10 most influential Women leaders in IT

Meta CEO Sheryl Sandberg recently stated that there wouldn’t be any war between Russia and Ukraine if a woman were running them. Sheryl’s statement is supported by the fact that women were the first to take an active approach to find the 2019 pandemic.
Most women-led organizations see better results than the ones led by men, which prompts companies to add female representation in their organization’s leadership. According to Global Financial Services Company, Credit Suisse, the number of women on board rose from 11% in 2015 to 17% in 2021.
Another report from Deloitte stated that the number of women in leadership roles in financial services companies is 24%, aiming to rise to 28% by 2030. The Fortune500 companies in 2021 showcased 41 women running successful businesses in their list.
A group of Indian women CEOs and Managing Directors inspires the new generation to dream big. From Capgemini to Tinder, many Indian women are leading international companies showcasing the world what they are capable of and taking companies to new heights under their leadership.

Learn about a few inspiring women leaders heading organizations globally

People will often point out and say diversity matters in the company, especially in the technology field. Clichés aside, here are some hard facts relevant to women in IT and why it is time to put gender inequality in IT at bay.
As per a study by McKinsey, organizations in the best quartile of gender diversity had 15% more chances for financial returns, much more than the Indian industry median. Diversity Matters also stated that organizations in the bottom quartile for gender had lesser chances to gain above-average monetary gains.
Things in India are the same, with just one woman engineer for every three male engineers in IT companies, according to Belong.co. However, things are changing at a better speed when it comes to removing gender disparity in the technical field.
Here is a list of the top 10 most influential women leaders in IT:

1. Debjani Ghosh- President of NASSCOM

Debjani Ghosh is the first woman president of the company in 30 years. She broke all the hurdles and took over from R Chandrashekhar. The woman has remarkable credentials and an attitude to take the company to new heights.
Previously, she headed Intel’s Sales and Marketing department in South Asia. Ms. Ghosh enjoys 20+years of experience working for the US brand.

2. Roshni Nadar Malhotra: CEO and Executive Director of HCL

Daughter of leading industrialist and philanthropist Shiv Nadar, Roshni Nadar Malhotra needs no introduction. She has her accomplishments to define her. She is a successful name in the field of Indian technology. Roshni stood 52nd in the Forbes List of Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the world in 2017. She was also awarded by Horasis, a global think tank, as the Indian Business Leader of the Year, 2019.
Prior to HCL, she was a Sky News’ NEWS Producer in the UK. She is also involved in philanthropy through VidyaGyan, where she works to promote worthy students from underprivileged societies.
Roshni has a soft corner for wildlife and its conservation; hence, she has a trust, “The Habitats Trust,” set up for it in 2018.

3. Neelam Dhawan- Director ICICI Bank

In the last 40 years of experience, Neelam Dhawan has fulfilled leadership positions at top technology companies like Microsoft, IBM, and HCL. She was HP India’s MD, handling revenue, growth, and profits.
HP launched the Omen series under her leadership, which spoke well of her future sightedness considering the fall in PC shipments across the globe. Currently, she is an Independent Director at Yatra Online (NASDAQ listed) and is a member of the Board of Directors at ICICI Bank.
After completing her studies at St. Stephen’s College in Delhi, she did her MBA from the University of Delhi. She was the MD of Microsoft India from 2005-2008.
Currently, her portfolio includes offshore roles, BPO, IT services, Software Engineering, and R& D to shape the company’s business plans and lead it to make the brand the best in India.

4. Vanitha Narayanan- MD, IBM

IBM and technology go simultaneously. And the mind behind directing IBM’s transformational initiatives in the country and multiplying its reach in India is Ms. Vanitha Narayanan.
She is a veteran in the technology field with more than three decades of experience in bringing change in many countries, including India, the US, and China.
She was bestowed with the title of Most Powerful Women in Business in India by Fortune India in 2017. Also, CXOT Today listed her in the list of 12 Global Super Women of 2016.

