Only one fifth of AI professionals are women, likely to grow 4-fold: Report

WProdigy do up simply ace in little phoebe professionals in India’s artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) workforce today, but their numbers are set to grow nearly fourfold by 2027, according to a new report by venture capital firm Kalaari Capital.The report, ‘Wired for Impact: Women in Ind(AI)’, was launched in Delhi at the No Ceiling Summit on Thursday, in the presence of several women in leadership roles, such as Bansuri Swaraj, Member of Parliament, and Pragya Misra from OpenAI.Kalaari estimates that India currently has around 84,000 women in AI and ML roles, roughly 20% of the total workforce. That figure could rise to 3.4 lakh by 2027, powered by more accessible AI education, flexible learning pathways, and rising industry demand. Yet, the report cautions, growth in numbers doesn’t automatically mean parity in influence. Women remain clustered in data-heavy roles such as engineering and analytics, while they are still scarce in core model development, product design, and leadership.“AI can be the ultimate empowerment tool, but only if it’s built with everyone, not just for them,” Pragya Misra, Head of Policy & Partnerships at OpenAI, told HT. “An AI developed by a homogenous group won’t just be biased; it will be blind to real-world challenges and opportunities. This is why we view diversity as the most essential form of quality control for an equitable and effective AI future.”India, the report notes, already leads globally in women’s participation in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education, with women accounting for 43% of annual STEM enrolments. But that advantage fades in AI-critical disciplines such as engineering and computer science. Women form just 15% of students at IITs and IIITs, compared to 30% in private colleges.In the startup world, too, the gender gap remains stark. Only 10% of India’s AI startups have a woman founder, and five firms account for over half of the $542 million raised by women-led ventures so far. Among the 24 most-funded AI startups in the country, none have an all-women founding team.“India today is powered by two AIs—Artificial Intelligence and the Aspirational Indian. When the two meet, they accelerate progress. As we enter the decade of deeptech, women must be at the forefront because if we leave out half of our population, we are not building artificial intelligence, we are risking artificial ignorance. Women who were once silent engines of progress are now becoming focal visionaries in technology, and that shift is transforming India’s story,” said Bansuri Swaraj, Member of Parliament.Still, there are encouraging signs. Enrolments by Indian women in generative AI courses tripled in FY25, reaching nearly 3.9 lakh learners, or 30% of total AI education sign-ups on Coursera and other platforms. AI and ML have also become the top career choice for women in tech, with 41% of women students listing it as their preferred field, slightly ahead of men at 37%.Senior principal researcher at Microsoft Kalika Bali told HT, “For women in India to move from users to real shapers of AI, we need to open doors across the entire pipeline—from giving girls access to computational thinking early on, to funding more women-led AI research and startups, to ensuring women’s voices are present in policy and product design rooms. It’s about building both the skills and the structures that let women influence what AI is built for, not just how it’s used.”Yet, challenges persist on pay and progression. About 40% of women surveyed said they aren’t paid fairly, and the gender pay gap widens from 4% at entry level to 16% in senior roles. Many women, the report adds, are still excluded from high-visibility or strategic projects that often lead to promotions.The report also spotlights Indian organisations working to make AI more inclusive, like AI Kiran, a government-supported initiative that aims to train one million women in AI by 2028.“Reaching that scale will take collective intent across government, academia, and industry to make inclusion core to India’s AI journey. The future of AI must be built on equal access. Policies that support women-led startups, inclusive research, and accessible education can unlock extraordinary potential. When universities, companies, and public institutions come together, we don’t just create opportunity, we create belief,” a spokesperson for AI Kiran told HT.“From our conversations with practitioners, the barriers holding women back from AI/ML leadership in India include lack of early exposure to AI tools and curricula, limited mentorship or female role models, and workplace cultures that reinforce existing gender gaps. Amid the excitement over what AI can already do, it is easy to overlook what it is missing,” Kalaari Capital’s managing director Vani Kola said.