Good Leaders Podcast Episode 17: Julia Stamm and Olivia Gambelin, the women driving AI for good

Love podcasts? Don't miss out on ours! Catch up on all our podcasts and subscribe free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Soundcloud.

What brings together an American “made in Silicon Valley” and a European born in East Germany? Olivia Gambelin and Julia Stamm’s journeys may be very different, but the problem they want to fight brings them together: the interlocked double-issue of women in tech and the development of ethical artificial intelligence.

Women may still be under-represented in AI firms, but when it comes to advancing the technology for public good, they play a crucial role, the podcast guests explain – not least because of women’s natural inclination to lead with empathy, which their male counterparts tend to lack. 

But being a “AI for good” leader as a woman doesn’t come without challenges. “Behind the curtain and in the trenches” – women are the ones doing the groundwork to develop AI social impact – but their work too often is unrecognised, contend Gambelin and Stamm.

In this episode, Stamm, award-winning impact tech entrepreneur, and Gambelin, founder of Responsible AI, a global network of ethical AI practitioners, tell Pioneers Post founding editor Tim West about their Women Shaping the Future of Responsible AI initiative, a project to showcase and celebrate the women leading the way in the sustainable use of artificial intelligence.

There are mountains to climb for women in tech, and they’re even higher for women in AI, Stamm and Gambelin say. Too often, men are taking credit for work mostly achieved by women; and women tend to be expected to do “good” for society for free, Stamm points out.

I don't want to be empowered. I want to be funded

“There seems to be a very strong assumption that women [social entrepreneurs] do this because of the fun of it and because we’re compelled to do this, but that we do not necessarily need the support and the funding for it… I really think this needs to change quite dramatically. I always say: I don’t want to be empowered. I want to be funded… I want to be compensated for my time in my work, significantly and equally compared to others in this space.”

Stamm and Gambelin talk to Tim West about:

• Their new initiative and awards programme, Women Shaping the Future of Responsible AI, to celebrate and build a community of women leaders in “AI for good”
• The challenges they experienced as women in tech and in the AI sector in particular
• What good leadership means for them and how setting boundaries helps them look after themselves

Thanks for reading Pioneers Post. As an entrepreneur or investor yourself, you'll know that producing quality work doesn't come free. We rely on our subscribers to sustain our journalism – so if you think it's worth having an independent, specialist media platform that covers social enterprise stories, please consider subscribing. You'll also be buying social: Pioneers Post is a social enterprise itself, reinvesting all our profits into helping you do good business, better.

Create your own user feedback survey