Celebrating the diverse journeys of women in AI: A conversation with Alena Frankel

Alena Frankel, our Technical Principal for Defence, explores her perspective on the role of women in AI. Alena reveals what motivated her to start her career and offers insights to help others succeed in the industry.

1. Journeys into AI are unique. What inspired you to enter the field of AI?

I always liked the idea of doing research as a career, but I never knew that you could do it outside of academia. I kind of fell into an R&D career by applying for an internship that my friend recommended. I was given an incredible project applying bio-inspired optimisation algorithms to route-planning for drones, it was the coolest thing I’d ever done. A few weeks into the internship, I realised that this was exactly the kind of learning-driven, problem-solving career that I wanted to pursue.

Looking back, I think I was very lucky. Computer Science and Engineering weren’t really pushed as careers for women, and while I was never explicitly stopped from doing it, I didn’t know the range of careers that were available, or what they really involved. As AI has moved into the public consciousness, I hope we get an influx of women saying “that’s what I want to do!”.

2. AI is still a male-dominated industry. Have you faced any gender-related obstacles, and how have you overcome them?

I think that women and other minorities tend to get ‘tested’ more. I often notice a change in how I’m treated before and after I say something techy and smart-sounding in a meeting. You get used to making sure that you assert yourself early on, but it’s frustrating to feel that you have to do that. 

Something that makes a massive difference is how your male colleagues and allies act. I love working with people who keep an eye out for it, and do little things like re-directing technical questions towards you, or ensuring that the wider group is clear about everyone’s roles.

3. For young women looking to enter AI, what advice would you give them to thrive in this industry?

I’d say that it can be tough, but it’s worth pushing through. AI is too fun and interesting to miss out on!

I think some women feel less confident about their own skills, particularly technical skills. I think advice like ‘be more confident!’ is meaningless and unhelpful, but I’d advise you to recognise and observe when you are nervous about doing something. Think about the amount of prep you’ve done, the situations that are likely to come up, and how much prep you would need to do to feel confident. Think about how you prepared for similar situations in the past, and how things went. As you get more experience, you’ll get to know yourself and how much you need to do for things to generally go well. You can work around a lack of confidence without having to eliminate it altogether.

4. Why is it so important that women see AI as a viable and exciting career path?

AI is the future, and women need to be part of every step in shaping it. You can only design for what you know and understand, so if women and minorities aren’t involved, we’re missing a huge piece of the puzzle. As AI becomes more and more interwoven with our everyday life, it’s absolutely vital that the industry becomes more diverse to design for all of the people who are going to be affected by it.

5. If you could send one message to all women working in AI today, what would it be?

You’re doing really well, I’m really proud of you!

6. What are you most excited to see in the future of AI? 

AI is becoming more democratised, and that’s a really effective way to accelerate innovation. As it becomes more accessible to people who aren’t AI experts, it’s becoming accessible to people who are experts at different things instead. Having people who have hands-on experience in a diverse range of fields, being empowered to start using AI to solve their problems, is going to be amazing.