Event Archive

Photographs: Karolina Komendera and Leslie Masinge, LR Studios.

AI continues to transform the ways in which people communicate, work and innovate. And, at a time when women’s leadership roles remain scarce and men continue to dominate senior positions and opportunities, this event tackled the persistent issues that women face across all levels of industry, particularly technology. Women remain underrepresented in the STEM workforce – only 30% of women comprise these sectors in South Africa, while globally, they only hold between 11% and 24% of these roles, according to the OECD. When it comes to AI, the World Economic Forum says women account for only 22% of AI professionals globally. A recent Pnet analysis found that female representation listing AI skills grew from 25% in July 2023 to 32% by July 2026.

Zanele Njapha, CEO of The UnLearners consultancy, said in her keynote on “Unlearning and leading in the age of AI”, that women have to lead the conversations about how they become the custodians of the future. “We must ask ourselves: what are the basics we need to come back to? How can we lead better?”