Artificial intelligence is set to reshape every aspect of our lives in the coming years. In 2023, AI truly began to enter the mainstream with the launch of ChatGPT and a host of other AI technologies.
Already, two months into 2024, we’re beginning to see what else this technology could begin to change in society.
Anyone who spends a little time in this area will recognize that women are vastly underrepresented in AI. According to the World Economic Forum, just 22% of global AI progressions are women.
However, with that said, there are women in AI trailblazing the path for more female-led technologies in the future. From entrepreneurs to scientists and everything in between, the women occupying space in AI are doing truly extraordinary things – and make fantastic role models for the younger generation who will no doubt benefit most from the evolution of AI in the future.
Here, to celebrate International Women’s Day, our team at DailyAI has rounded up 10 of the leading women in the world of AI today.
This list is not a ranking of top women in AI – simply a highlight of 10 amazing women doing incredible things in the artificial intelligence field.
1. Allie Miller
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alliekmiller/
Website: https://www.alliekmiller.com/
Allie Miller is an acclaimed AI leader, entrepreneur, and advisor, known for her expertise in machine learning, business strategy, and public speaking. With a focus on natural language processing, computer vision, and data analytics, she has become a pivotal figure in digital transformation and AI investment. Miller’s insights and strategic guidance are highly sought after by Fortune 500 companies, where she advises on AI, machine learning, Web3, and blockchain technologies.
As one of the most followed and applauded AI business voices on LinkedIn, Miller’s contributions to the field extend beyond corporate advisory. She served as the Global Head of Machine Learning Business Development for Startups and Venture Capital at Amazon, where she was responsible for advising top ML researchers and founders. Previously, Miller made history at IBM by becoming the youngest woman to develop an AI product, enhancing product development across various AI applications.
Dedicated to fostering diversity in tech, Miller co-founded Girls of the Future and supports organizations aimed at advancing women in the field. She holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a BA in Cognitive Science from Dartmouth College, showcasing her solid foundation in both business and AI technologies.
2. Dr Fei-Fei Lei
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fei-fei-li-4541247/
Website: https://profiles.stanford.edu/fei-fei-li
Dr. Fei-Fei Li, a Stanford University professor and Co-Director of the Human-Centered AI Institute, is renowned for her pioneering work in artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in making AI inclusive and beneficial across society. Recognized by Forbes as a leading woman in AI, Li co-founded AI4ALL, aiming to democratize AI education and ensure diversity within the field. Her efforts underscore the importance of broadening access to AI technology and knowledge, fostering a diverse generation of AI innovators.
Li’s significant contributions include developing ImageNet, a critical dataset that advanced computer vision technologies. Her roles extend into the tech industry, having served as vice president and chief scientist of AI at Google. A member of prestigious academies such as the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine, Li’s research encompasses AI, machine learning, and cognitive neuroscience.
Through her nonprofit work with AI4ALL, Li emphasizes education and diversity in AI, advocating for a human-centered approach to technology. Despite challenges, including her departure from Twitter’s board, Li’s advocacy for ethical AI and her commitment to fostering an inclusive future in technology remain influential, showcasing her as a key figure in the evolution of AI.
3. Dr Joy Buolamwini
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/buolamwini/
Website: http://www.unmasking.ai/
Dr. Joy Buolamwini is a prominent AI ethics researcher, artist, and advocate, known for her book “Unmasking AI.” She founded the Algorithmic Justice League to promote fair and accountable technology. Her TED Talk on algorithmic bias has gained widespread attention, exposing racial and gender biases in AI systems from major companies. Buolamwini’s research has been internationally recognized, and she has spoken at significant forums like the World Economic Forum and the United Nations on algorithmic justice.
Her projects, including the spoken word visual audit “AI, Ain’t I A Woman?” have been exhibited globally, highlighting AI’s failures in recognizing women of color. A Rhodes Scholar and Fulbright Fellow, Buolamwini has been featured on lists by Bloomberg, Forbes, and Tech Review for her contributions to AI ethics. She holds degrees from Oxford University, MIT, and Georgia Tech. Fortune Magazine named her as one of the world’s greatest leaders, acknowledging her role in advocating for ethical AI practices.
