely applicable.
Dr. Urtasun is not only a professor at the University of Toronto but also a visionary in self-driving cars and the founder and CEO of Waabi – a company focusing on generative AI to revolutionize autonomous trucking. She previously spearheaded Uber’s self-driving car division and has evolved computer vision and perception across the AI landscape.
This highlight reel only gives a snippet into the greatness and innovation all these women have contributed to global societies. To build a truly safe and prosperous world, we must start by improving the discourse we have around women – and call out when we see a lack of representation or blatant disregard for their crucial inclusion.
The time to give women the respect and spotlight they deserve is long overdue!
