By Romila Mattu, Senior Practice Director, Cloudera APAC Professional Services
We believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are not just checkboxes but essential principles that drive innovation, collaboration, and success.
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it’s a time to reflect on the transformative efforts organisations are making to foster meaningful change and accelerate progress toward gender equality. The journey goes beyond representation. It is about building an environment where women are empowered to lead through mentorship and development programs, and equitable opportunities are available at every level. These principles form the foundation for building an inclusive workplace where individuals and organisations thrive collectively.
A key component of this foundation is the implementation of comprehensive mentorship, sponsorship, and coaching programs for women leaders, which offer invaluable feedback, opportunities, and avenues for professional growth. Notably, organisations where women constitute 35% of leadership positions experience heightened team motivation, underscoring the positive impact of gender-diverse leadership.
India’s Tech Sector: A Shifting Landscape
The Indian technology sector is undergoing a remarkable shift, with businesses increasingly prioritising diversity and inclusion as core components of their growth strategies. According to a report by TeamLease Digital, the Women’s Workforce Participation Rate (WPR) is expected to rise from 10.8% in 2022 to 14.9% by 2027, representing an annual growth rate of 5.5%. Today, over 1.92 million women work in India’s tech sector, and this upward trend is a critical step toward closing the gender gap. By 2027, women are expected to make up 35% of the workforce, reflecting a broader recognition that diversity drives innovation and business success.
Fostering Growth Through Inclusion: Potential-Based Hiring and Mentorship
True success isn’t just measured by bottom-line results, it’s about nurturing an environment where everyone can thrive, contribute, and feel valued. When organisations get this right, business success tends to follow naturally.
Much like Cloudera, many organisations are increasingly adopting potential-based hiring over traditional experience-driven approaches, cultivating teams with diverse perspectives and fresh ideas. By prioritising potential, organisations unlock fresh perspectives, foster innovation, and build more inclusive workplaces.
Furthermore, organisations are increasingly focusing on mentorship and continuous development, offering guidance and career support to early-career talent, especially women. These programs help bridge representation gaps, ensuring that women not only enter the workforce but are equipped to grow into leadership roles.
Walking the Talk: Practicing DEI as a Leader
While organisational policies are important, leaders play a critical role in bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to life. As leaders, we must actively champion these values, not just through words but through everyday actions, decisions, and behaviors.
We truly believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are fundamental principles that drive innovation, collaboration, and organisational success. We are dedicated to cultivating an environment where every individual, regardless of background, identity, or experience, is valued, heard, and empowered to excel. This commitment involves implementing inclusive hiring practices, fostering mentorship and sponsorship programs, and actively engaging in continuous listening and learning. We embody these values by ensuring psychological safety, equitable opportunities, and celebrating differences as integral aspects of our culture.
By fostering open dialogue, ensuring diverse voices are heard in decision-making, and creating safe spaces where all ideas are valued, leaders help embed inclusion into the fabric of organisational culture.
The Critical Role of Women in Shaping Fair and Inclusive AI
The future of business is data-driven, and women are leading as data scientists, analysts, and ML engineers, driving innovation through AI and predictive analytics. With India’s cloud workforce set to double to 1.5 million by the end of 2025, women are excelling in roles like cloud architect and DevOps engineer. Parallelly, AI and ML adoption is growing rapidly, creating compelling leadership opportunities in research, automation, and security.
At the same time, the rapid adoption of AI and machine learning presents new opportunities for women to lead research, drive automation, and shape ethical AI development. By 2030, AI and automation are expected to generate 97 million jobs, many of which can open doors for women in technology.
However, this progress won’t happen automatically. We need deliberate efforts to attract, develop, and retain diverse talent in these critical areas, not just to meet quotas, but to ensure that the AI systems we build are fair, unbiased, and truly representative of the world they serve. Diverse teams naturally help identify and mitigate biases, making AI systems smarter, more ethical, and more reflective of real-world experiences.
Delivering Equitable Progress: The Journey to the Finish Line
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to DEI. Each organisation must tailor its strategies to fit its culture, workforce, and business goals. However, some principles remain universal, progress comes from consistent effort, strong leadership commitment, and the willingness to evolve.
This Women’s History Month, let’s celebrate the achievements of women in technology, reaffirm our commitment to fostering inclusive workplaces, and recognise the collective power of diversity to drive innovation and progress.
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