4. Mira Murati
Website/X: https://twitter.com/miramurati
As the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of OpenAI, Mira Murati was behind the development of transformative AI technologies like DALL-E and ChatGPT. Born in Albania in 1988, her academic excellence led her from a scholarship at an elite international school in Canada to engineering at Dartmouth University, where she built a hybrid race car for her senior project. Murati’s career trajectory took her from the aerospace industry to Tesla, where she worked on Model X and developed a keen interest in AI through Autopilot.
Later, at Leap Motion and eventually OpenAI, she leveraged her expertise to forge significant partnerships, including with Microsoft. As CTO, Murati’s leadership in launching ChatGPT has positioned her as a central figure in AI’s evolution, showcasing her critical role in shaping the future of artificial intelligence. Murati has been attributed for “launching AI into the mainstream”.
5. Claire Delaunay
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairedelaunay/
Website: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/author/cdelaunay/
Claire Delaunay is a prominent figure in AI and robotics, known for her leadership at NVIDIA as Vice President of Engineering from 2017 to 2022. At NVIDIA, she led the Isaac robotics initiative, revolutionizing robotics and AI platforms for global developers. Before NVIDIA, Delaunay made significant contributions at Uber as Director of Engineering post the Otto acquisition, a startup she co-founded, and was a robotics lead at Google.
With over 15 years in the tech industry, Delaunay’s career spans startups, research labs, and Fortune 500 companies, highlighting her role in advancing robotics and autonomous vehicles. Her expertise is backed by a Master of Science in Computer Engineering from École Privée des Sciences Informatiques (EPSI). Delaunay’s work embodies the intersection of innovation and leadership, making her a key influencer in the AI and robotics fields.
6. Shivon Zilis
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivonzilis/
Website: http://www.shivonzilis.com/ and https://neuralink.com/
Shivon Zilis is a leading figure in the AI industry, holding pivotal roles at renowned companies like OpenAI, Bloomberg Beta, and Tesla. Her work, especially as Project Director for Tesla’s Autopilot and chip design, showcases her significant contributions to AI and technology. Recognized as the youngest board member at OpenAI and Neuralink, Zilis has been instrumental in driving advancements in machine intelligence.
Her early recognition came in 2015 when she was named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for venture capital, highlighting her influence in the AI venture capital ecosystem. Currently, Zilis serves as the Project Director in the Office of the CEO at Neuralink. Neuralink is a startup company building a device designed to connect human brains directly to computers, and advises OpenAI, focusing on the ethical use of machine intelligence. Zilis also remains actively involved with Bloomberg Beta, supporting a portfolio that includes numerous AI companies, and is a Founding Fellow of CDL AI and CDL Quantum Machine Learning.
7. Rana el Kaliouby
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaliouby/
Website: https://ranaelkaliouby.com/
Rana el Kaliouby, a pioneer in Emotion AI, co-founded Affectiva, aiming to revolutionize how AI understands human emotions, cognitive states, and interactions. Her journey and vision for a technology that resonates with human emotional experiences are captured in her memoir, “Girl Decoded.”
As a thought leader in AI and machine learning, el Kaliouby has transitioned to Deputy CEO at Smart Eye, continuing her mission to humanize technology. Her work in developing AI that empathizes with users underscores a transformative approach to how we interact with machines, blending technological innovation with genuine human connection. Rana holds a PhD from the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge and a Post Doctorate at MIT. BSc and MSc in Computer Science from the American University in Cairo, Egypt.
8. Regina Barzilay
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reginabarzilay/
Website: https://www.regina.csail.mit.edu/
Regina Barzilay is a distinguished Israeli computer scientist and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she is a pivotal figure in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). Her expertise spans across natural language processing and the application of AI in healthcare, particularly in enhancing cancer diagnosis methods.
Barzilay’s groundbreaking work has not only advanced the field of AI but has also made significant contributions to medical science, including the development of machine learning models for drug discovery and early detection of breast cancer. Her efforts in these areas were recognized with prestigious awards such as the MacArthur Fellowship, the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award, and the AAAI Squirrel AI Award for Artificial Intelligence for the Benefit of Humanity, underscoring her role in leveraging AI to address critical human health issues.
