40 women leading the way in AI innovation

IBM has released the 2021 edition of its Women Leaders in AI, adding 40 people from 18 countries to the growing ranks of its annual program. In 2021, highlighting women leaders is more important than ever because of pandemic-driven challenges that are affecting women's role in business, IBM said. One effect that COVID-19 has had on women in the workplace is a reduction in leadership representation: Fewer women are holding senior or C-level leadership roles in 2021 than they were in 2019, IBM said. "As AI adoption continues to accelerate, we believe that diverse teams are needed to help build and implement trustworthy AI that can help mitigate bias and deliver explainable outcomes," said Ritika Gunnar, vice president, Expert Labs, IBM Cloud and Cognitive Software. The 40 women included in this year's list "were selected based upon the ways they are using AI as a transformation agent to help drive results for their organizations and the employees, customers and citizens they serve," IBM said.