Ada Lovelace Day 2025

Ada Lovelace Day is a reminder of women’s contributions to modern technology and society. And with recent breakthroughs in AI, quantum computing and robotics, women’s ideas continue to drive innovation across the most transformative technologies of our society.

Yet women are still being sidelined from the roles that matter most, making up just 27.6% of the UK STEM workforce. And in frontier tech, the numbers fall even lower. Closing that gap is essential if technology is to better serve the societies it’s actively reshaping.

This year, female voices from across the industry highlight that women need more than just a seat at the table – they need the authority to shape and drive STEM forward.

Breaking barriers into leadership

For many, empowerment doesn’t come from titles and token initiatives; Sarah Law, Senior Vice President of Business Operations at Veracode, argues that true progress comes when women are provided opportunities for real responsibility. She says, “the most impactful thing an organisation can do to empower women in STEM is build a system that aligns capability with opportunity – and then hold leaders accountable for ensuring access and clarity. It’s not about special treatment - it’s about removing bias, ambiguity, and friction from the system.”

Law’s own turning point came when leaders trusted her with complexity and uncertainty. That belief, she says, “cleared the way to lead and grow authentically,” a reminder that inclusion only matters when it opens space for genuine leadership.

But responsibility isn’t enough if women lack the opportunities to build the skills needed to drive the technologies of tomorrow.

New frontiers, new skills

If Lovelace anticipated the future of computing, today’s challenge is ensuring women are ready for the technologies redefining the next century. For Kathrin Kind, Chief Data Scientist and AI Director at Cognizant, that means building skills in fields such as AI and quantum computing.

“There’s an important distinction between a career in AI, and a career with AI,” she says. “One is about creating the technology, the other about reimagining every profession with intelligent tools that enhance creativity, decision-making and leadership.” Both paths require curiosity and boldness, and both depend on having women’s voices at the table.

Divya Gautam, Head of AI at Dexory, makes a similar case for robotics. Diversity, she says, isn’t just a nice-to-have in emerging sectors – it’s the fuel for innovation, she explains, “true progress comes when women are not only part of these industries but shaping their direction.” She sees progress for women as crucial to ensuring the technology created reflects the world it serves, which demands “early encouragement, visible role models and workplaces that actively support growth and inclusion.”

Kind and Gautam highlight that equipping women with the right skills is vital, but so is ensuring the industries they enter are built to welcome and progress them.

Mentorship or structural change?

For many, progress has hinged on the guidance of others. Lisa Topliss, Director of Strategy and Operations at Ricoh Europe, highlights the importance of organisations that actively invest in female talent. For women just starting their careers, she says, “be bold in your capabilities, contribute with confidence, and seek out mentors who can champion you,” whether those mentors are women or men.

Nikita Miller, CPO at TravelPerk, describes her mentors as a “personal board of directors” – people who have helped her navigate uncertainty both personally and professionally. This philosophy has influenced the company’s own approach, too, with initiatives like CodeCamp, a 14-week programme designed to open doors for new tech talent. Mentorship, in Miller’s view, is the infrastructure that encourages the next generation of leaders in the industry.

But while mentorship can help shape a career, can it transform the industry at large? For Orange Business’ Nasima Auvray, Director of Defence and Security, structural programmes are essential for change. She points to the Women Up programme, which connects early-career women with mentors and networks to help them progress into leadership roles. “Public commitments like this encourage reflection, challenge stereotypes and help improve retention,” she says. “But meaningful change takes time, and it needs everyone’s involvement.”

This is echoed by Evrim Tekeşin, Regional Director at Dynatrace, who is straightforward about the risks when leadership defaults to a narrow mould. “The next generation of female tech leaders needs to know that you do not have to become someone else to succeed in tech,” she says, “there is immense power in authenticity.”

The suggested step to success is ensuring mentorship is paired with the structural change needed to transform women’s position in the industry for good.

Leadership beyond access

For Kat Judd, Chief People Officer at Lucid Software, the problem isn’t simply bringing women into senior roles, but the definition of leadership itself. “When we provide opportunities for women to learn from one another, share experiences and build

confidence in their abilities, we create the foundation for lasting success, not just for individuals, but for the industry as a whole,” she says. She argues that teams grow stronger when they combine technical expertise with curiosity – qualities that can come from a wide range of backgrounds, not just traditional STEM routes.

And for Sarah Hoffman, Director of Research, AI at AlphaSense, the progress feels personal. Recalling being mistaken for a child on ‘Take Your Daughter to Work Day’ during her first internship, she explains “that was the moment I realised how unusual it was to be a woman in technology.” Today, women are leading groundbreaking work in AI, but representation still lags, as Hoffman adds, “we need them to know they belong and that their creativity and problem-solving skills are exactly what STEM needs.”

For Judd and Hoffman, inclusion cannot stop at access. It requires redefining the culture of leadership altogether.

Carrying Lovelace’s legacy forward

Women in STEM suggest real progress happens not through performative changes, but when they’re given real responsibility, the opportunities to develop the right skills, and deliberately inclusive systems paired with personal mentorship.

Ada Lovelace saw a potential in technology that no one else imagined, and two centuries later female leaders are urging the industry to ensure innovation continues to reflect the perspectives of women. Lovelace’s legacy is a reminder that the next wave of breakthroughs will rely on those brave enough to reimagine possibility, and the leaders willing to make space for them.