In addition to her academic and research achievements, Barzilay serves on the Board of Directors for Dewpoint Therapeutics and is a member of several esteemed academies, including the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Medicine.
9. Cynthia Breazeal
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-breazeal-1792317/
Website: https://www.media.mit.edu/people/cynthiab/overview/
As a professor at MIT and the founder of the Personal Robots group, Breazeal’s work in social robotics and her leadership in responsible AI for social empowerment and education make her a pioneering figure in the AI community. Her focus on “living with AI” and the long-term impacts of social robots on daily life highlight her significant contributions to the field, seeing her recognized in the 2023 Forbes 50 over 50 list in the Innovation category.
Cynthia also co-founded the consumer social robotics company, Job Inc., serving as Chief Scientists and Chief Experience Officer. Her book, Designing Sociable Robots, has been widely recognized as a landmark in the social robotics and human-robotics field.
10. Daphne Koller
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daphne-koller-4053a820/
Website: http://www.insitro.com/
Daphne Koller, honored with the MacArthur Foundation’s “genius grant” and recognized as one of Time magazine’s Most Influential People, is a foremost expert in the field of machine learning – with accolades dating far before AI launched into the mainstream.
Koller’s blend of academic excellence and entrepreneurial spirit, illustrated by her tenure at Stanford and co-founding Coursera, showcases her influence in both AI education and application. Her role as CEO and founder of insitro, aiming to revolutionize drug discovery through machine learning, underscores her innovative approach to solving real-world problems with AI.
More Women Making Headway in AI:
11. Cynthia Rudin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-rudin-yergler-20a11126/
Cynthia Rudin is a Computer Science Professor at Duke University, known for her pioneering work in the fields of ML, applied ML, and causal inference. She is a three-time winner of the INFORMS Innovative Applications in Analytics Award and, in 2022, was awarded the Squirrel AI Award for Artificial Intelligence for the Benefit of Humanity from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).
12. Nina Schick
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/ninaschick
Nina Shick is the founder of Tamang Ventures and Synthesia. She was featured among LinkedIn’s Top Voices in AI 2023.
13. Kate Crawford
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-crawford-a66574/
For the last 20 years, Kate Crawford has been one of the industry’s global thought-leaders on the question of AI’s political and social implications. She holds a number of prestigious positions in academia, including being a Senior Principal Researcher at MSR-NYC, a Research Professor at USC Annenberg, and an Honorary Professor at the University of Sydney.
14. Kay Firth Butterfield
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kay-firth-butterfield/
Kay Firth-Butterfield rose to prominence as the World’s first Chief AI Ethics Officer for the World Economic Forum.
15. Yuka Kojima
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuka-kojima-793a4756/
Yuka Kojima co-founded FOVE Inc., a virtual reality (VR) company developing headsets with eye-tracking capabilities.
16. Karen Silverman
https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenesilverman/
Karen Silverman is the CEO and founder of The Cantellus Group, a consulting company working to operationalise policy and oversight of AI. Karen is a leading global expert in governance strategies for AI.
17. Toju Duke
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tojuduke/
Tofu Duke is the Programme Manager for Responsible AI at Google and founder of Diverse AI, championing minority involvement in AI.
18. Wendy Hall
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-hall-2652655/
Dame Wendy Hall is the Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton. She co-founded the Web Science Research Initiative and has a tenure as Co-Chair of the UK Government’s Artificial Intelligence Review.
19. Samantha Edds
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthaedds/
Samantha Edds is the lead data scientist at Yelp, the app company that crowdsources business reviews.
20. Rumman Chowdhury
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rumman/
Chief Scientist at Parity Consulting, Rumman partners with prominent entities like the European Commission and DeepMind, with an emphasis on transparent AI solutions.
21. Lisa Falzone
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisafalzone/
Lisa Falzone and Chris Ciabarra co-founded Athena Security to make schools, businesses and communities safer. Falzone serves as CEO and has raised over $200 million from top-tier venture capitalists and private equity firms. Athena Security’s mission is to ensure safety by implementing software solutions that track and detect people moving through your entryway and doorways.
