Caroline Bertrand Chief HR and MDX Officer, CIG Gulf
What are two distinctly human leadership qualities that women often bring to the table, and how can these qualities influence the way AI and automation are adopted and embedded within organizations?
As we continue to advance our AI initiatives, one thing has become increasingly clear to me: the success of AI is not determined by technology alone. It depends on people coming together across functions, perspectives, and experiences to solve problems with a shared purpose. This is where diverse leadership becomes particularly valuable. In my experience, women often excel at bringing people together, fostering collaboration across silos, and aligning teams around common goals – capabilities that are critical for successful AI transformation.
Another important aspect is bias. We have spoken extensively about bias in organizations, and I believe women often bring a heightened awareness to identifying it because many have experienced different forms of bias throughout their personal and professional journeys. This perspective can be incredibly valuable when developing and deploying AI systems.
I recently experienced this firsthand while participating in the testing of an AI-powered HR chatbot designed to answer employee questions on policies, compliance, and workplace information. During testing, I asked a simple question about leave entitlements. The chatbot’s first response was to ask whether I was a local employee or an expatriate. This immediately stood out to me because our leave policy makes no distinction between the two groups.
It raised an important question: why was the system making that distinction when no such difference existed in reality? The most likely explanation was that an unconscious bias had found its way into the training process. By identifying this issue early, we were able to refine the model and ensure it reflected the organization’s actual policies rather than unintended biases.
This experience reinforced a critical lesson: AI systems learn from the perspectives, assumptions, and decisions of the people who build them. The more varied the experiences and viewpoints involved in designing, testing, and governing AI, the better equipped we are to build systems that are fair, inclusive, and effective for everyone.
Can you share an example where the empathy, intuition, or creativity of a woman professional led to a meaningful impact on a process, system, or business outcome, even outside the context of AI or automation?
There are several examples that demonstrate how a woman’s perspective can fundamentally shape innovation and technology.
One example from the AI space is Mira Murati, who played a significant role in the development and deployment of AI products such as ChatGPT and DALL·E. Beyond the technology itself, her contributions were instrumental in ensuring that considerations around ethics, user experience, accessibility, and real-world application were embedded into the product development process. It is a powerful reminder that successful technology is not just about what a tool can do, but how people experience and interact with it.
Another example comes from the entrepreneurial world. Whitney Wolfe Herd built Bumble based on her own lived experiences and observations of how traditional dating platforms operated. She introduced a fundamentally different model by allowing women to initiate conversations, challenging conventional norms, and creating a user experience shaped by a perspective that had previously been underrepresented in the industry.
If you were to look ahead to AI-powered workplaces in 2035, what role do you see women playing in shaping leadership, driving innovation, and influencing policy to ensure that the future of work is both equitable and inclusive?
When I think about 2035, I believe we are looking at a future that will be fundamentally different from anything we can fully envision today. The pace of technological advancement, particularly in AI, is accelerating so rapidly that many organizations are only beginning to understand its potential impact on how we work, lead, consume information, and make decisions.
The transformation will not be linear, it will be exponential. Just as previous technological revolutions reshaped industries and societies, AI has the potential to redefine the very nature of work, productivity, and human collaboration in ways that are difficult to predict today.From an inclusion perspective, I am optimistic. I believe we will continue to make significant progress toward gender parity in leadership, and it would not surprise me if we see organizations moving much closer to a 50:50 representation of women and men in leadership roles.
