Gargi Nalawade

I think one thing that will never be replaced, even though people think AI will solve everything and there will be no need for engineers, is the thinking, acumen, and capability. There is still someone, more of an expert, who needs to tell the AI what to do. So, learning and acquiring knowledge and acquiring skills in not just a depth area - develop your depth for sure - but also breadth in different technical topics. Develop strong computational fundamentals. That's what I would recommend to women going in new. And then, also, in the new world, get familiar with how to use AI, how to leverage it for the best possible results. I think that becomes very critical as well.

As a leader, you have to stand strong by your convictions, otherwise you're adding to the pollution that people call politics, nepotism, and favoritism. If you give in to that, then you're just contributing to it, and how are you making the world, the industry, a better place? I believe we work for companies and the industry to do good things and do justice to what we are being paid for, plus you have a loyalty to the industry and to humanity as well. Sometimes you have to stick to your ideals - it pays off in the long run. I would never throw my people under the bus. I would stand up and fight for them. That does not agree with my conscience or my philosophy. If fighting for them could cost me my job because my manager wants yes people, then maybe this isn't the company, or the role for me, or the manager for me. At the end of the day, we build and work to do good things.