New study finds 80% of women leaders are shaping AI strategy

AI is transforming companies everywhere. While some research has shown that women are falling behind in terms of AI adoption, at the leadership level women are highly involved in guiding AI strategy.

According to new research from Chief, a network for senior women leaders, in partnership with The Harris Poll, women leaders are playing a key role in carefully building AI frameworks. The research, which polled 1,768 male, female, and nonbinary leaders, found that, overwhelmingly, women are driving AI strategy with 80% playing active roles in how it’s being implemented into workflows.

Nearly a third (31%) said they were involved in AI governance, ethics, and responsible implementation. Another 25% said they design how humans and AI will work together in the organization, and 24% said they create and build AI solutions.

Still, while women seem to be ahead of the game in shaping AI strategy, they are prioritizing responsible and intentional adoption over speed. According to the study, 83% of women agreed with the statement: “Being cautious about AI adoption is a sign of good leadership, not resistance to technology.” Still, the vast majority (68%)  said that their organization prioritizes “speed over sustainable workforce implementation.” 

There’s a good reason for proceeding with caution: 62% of women respondents said their organization doesn’t fully understand “what AI can and can’t do.” Three-quarters said they expect critical thinking to decline if implementation doesn’t happen carefully and 81% said “capable managers” will become a thing of the past if companies don’t invest in their human workforce now. Similarly, a staggering 87% said they’ve already witnessed the fallout of companies focusing too heavily on an “AI only” approach that left employees underutilized. 

Alison Moore, CEO of Chief, said that doesn’t mean women are “slowing down” when it comes to AI’s implementation. They’re simply “making sure the humans keeping pace with it don’t get left behind in the process.” In other words, while some are ready to go all in on AI, women are leaning into their own critical thinking around AI implementation, so that critical thinking doesn’t disappear.  

This approach offers hope for the future during a time when AI is responsible for 25% of job cuts, except women are still only 29% of the C-suite.

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