AI is Changing Our World, but the Stories of Who Build it Often Get Lost in the Noise
Behind the Headlines and Hype, a Group of Women are Solving AI’s Fundamental Challenges – Despite Working in an Industry Permanently Impacted by Gender Inequality
Women make up just 22% of AI professionals worldwide and only 12% of AI researchers. In academic publishing, female researchers account for just 29% of first authors on AI papers, a number that hasn’t increased since the mid-2000s.
This is a Story about Ten Leaders Who Have Influenced AI Despite the Odds Being Stacked Against Them.
Fei-Fei Li
[Image: https://dailyai.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1589346710996-300×300.jpg]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fei-fei-li-4541247/
Known as the "godmother of AI," Fei-Fei Li’s defining influence on AI spans years of commitment to the field.
Born in Beijing and immigrating to the United States at age 16, she has been instrumental in transitioning AI from a niche technology to something scalable and broadly accessible.
As co-director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute, Li has brought attention to ‘human-centered AI,’ which places human values at its core. Many of her works feature on university reading lists; papers with Li as a named writer have amassed an extraordinary 285,343 citations in total.
One of Li’s key career milestones was creating ImageNet in 2007, a massive dataset containing over 15 million labeled images across 22,000 categories.
ImageNet effectively solved one of computer vision’s most fundamental challenges: teaching machines to recognize objects with human-like accuracy. The dataset and the projects that emerged from it catalyzed important advancements in deep learning.
Simultaneous with her technical achievements, Li’s commitment to diversity in AI led her to co-found AI4ALL, which has provided opportunities for thousands of underrepresented students to enter the field. Many of the organization’s alumni have secured positions at major tech companies and established their own AI startups.
In 2024, Li’s co-founding of World Labs marked a new chapter in her career. The company’s focus on "spatial intelligence" aims to bridge the gap between AI’s understanding of digital and physical spaces.
With $230 million in funding from leading tech investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and NVIDIA’s NVentures, World Labs rapidly achieved unicorn status.
Joy Buolamwini
[Image: https://dailyai.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1736554438052-300×300.jpg]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/buolamwini/
Dr. Joy Buolamwini’s journey to becoming a leading voice in AI ethics was triggered by a deeply personal experience.
While working with facial analysis software as a graduate student at MIT, she discovered these systems struggled to detect her dark-skinned face unless she wore a white mask. This sparked large-scale research into AI bias and prejudice, challenging the discourse around AI decision-making.
Buolamwini’s "Gender Shades" project, conducted through MIT Media Lab and much-cited across the AI research community and media, including here on Dailyai.com, provided the first comprehensive evidence of racial and gender bias in commercial AI systems.
The study revealed error rates of up to 34% for darker-skinned females compared to just 0.8% for lighter-skinned males. Leading tech companies, including Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon, subsequently assessed their facial recognition technologies.
As founder of the Algorithmic Justice League (AJL), Buolamwini has created a movement that combines research with advocacy. Combining art and science, AJL has created influential documentaries and projects, building support for AI technologies that truly serve everyone equally.
Other Leaders in AI
- Cynthia Rudin: A Duke University professor, Cynthia Rudin researches interpretable AI, ensuring models are transparent and reliable. Her work has been particularly impactful in healthcare and criminal justice, where AI decision-making must be explainable and fair.
- Daniela Braga: As CEO of Defined.ai, Daniela Braga has been instrumental in developing ethically sourced AI training data. She advocates for reducing bias in AI models by diversifying datasets, ensuring AI systems are more inclusive and representative.
- Daphne Koller: Co-founder of Coursera and CEO of Insitro, Daphne Koller has pioneered AI applications in drug discovery, accelerating treatment development. Her online learning platform, Coursera, has transformed global access to AI-driven education.
- Francesca Rossi: As IBM’s Global AI Ethics Lead, Francesca Rossi works on designing AI that aligns with human values. Her focus is on ensuring AI is transparent, accountable, and ethically sound.
- Irene Solaiman: A leader in AI policy, Irene Solaiman heads global policy at Hugging Face, shaping responsible AI governance. Previously at OpenAI, she played a key role in the staged release of GPT-2 and pioneered bias testing in large language models.
- Ivana Bartoletti: Global Data Privacy Officer at Wipro, Ivana Bartoletti specializes in ensuring AI aligns with data protection laws. She is a leader in AI ethics and privacy best practices.
- Karine Perset: Head of the OECD AI Policy Observatory, Karine Perset plays a key role in forming AI governance frameworks internationally.
- Kate Crawford: A Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, Kate Crawford explores AI’s societal effects. She focuses on bias in AI, the power structures shaping its development, and the ethical implications of large-scale AI deployments.
- Kay Firth-Butterfield: As the world’s first Chief AI Ethics Officer back in 2014, Kay Firth-Butterfield leads global discussions on AI responsibility. She is an advisory board member at Fathom.org.
- Latanya Sweeney: A Harvard professor, Latanya Sweeney researches how AI influences societal structures and works on preventing bias in AI decision-making.
- Lina Khan: As Chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Lina Khan regulates AI-driven monopolies and ensures fair competition in the AI sector.
- Manuela Veloso: Head of AI Research at JPMorgan Chase, Manuela Veloso integrates AI into financial systems. With a background in robotics and machine learning, she explores how AI can improve automation, risk assessment, and security in finance.
- Nina Schick: Founder of Tamang Ventures, Nina Schick specializes in AI’s role in media, deep fakes, and journalism. She advocates for responsible AI in information dissemination and political discourse.
- Regina Barzilay: An MIT professor, Regina Barzilay is known for applying AI to healthcare and medical research. She has developed pioneering AI research for early cancer detection and drug discovery.
- Rumman Chowdhury: As CEO of HumaneIntelligence and a member of the Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board for US Homeland Security, Rumman Chowdhury focuses on identifying and reducing bias in AI systems.
- Stephanie Hare: Author of "Technology Is Not Neutral," Stephanie Hare pushes for AI transparency. She advocates for AI that benefits the broader public.
- Sue Turner OBE: As CEO of AI Governance, Sue Turner helps companies integrate AI responsibly. She advises on ethical business strategies to ensure AI is used for social good.
- Tekedra Mawakana: As co-CEO of Waymo, Tekedra Mawakana leads policy efforts in AI-driven transportation, advocating for ethical and safe deployment of autonomous vehicles.
- Yejin Choi: A professor at the University of Washington and a leading researcher at AI2, Yejin Choi works on improving AI’s reasoning abilities. Her research helps AI systems interpret nuanced language and make fairer, more ethical decisions.
AI is Advancing at an Astonishing Pace, and the Brilliant Women on this List, Together with Many Others, are Driving that Momentum.
Whether They’re Developing the Technology Itself, Combating Ethical Challenges, or Influencing Policies That Govern Its Use, Their Work is Instrumental for the Industry and Its Role in the Lives of Those It Affects.
While There is Much Work to Be Done to Secure Fair, Unbiased Representation in Both AI and the Industry Behind It, Progress is Being Made Thanks to the Innovators in this List and the Millions of Other Women Beside Them.
