While prospects for women in tech and AI have improved over the years, women still comprise just a fraction of the tech workforce. Ayumi Moore Aoki is the founder of Women in Tech Global, an organization with a presence in over 60 countries around the world, one designed to empower women in the sector. She shares how a leaky talent pipeline makes opportunity harder to seize, what's needed at each stage of women's careers to bridge gaps and what leaders can do to ensure they make the most of their team's talents. She'll also explain how women can distinguish themselves in AI and the one topic that will define that technology in the year ahead. Lastly, this advocate and founder also details how her background has prepared her to run WTG, from her time in South Africa during apartheid to her lessons learned as an entrepreneur.

Related links:
Women in Tech Global: https://women-in-tech.org/
Ayumi Moore Aoki: https://ayumimooreaoki.com/

Related reports:
Global Gender Gap Report: https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-gender-gap-report-2025/ Global Gender Gap Report

Global Parity in the Intelligene Age: https://www.weforum.org/publications/gender-parity-in-the-intelligent-age-2025/

Related episodes:
Be your own role model - a female rocket scientist, pioneer and science influencer explains
Listen here: https://tinyurl.com/y4n9cmec

7 women leaders on the books that shaped their lives
Listen: https://tinyurl.com/vuketc78

Women comprise just a fraction of the aerospace sector - a field research says is poised for trillion-dollar growth in the years to come. Mishaal Ashemimry is the head of the Centre for Space Futures where she works to improve space policies and unlock the next phase of the space economy. She shares her experience as a woman not just in a male-dominated sector but in a region that for much of her life didn't have a formal space agency. She explains what slows the growth of women in aerospace and what's changing for the better in this sector. She also shares the mindsets and strategies she used to get her ideas heard and to create opportunity for herself, tactics that helped her become the first female aerospace engineer in the Gulf Cooperation Council and to found her own rocket startup.

About this episode:
Mishaal Ashemimry:
https://www.mishaalashemimry.com/home
https://www.youtube.com/@MishaalAshemimry/videos

Related World Economic Forum Initiatives:
Centre for Space Futures
https://www.spacefutures-sa.com/home

Report - Space: $1.8 Trillion Opportunity for Global Economic Growth
https://www.weforum.org/publications/space-the-1-8-trillion-opportunity-for-global-economic-growth/

Transcript:
https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/mishaal-ashemimry-role-model-space-gender-gap

Related Episodes:
He's building 'gas stations' in space. How it can drive the space economy - Orbit Fab
Transcript:
https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/daniel-faber-orbit-fab-space-economy
Episode: https://tinyurl.com/2s3tscms

Meet the startup building the first commercial space station - Axiom
Transcript: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/tejpaul-bhatia-space-economy-axiom/
Episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3FjNtzxmBucpgnZ4xhagxe

An energy company is building the world's largest airplane. Here's why - Axiom
Transcript: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/mark-lundstrom-radia-climate-change/
Episode: https://tinyurl.com/3n3edcyc

How can leaders navigate a world roiled by a host of uncertainties, from the impact of AI to jobs and economies, to an ever-warming world and increasing geopolitical conflicts? They can start by asking the right questions. In this special episode, with interviews recorded in Davos, leaders share what's top of mind for 2026. They give their thoughts on how leaders can navigate the unknown, their strategies to focus on what matters most and the key questions they're looking to answer at the start the year.

Featured in this episode:

• Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, the question to help navigate uncertainty
• Anne Walsh, Chief Investment Officer, Guggenheim Investment Management; Managing Partner, Guggenheim Partners on separating the signal from the noise
• Sunny Mann, Global Chair, Baker McKenzie, on tapping experts and building for resilience
• Nicholas Thompson, CEO, The Atlantic, on if we'll see the democratization of AI
• Jeremy Allaire, Founder and CEO, Circle, on how autonomous work will take shape
• Nikki Clifton, UPS Foundation, focusing on the right challenge
• Jonathan Haidt, author The Anxious Generation, on investing on habits for flourishing
• Suleika Jaouad, author and artist, on valuing meaning over momentum
• Adam Grant, Wharton Organizational Psychologist, on following the right leaders
• Jon Batiste, Grammy-winning musician, on making the future we imagine a reality

About this epsiode:
Transcript: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/questions-davos-leaders-are-asking-2026

Related story: Davos 2026: 10 questions on leaders' minds
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/02/davos-2026-10-questions-on-leaders-minds/

Related sessions:
Davos 2026: Special address by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/01/davos-2026-special-address-ursula-von-der-leyen/

Davos 2026: Special address by Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/01/davos-2026-special-address-by-mark-carney-prime-minister-of-canada/

Related epsiodes:
Meet The Leader: IMF's Kristalina Georgieva on what's next for AI, skills and the global economy
https://tinyurl.com/4ptf5ewp

Radio Davos: What just happened at Davos 2026
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3vB8W0ljH3VQeHAaf2sCuV