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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is defining how the world learns, earns and creates. But as India enters a decade of AI-driven growth, one question matters most: who will lead it? For India to realize its full economic potential, women must be at the center of this transformation – as founders, innovators and decision-makers.
On Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, India has a unique opportunity to shape a more inclusive AI economy for Asia and the Pacific – one that connects skills, capital and representation to transform disruption into mobility and shared prosperity.
AI is changing the nature of work in every sector – from manufacturing to health and education. Insights from UN Women × LinkedIn Women and the future of jobs The brief reveals that about 80% of women in India today are in roles classified as “enhanced” or “constrained”. When these roles evolve or disappear, women often move into equally diminished roles, while men are more likely to move into enhanced roles. This gap deepens inequality and limits women’s participation in emerging industries.
The solution lies in investing where change happens – on factory floors and campus labs, in start-ups and supply chains. If women can access AI literacy and re-skill on a large scale, they can move into the new roles being created by AI – from data governance to design ethics to sustainability analysis. Making AI skills a public good – offered through universities, career centers and local entrepreneurship networks – could help more women transition more easily into the jobs and professions of the future.
Skill opens doors, but capital keeps them open. India’s start-up ecosystem has made great strides in representation, yet women-led enterprises still receive less than 2% of total venture funding. As AI lowers the barriers to entry for innovation, this is a moment to fund female builders – from deep-tech founders to small-business owners using AI for growth.
A funding window that combines grants and first-loss capital with access to cloud credit, AI tools, and mentorship could accelerate this change. It is equally important to make markets more inclusive – linking women-led enterprises into corporate supply chains and government procurement programs.
LinkedIn’s recent SMB Research 2025 offers a glimpse of how women entrepreneurs are already leading India’s business transformation. Women-led small and medium businesses demonstrate higher optimism about the future, adopt AI earlier, and hire with a skills-first mindset – 36% cite the biggest benefit of AI as improving talent and skills alignment. They use digital platforms more extensively in recruiting, marketing, sales and learning – reflecting an integrated, intelligence-driven approach to growth.
These leaders are not outsiders; They are the prototypes of India’s next entrepreneurial wave – one that is tech-forward, inclusive and data-driven. Supporting them with targeted credit, AI training and market access can create multiplier effects in employment and innovation.
This is in line with India’s broader digital transformation agenda under the vision of Digital India, Startup India and Developed India, where women entrepreneurs remain at the center of inclusive and sustainable economic growth, empowerment, innovation and job creation in urban and rural areas.
True inclusion in the AI age also means ensuring that women shape the rules governing technology. From biased audits to data privacy and AI ethics, women must have a voice in decision-making bodies, standards committees and policy forums. When women co-design technology, its purpose and impact change for the better.
Women and girls cannot be expected to bridge systemic inequality alone. This moment demands collective action: Governments finance universal AI access and reskilling; Employers offering paid apprenticeships and clear career paths: Investors supporting women-led enterprises; and building networks and visibility platforms that connect women to opportunity. If we act now, and invest where change happens, India can lead the world in creating an AI economy that works for all.
This article is written by Kanta Singh, UN Women India Country Representative for AI and Ruchi Anand, LinkedIn India Head, Talent & Learning Solutions.
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