How Can Empowering Women Leaders Accelerate Your Company’s GenAI Strategy?

Why Are Senior Women in Tech Outperforming Men in Adopting Generative AI Tools?

Discover new BCG research revealing how senior women in tech are adopting Generative AI faster than their male counterparts. Women Leaders in Tech Are Paving the Way in GenAI explores the confidence, risk tolerance, and awareness driving this trend, offering a roadmap for companies to close the gender gap and boost innovation.

Don’t let your AI strategy stagnate—read the full summary below to learn actionable steps for empowering the women leaders who are already driving the future of tech.

Recommendation

Women have historically lagged behind men in adopting new technologies, but in some contexts, this trend is becoming obsolete: Senior women working in the tech industry are outperforming men working at the same level when it comes to adopting Generative AI (GenAI) tools, according to research from Boston Consulting Group. The reason for this discrepancy? Senior women in tech have more confidence in their GenAI abilities while being less risk-averse when it comes to GenAI and more aware of its potential. Learn how to boost gender equity in GenAI adoption and leadership at your company, harnessing the power of senior women in tech to inspire change.

Take-Aways

• Executive women outperform men in technical roles in adopting Generative AI.
• Senior tech industry women are more aware of GenAI’s potential, more confident, and more risk-tolerant.
• Women leaders steering your GenAI agenda can inspire others to achieve their full potential.

Summary

Executive women outperform men in technical roles in adopting Generative AI.

As Generative AI (GenAI) tools evolve and become ubiquitous, companies will need to reskill nearly half (46%) of workers in the next three years. According to a Boston Consulting Group survey, 55% of workers in the technology industry believe their career success hinges in part on the adoption of GenAI. In the tech industry, senior women are adopting GenAI at a faster pace than their male peers. While in the past, women adopted new technologies slower than men, today, 68% of women workers in the tech industry report using a GenAI tool more than once a week at work, while only 66% of men report doing the same.

“Senior women in technical functions — engineering, IT, customer support, sales, and marketing — are ahead of their men counterparts in adopting GenAI.”

Senior women working across technical functions, ranging from engineering to marketing, are adopting GenAI at a rate that’s 14% faster than men working at the same level. However, the same doesn’t hold true for junior women, who are lagging behind junior men by roughly seven percentage points. While in nontechnical roles, senior women lag less behind men (they’re behind by only two percentage points), junior women in nontechnical roles are the most behind, adopting GenAI at a rate that’s 21% slower than men. According to one woman working as a director at a large e-commerce company, this lag could exacerbate tech’s “pipeline problem,” preventing women from advancing their careers: “Despite our efforts, we’re losing women between the IC and manager levels.”

Senior tech industry women are more aware of GenAI’s potential, more confident, and more risk-tolerant.

There are three reasons senior tech industry women are outperforming men when it comes to adopting GenAI:

1. Awareness — While 62% of senior women in tech are aware of GenAI’s “criticality to future job success,” only 52% of their male counterparts demonstrate this awareness. This ten percent discrepancy could be due in part to the fact that women in C-suite roles feel more pressure to demonstrate high levels of performance in an industry dominated by men.
2. Confidence — While 44% of senior women in tech feel confident using GenAI, only 40% of men working at the same level report feeling the same. However, while these senior women may have confidence in their abilities, others may not feel confident in women’s abilities: People are more than seven times as likely to treat women working in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) as though they lack competence than they are to treat men as lacking in competence (According to a 2018 poll from Pew Research Center).
3. Risk tolerance — Just over half (51%) of senior women in tech demonstrate a healthy risk tolerance when it comes to using GenAI without a company policy, while only 41% of senior men in tech are equally comfortable with these new risks. Senior tech industry women have already had to take considerable risks to advance their careers, which may reflect their increased aptitude for risk-taking.

Women leaders steering your GenAI agenda can inspire others to achieve their full potential.

A woman director of an AI company says that senior women have an opportunity to “lead and shape the GenAI revolution.” However, harnessing the potential of women to take on leadership as companies pilot and scale GenAI requires making a concerted effort to close gender gaps that women face when working in nontechnical and junior roles. Companies should encourage women workers to unleash their full potential by taking steps such as: Championing women who demonstrate leadership in GenAI adoption, Designing targeted upskilling programs, and developing a “robust pilot or a sandbox environment that offers a safe space for employees to explore and test GenAI tools. Women should also start taking initiative, proactively seeking out learning opportunities.

“GenAI offers the opportunity to reduce the gender gap in the tech industry if managed correctly. But it requires action by both companies and the women who work for them.”

If your company hopes to boost equity when it comes to GenAI adoption, consider offering senior women in nontechnical roles learning sessions that help them demystify these tools, encouraging them to explore the possibilities of GenAI on their own, while providing women employees with advice on how to safely use AI within the context of their specific roles. Elevate senior women working in technical roles by encouraging them to establish your GenAI agenda, steer pilots and initiatives, empowering women to inspire one another to harness the potential of these new tools.

About the Authors

Maria Barisano, Neveen Awad, Adriana Dahik, Julie Bedard, Uche Monu, Gunjan Mundhra and Katherine Lou are professionals with Boston Consulting Group.