The numbers tell a troubling story: women represent just 26% of the tech workforce, with the gender ratio actually worsening over the past three decades according to Accenture. More alarming still, half of women who enter tech roles drop out by age 35. 

With research from the Women in Tech community suggesting achieving equal representation could still be decades away, despite numerous diversity initiatives, this month Technology Magazine spotlights the Top 10 exceptional women who are defying these statistics.

10. Clare Barclay

Clare joined Microsoft in 1998 and became EMEA Enterprise President in 2024, after leading Microsoft UK for four years. She focuses on integrating AI across regional industries. With nearly three decades of experience, Clare holds board positions at techUK and WiHTL, advocating for digital skills development. She drives transformational change and supports young people in tech careers, emphasising the importance of skills development.

9. Elizabeth Hackenson

Role: CIO

Company: Schneider Electric

Industry: Energy/Automation

Elizabeth spearheads Schneider Electric’s digital transformation, leveraging cloud computing, IoT and AI to enhance sustainability and operational efficiency. With more than three decades of experience leading global technology initiatives, she manages digital infrastructure, security and solutions for Schneider’s workforce of more than 128,000 employees. Before joining Schneider in 2017, she served as CIO at AES, Alcatel-Lucent and MCI, driving large-scale technology modernisation.

8. Meerah Rajavel

As CIO of Palo Alto Networks, Meerah directs global IT functions, driving strategies to scale cybersecurity solutions and enhance operational agility. With more than 25 years of experience, she previously served as CIO at Citrix and held leadership roles at McAfee, Forcepoint and Cisco. Meerah emphasises perseverance and innovation, leveraging AI to accelerate product development — reducing timelines from weeks to days. Her leadership addresses critical challenges like threat complexity and resource gaps, balancing automation with strategic resource management to strengthen cybersecurity defenses.

7. Elizabeth Stone

Elizabeth became Netflix’s CTO in October 2023 after serving as Vice President of Product Data Science & Engineering and Data & Insights since 2020. With an economics background, she leads initiatives to enhance content discovery, optimise streaming via AI/ML and integrate live content delivery. Her strategy merges technological ambition with disciplined execution, driving innovation in areas like personalised recommendations and real-time event scalability. Elizabeth emphasises high talent density and cross-functional collaboration, ensuring Netflix advances member experiences across product, content, gaming and advertising.

6. Sam Kini

Sam serves as Unilever's Global CIO and CISO, overseeing enterprise architecture, business technology platforms, innovation and digital transformation. Alongside this, she also leads cyber and information security efforts. With more than 20 years of IT experience, Sam previously held CIO roles at easyJet and Telenet, and leadership positions at Virgin Media. Her dual role at Unilever began in 2024 and reflects her expertise in driving technology and security strategies for large organisations.

5. Praniti Lakhwara

Praniti is a distinguished IT leader who utilises technology to meet business demands and deliver innovative solutions. Since 2019, she has led Zscaler's IT solutions, ensuring seamless experiences for customers and employees. Her focus is on driving a comprehensive strategy to support Zscaler's rapid growth and build a world-class IT organisation. Previously, she served as CIO at Conga and held senior IT roles at Nimble Storage and Guidewire Software. Her expertise in IT leadership has been instrumental in her success at Zscaler.

4. Rani Johnson

As CIO at Workday, Rani oversees the company’s global IT organisation and internal deployment of Workday products. Appointed in 2023, she focuses on advancing AI capabilities and strengthening security infrastructure, including implementing Zero Trust models. She brings more than 25 years of experience to the role, with career highlights including CIO roles at TIBCO, SolarWinds and Cloud Software Group. This experience is marked by a collaborative leadership style that prioritises innovation and operational efficiency.

3. Cynthia Stoddard

Cindy is an accomplished technology leader specialising in IT strategy and global systems. As Adobe's CIO since 2016, she has driven the company’s cloud-native transformation, enhancing infrastructure reliability, employee experiences and data-driven decision-making. Cindy’s leadership focuses on innovation, operational efficiency and a people-centric approach, positioning IT as a strategic partner in scaling business operations and fostering workplace satisfaction. Her tenure reflects a commitment to leveraging automation, generative AI and cross-functional collaboration to streamline workflows and deliver business value.

2. Dr Lisa Su

Lisa has been instrumental in transforming AMD into a leading high-performance computing company since becoming President, CEO and Chair in October 2014. Her leadership has driven significant innovations, including the development of the Zen CPU architecture and advancements in GPU technology. Under her guidance, AMD has experienced substantial growth, with its market capitalisation increasing dramatically. This transformation has positioned AMD as a major competitor in the semiconductor industry. Among various other achievements, Lisa was named as TIME’s 2024 CEO of the Year. Recognition founded on lists of achievements, Lisa continues to steer AMD towards further growth, particularly in the AI sector, where AMD's chips play a crucial role in supporting AI systems.

1. Safra Catz

Safra has led Oracle Corporation as CEO since 2014, initially sharing the role with Mark Hurd until becoming sole CEO in 2019. Joining Oracle in 1999, she rose rapidly from SVP to VP and then again to CFO, leveraging her dual expertise in finance and law, which she studied at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania Law School respectively. Safra has been instrumental in driving Oracle's aggressive acquisition strategy, including the landmark US$10bn acquisition of PeopleSoft in 2005 and the US$28bn acquisition of Cerner in 2021 — the largest in Oracle's history — all while driving Oracle's cloud-first transformation. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure emerged in 2016 under her leadership, positioning the company against competitors through strategic SaaS acquisitions like NetSuite.

To read the full article in the magazine, click HERE.

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