22. Chelsea Finn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cbfinn/
Chelsea Finn is a Stanford University Assistant Professor, specializing in the fields of computer science and electrical engineering. She leads research in the field of intelligence through robotic interaction at scale, and is also a key figure in Google’s industry leading Google Brain team.
23. Nichol Bradford
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholbradford/
Nichol Bradford is the founder & executive director of global nonprofit Transformative Tech.org – a global ecosystem dedicated to educating, gathering, and activating wellbeing tech founders, investors, and innovators
24. Stephanie Hare
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniehare/
Stephanie Hare is the author of “Technology Is Not Neutral: A short guide to technology ethics”, discussing insights on ensuring technology serves society without compromising our ethical boundaries. Stephanie’s professional journey spans roles as the Principal Director of Accenture, Senior Analyst for Oxford Analytica, and Deployment Strategist for Palantir Technologies.
25. Dr Brandeis Marshall
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandeis-marshall/
Dr Brandeis Marshall heads up the DataedX Group organization, where she guides current tech workers in building data equity skills. Dr Marshall holds a PhD and Master of Science in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Rochester.
26. Karine Perset
https://www.linkedin.com/in/karineperset/
Karine Perset heads the AI Unit of the OECD Division for Digital Economy Policy. She oversees the OECD.AI Policy Observatory and OECD.AI Network of Experts (ONE AI), as well as the newly forming OECD Working Party on AI Governance (AIGO). Perset focuses on opportunities and challenges that AI raises for public policy, on policies to help implement the OECD AI Principles and on trends in AI development.
27. Sue Turner
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sue-turner-ned/
Sue Turner OBE is the CEO of AI Governance, she has over two decades of rich business acumen that resonates with international audiences. She was named amongst 100 brilliant women in AI ethics, and aims to inspire and support Boards to use AI and data for profit and social impact.
28. Anna Patterson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-patterson-15921ba/
Anna Patterson is the founder & managing partner of Gradient Ventures, where today she invests in early-stage AI startups. A long-time executive at Google, which she first joined in 2004, Patterson led artificial intelligence efforts for years as the company’s VP of Engineering.
29. Mary-Anne Williams
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryanne/
Mary-Anne Williams holds the highly respected title of Michael J Crouch Chair in Innovation, working with a team to design new courses in business innovation. She was also part of the team that created the UNSW Business AI Lab in 2022, which now has more than 80 researchers focusing on generating business value using AI technologies
30. Ivana Bartoletti
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivana-bartoletti-77b2b29/
Ivana Bartoletti is the Global Data Privacy Officer at Wipro, the leading international information technology, consulting and business process services company. Ivana is co-editor of The AI Book, a handbook for investors, entrepreneurs and fintech visionaries and is author of An Artificial Revolution, on Power, Politics and AI.
31. Sunita Grote
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunitagrote/
Sunita Grote leads the Ventures team within UNICEF’s Office of Innovation and co-founded its Venture Fund that provides seed funding in fiat and crypto currencies – the first in the UN system. She holds an MBA from INSEAD and lives in New York City with her partner and daughter.
32. Alicia Kavelaars
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-kavelaars/
Alicia is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of OffWorld and is pioneering revolutionary AI-powered industrial Swarm Robotic Mining systems. Alicia holds a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University, and her overarching goal is for humankind to continue to evolve into space to know more, use more and be more in space.
33. Hind Azegrouz
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hindazegrouz/
Hind Azegrouz (PhD) is EMEA Lead for Edge Inference at INTEL. Prior to her current role, she worked as Data and AI architect for oil and gas company Repsol, Advanced analytics manager at Avanade, Advanced research fellow in Massachusetts Institute of Technology and as research scientist at the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular research.
34. Catherine Harrison Culp
https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-culp-1077b491/
Catherine Harrison Culp is CCO at Aiera, the leading financial event intelligence and generative AI platform serving institutional finance.
35. Tulsee Doshi
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tulsee-doshi/
Tulsee is the product lead for Google’s efforts in ML Fairness and Responsible AI, driving a deeper understanding of how we can build user experiences that are diverse, inclusive, and ethical.
