Women’s Day Special
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Priyanka Singhal shares her insights on women driving innovation in AI, computer vision and road safety technologies.
Q1. With your experience in artificial intelligence and ADAS development, how do you see women in STEM contributing to innovation in emerging technologies like computer vision and road safety systems?
As a young woman engineer at drivebuddyAI, I see a tremendous contribution from women in STEM every day, especially in cutting-edge fields like computer vision and road safety. It’s incredibly motivating that so many of my friends from college are now holding serious responsibilities both technical and managerial in different tech companies. Here at drivebuddyAI, we have women engineers across all critical functions: from data science, where we help train the models that teach our systems to perceive the world, to software development, QA, and even hardware production. Having a mix of both genders in every team makes our workplace truly diverse, and we never feel a difference; it simply feels normal and balanced.
The landscape has shifted significantly from the days when women had to fight for a seat at the table. Today, the world is holding merit accountable, and nothing else matters as much. Women bring a different perspective to problem-solving, are natural multitaskers, and often excel at managing both people and complex product lifecycles. In our work on driver monitoring systems and advanced safety features, this diversity of thought is invaluable. We’re not just coding for one type of user; we’re building for everyone on the road. Ultimately, innovation thrives when the best minds, regardless of gender, come together to tackle a challenge.
Q2. Despite growing participation, women remain under-represented in deep-tech fields. What steps can the industry take to build stronger leadership pipelines for women in AI and engineering?
Here in drivebuddyAI, we have a different reality. We are not waiting for a seat at the table; we are building the table, leading the product and technology. My experience at drivebuddyAI is a testament to what happens when a company moves beyond rhetoric and ingrains a culture of ownership and accountability. The work I do isn’t just a task on a board; it’s my creation, and I’m fully responsible for it. When it’s time to demonstrate that technology to a customer, or when it’s the occasion of representing it on a global stage like CES, I’m the one presenting it. This direct line from creation to presentation is the most impactful thing that builds confidence, fosters expertise, and naturally carves a path to leadership.
In my opinion, a culture of ownership, like the one we have, means holding everyone to the same high standard. It’s crucial that women are given the same tough assignments, the same critical feedback, and the same high-stakes opportunities as their male counterparts. Don’t shield us from the hard stuff. Give us the challenging customer escalations to handle, the troubled projects to turn around, and the complex technical debt to solve. It is through navigating these high-pressure situations that true leaders are forged.
When you build an environment where every engineer is empowered to be the face of their own work, you don’t just develop better technology you naturally develop the leaders of tomorrow.
Q3. Having worked across different sectors before joining drivebuddyAI, how have diverse teams and perspectives influenced decision-making and innovation in technology development?
Before drivebuddyAI, I experienced the siloed approach common in many tech sectors, as many tech companies encourage work from home, which makes interaction with other teams, and largely at an organisational level, very limited. Here, I’ve learned that the “owner” mindset isn’t about hoarding a task—it’s about shepherding an idea from conception to customer, hand in hand with every team that touches it.
Building AI isn’t a solo act. It’s a continuous loop: my team crafts the model, but it’s the cross-functional team that brings it to life. The platforms team deploys it on the device, the cloud team scales it for applications, and the operations team, constantly engaging with end users, feeds real-world performance back to us. This isn’t a linear hand-off; it’s a constant, collaborative rhythm.
This is where diverse perspectives become our strongest asset. Decision-making isn’t influenced by a single party. It emerges from collective intelligence. The operations team highlights an edge case we never saw in training data. The deployment team suggests an optimisation that makes the model leaner and faster on hardware. Every voice shapes the outcome.
The result? The only “influencer” in the room is the quality of the product itself. By working together, owning the outcomes collectively, and respecting each domain’s expertise, we ensure that what we build isn’t just a great model it’s a great product that truly works for the user. That’s the recipe.
Q4. As AI continues to shape global industries, why is women’s participation crucial for maintaining global competitiveness and building inclusive technological solutions?
In a world where AI is becoming the norm, global competitiveness hinges on our ability to build solutions that serve everyone. If the teams building these technologies lack diverse perspectives, we risk creating systems with inherent blind spots and in a global market, blind spots are a competitive disadvantage. Women bring different lived experiences, different problem-solving approaches, and different intuitions to the table. This diversity isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a strategic imperative for building AI that is robust, unbiased, and truly innovative.
Beyond perspective, women naturally bring strengths that are essential for leadership in this fast-paced industry. The ability to multitask, to focus on critical tasks with unwavering determination until they are achieved, and to manage complex workflows with empathy and precision these are not learned skills but inherent traits that make women exceptional leaders and managers. As we race to build AI products that make humans more efficient, the world cannot afford to be biased. In a progressive, interconnected world, there is no room for imbalance. Women are not just participating in this technological revolution; we are leading it, and our contribution is essential for building a future that is both competitive and inclusive.
Q5. For young women aspiring to build careers in artificial intelligence and deep learning, what skills, mindset, and opportunities should they focus on to unlock their full potential in this field?
To the young women dreaming of building the future with AI: your journey starts now, and the field is wide open. First, build your foundation strong. Dive into programming, mathematics, and the core principles of machine learning and deep learning. But don’t stop at theory. The real magic happens when you get your hands dirty with real projects. Practical experience building, breaking, and fixing things is where true understanding is forged. Since this field evolves at lightning speed, make continuous learning your superpower. Stay curious, read the latest research, and experiment with new tools.
Equally important is finding your community. Engage with the tech world through conferences, workshops, and networking. These spaces build confidence, spark ideas, and open doors to opportunities you never knew existed.
My one piece of heartfelt advice: be intentional about where you start your career. Don’t just look for a job; look for a place where you can be an owner, not just another developer. Seek out growing organisations that will hand you challenges, not just tasks. It is in facing real-world constraints, in leading through tough times, that you build not just your skills, but your character.
We are standing at the very beginning of an era. AI is being built for everyone, and my wish for you is to be part of that wave, not left watching from the shore. Learn what AI is, explore the tools available, and start using it in your daily life. Become fluent in this new language, no matter what domain you work in. Align yourself with the flow of innovation, stay curious, and the future is waiting for your contribution.
