Despite the mass global shift towards artificial intelligence usage and governance, recent data indicates that women are often left behind in this space. A recent Forbes article predicted that, by 2025, AI is projected to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy, yet fewer than 22% of AI talent globally are women.

To commemorate International Women’s Day 2025, we recently caught up with UCL School of Management Assistant Professor Angela Aristidou, an expert in the field who specialises in the organisational implementation of AI. In this blog, Angela not only explains the ways in which women are underrepresented in the workforce, but also how this technology in itself can become a source of bias through coding that utilises historical data. However, signalling hope, she also takes us through the opportunities presented by AI to alleviate many of the issues - including pay disparities - that impact women in the workplace.

can you tell us about your primary research areas?

My research focuses on how emerging digital technologies are deployed and integrated into real-world organisations. Over the years, I have examined virtual reality technologies at Harvard and NASA, explored the impact of social media platforms at Cambridge and Oxford, and most recently, at UCL, I have turned my attention to artificial intelligence.

However, my interest is not in the technology itself—despite holding two master’s degrees in information systems, technology, and innovation. Instead, I am fascinated by the critical, early phase when a new technology first enters the fabric of organisations and society. This transitional period is where decisions are made, norms take shape, and unintended consequences emerge—ultimately determining who benefits, who is excluded, and how the technology reshapes our work and relationships. Understanding and guiding this process is at the heart of my work.

what have been your career highlights so far?

I am deeply humbled by being awarded a Stanford CASBS Fellowship in 2022-2023. At the time I was a junior professor, and these are global awards typically won by senior scholars and established academics representing nine different disciplines. It was a very humbling moment indeed.

what do you like most about working with ai?

What I love most is the cross-disciplinary nature of this work. AI sits at the intersection of technology, ethics, policy, and human behaviour, which means I get to collaborate with computer scientists, policymakers, economists, domain experts, and community leaders.

Engaging in these diverse conversations and translating complex technological advancements into real-world strategies is both intellectually stimulating and deeply meaningful. I have, in turn, structured my own research lab (Innovating Across Sectors) to be cross-disciplinary and to engage and embrace diverse voices across domains.

can you tell us about female representation within ai?

Gender representation in AI is a critical issue—not just in terms of who builds AI systems, but also who AI systems are built for and how they impact different groups. In terms of ‘AI talent’, the field of AI remains heavily male-dominated, particularly in technical and leadership roles. Women tend to make up only a fraction of AI researchers, engineers, and executives.

In terms of AI itself, the models that underpin the outputs we consume, AI systems themselves often encode bias. AI is trained on historical data, which means that if past inequalities exist in hiring, healthcare, finance, or law enforcement, AI can amplify and entrench those biases rather than eliminate them. We’ve already seen real-world consequences—AI hiring systems that discriminate against women, healthcare algorithms that prioritise men’s symptoms over women’s, and facial recognition software that performs worse on female and non-white faces.

Fixing this is not just about adding diversity in AI teams—though that is essential. It’s about rethinking how we design, train, and deploy AI systems. It requires interdisciplinary collaboration, regulation, and accountability to ensure that AI serves all of society.

can ai be used to support women in the workplace?

There are so many ways in which AI has the potential to address workplace challenges for women. For instance, closing the gender pay gap. Many women are simply not aware of salary benchmarks, or reluctant to inquire with colleagues. AI-powered salary benchmarking tools can help identify pay disparities within organizations, providing data-driven insights to push for equal pay for equal work.

Companies can use AI to assess compensation trends and make informed salary adjustments to close gender pay gaps. My hope is also that we will see soon that AI may create more and more impactful women entrepreneurs. Among other ways, AI-powered funding and investment platforms can analyse venture capital trends and recommend financing opportunities to support women-led businesses, helping to counteract historical underfunding of female entrepreneurs.

A third possibility, which is notable because of current discussions around physical return to office, is perhaps to leverage AI to personalise flexible work arrangements by analyzing productivity patterns and helping optimize hybrid work schedules, making it easier for women— and everyone really – to balance professional and personal obligations.