Page 62 - Banking Finance February 2026

FEATURE

Indian women rank high AI skills

globally, but top roles held by men

T he penetration of AI skills is highest among Indian Mishra adds that flexible models of learning have also helped

in encouraging greater participation from women.
women than anywhere else globally, data from the
recent Stanford AI Index suggests.
AI skills can now be acquired through digital, self-paced
According to the Index prepared by Stanford University learning and applied in hybrid or remote work environments.
Human Centred Artificial Intelli-gence, Indian women have This can also be observed in terms of the female enrolments
a 'relative AI skill penetration rate' of 1.9. in AI skilling programmes.

This means that AI skills are almost twice more common UGC education platform College Vidya reported that
among Indian women than the average member in all women's participation in AI and machine learning
countries pooled together. The skill penetration rate was programmes has grown fourfold in a single year from just 5
measured based on LinkedIn declarations of people. per cent in 2024 to 20 per cent in 2025.

At 1.9, Indian women are more AI-skilled than other Actively Skilling
advanced economies like the United States (1.71), Canada However, while many organisations are actively skilling
(0.97) and the UK (0.90). The metric in 2025 is also an
women at early and mid-career levels, the real gap persists
improvement from last year's rate of 1.61.
at the AI leadership and research layers, where the under-
representation of women persists.
Skill Penetration
For men, the skill penetration rate this year stood at 2.38, In fact, a report by Nasscom and Boston Consulting Group
down from the 2.78 posted last year. recorded a 64 per cent gender dis-parity in AI leadership in
India compared to global women leaders.
The overall skill penetration in India in 2025 was 2.51,
second only to the United States (2.63). Sanketh Chengappa - Director and Business Head, Professional
Staffing, Adecco India, flags that marginalisation exists in roles
Aditya Mishra, MD & CEO of CIEL HR, believes that the that shape product design, governance and ethical
relative AI skill penetration of Indian women is rooted in frameworks.
scale, access and intent.
Many organisations have introduced inclusive leadership
"With women making up 35-40 per cent of the 1.5 million programmes and mentoring net-works to elevate women
engineering graduates annually, India has a far broader into AI roles, but the data shows that senior AI leadership
entry funnel into technical education than many mature AI continues to be male dominated, he said. (Source:
economies," he said. BusinessLine)

54 | 2026 | FEBRUARY | BANKING FINANCE