5. Aruna Jayanthi- MD, APAC Business Unit and LatAm, Capgemini

Aruna Jayanthi is the Managing Director of the APAC Business Unit and LatAMm Capgemini, a global IT consulting company. She was the CEO of Capgemini India, where she managed the integration and work of more than 56,000 employees in the country.
She is a member of the Executive Council of NASSCOM. She is working her way out to take Capgemini to newer heights. She has been in the company since early 2000 and served several important roles, including the Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the National Institute of Technology Calicut and Independent Director at SBI Capital Markets.
She was included in Fortune India’s 50 most powerful Indian women list, standing 43rd.

6. Aarthi Subramanian- Chief Digital Officer, Tata Consultancy Services

With three decades of global technology experience, Aarthi Subramanian is the CDO and non-executive board member with Tata, a major industrial company in India.
She is the leader of the company’s digital initiatives and delivery. She handles the release of new technologies and innovations. Before her promotion, she worked as the executive director for TCS, the company’s technology subsidiary.
She has been with Tata Consultancy Service since the beginning of her career. She has worked her way up through the company by serving various positions in the US, Canada, Sweden, and India.
She is a Computer Science student from the National Institute of Technology and owns a Master of Science in Engineering Management from the University of Kansas. She was bestowed with the Technology Leader of the Year award by India’s ET Prime Women Leadership Awards.

7. Anjali Sud- CEO, Vimeo

One of the youngest on our list is Anjali Sud, currently 38. Before becoming the CEO in 2017, she worked as Vimeo’s General Manager and Head of Marketing.
She has worked in other companies like Sagent Advisors, Time Warner, and Amazon. She was also voted Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in 2019.

8. Padmasree Warrior- CEO, Fable

Padmasree set up Fable in 2019, an organized and professional reading app majorly focusing on mental wellness. Before this, Padmasree worked as the CTO of Cisco and Motorola, apart from serving as the CEO of NIO USA, an e-vehicle company.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she is a Board of Directors member at Spotify and Microsoft. She was also featured in the list of Forbes’ 100 most powerful women in the world.

9.Upasana Taku- Founder, MobiKwik

Do you know MobiKwik? Almost everyone knows about it! It is one of the top mobile payment channels in the country, and it gained popularity after digital payments became a major part of our lives. It is the biggest independent mobile payments platform in the nation.
Upasana Taku and Bipin Preet Singh established MobiKwik in 2009. With just one tap, you can pay all your bills, shop, recharge, and pay and accept money. It has a customer base of more than 30 million subscribers with 75000 retailers.
She is the first woman to lead a payments startup award from India’s President. She was ranked in the list of Forbes Asia’s 25 Power Businesswomen. She is a Stanford University alumnus with a decade of experience in the fintech world.

10. Riju Vashisht- Chief Growth Officer, Genpact

Riju Vashisht is the Chief Growth Officer at Genpact, fulfilling the role of leading Transformation Services and Enterprise Sales worldwide.
She previously worked at Genpact’s Digital Solutions, Robotic Process Automation, and Transitions Leader. Her collaboration with Genpact started in 2001, where she managed several leadership roles and served as Head of HR for India, South Africa, and the Philippines.
She left Genpact for four years between 2010 to 2014 and worked as a Human Resource Leader at Walmart India.
After returning to Genpact in 2014, she was the Chief Operating Office of Genpact’s goods, retail, life science, and healthcare departments.
Vashisht is famous for her experience, knowledge of business drivers, and ability to align clients and operations to work quickly.

Conclusion
Even with such a diverse range of skills, qualifications, and experience, reaching the top positions is quite difficult for women in IT. There is a need for more inclusivity and diverseness, which should be driven by the leaders, CEOs, and directors of the IT companies in India and everywhere else in the world.
Additionally, as mentioned above, the leading women in technology work as an inspiration for many aspirational women engineers who give up their careers because of the lack of an equitable environment. Go ahead and work towards your dreams, and the sky is the limit for you.

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