Sowmya Podila

I attribute my success to a combination of the opportunities I got early in my career combined with my passion and enthusiasm. I don't just settle for less - I always aim high for myself. I am a big dreamer. Even today, I want myself to be able to attend World Economic Forum and United Nations panels and shape society, especially in the AI realm. That's what I dream and aspire to be in the next few years. I always dream high and also have the discipline, and I'm willing to put in the hard work needed to get me to those places. I have a vision, and I work on that. So that combination of ambition and vision, combined with discipline and hard work is one thing, but also the earlier opportunities I had. I had the vision to come and study abroad, I had the vision to pursue AI/ML before AI was even a big thing. That vision combined with the opportunity to come abroad for my master's has been supported by my family, mentors, and some of the friends who believed in me. Even today, to pursue a lot of these passion projects, my husband is really supportive of me, taking care of the baby when I want to go out and do all these events and speaking opportunities. So the people who believed in me and supported me for me to go pursue those opportunities is also a key part of my success.

Recently, one of my principal data scientists at Target, who is also a woman, gave me some advice that really resonated with me. She told me, 'Don't spread yourself too thin.' I'm a new mom - my daughter is one year old - so I'm navigating AI and motherhood at the same time. I'm ambitious, I want to do a lot of things, and I also sign up for a lot of things. But now I'm trying to actively choose fewer projects and contribute more, given my life is going through a personal milestone as well. I'm making lists on paper and evaluating what each of the projects or initiatives I have on hand mean to me, and where I can do justice, and pick only fewer high-value things or high-impact things rather than signing up for every other thing. When I was young, I could do everything at once. Now I can't do that. So that advice to not spread myself too thin and be kind to myself has been really important, especially as women are evolving personally and professionally at the same time in their early 30s.

I would say dream big and dream early, because a lot of times I kind of thought to seek more leadership roles, but I thought, 'Hey, I need to have 10 years under the belt, this is a traditional path, I have to be 2 years for the next promotion, only then I can be something else.' Even though I dreamed bigger, I wasn't pushy enough or wasn't taking whatever is out there, thinking that I don't have those many experiences under my belt - what will people think? Maybe I have to be something else to even ask for a seat at the table. I dreamed bigger, but I didn't dream early enough. I feel like you don't have to be a certain age or number or have certain things. You can also learn on the job - that's how people learn. It's not like you learn and then you pursue it. So dream big, dream early, learn on the job, put yourself on the table first. Don't wait for it. That's what I would say.

The challenge is that AI is evolving at a neck-breaking speed. You learn something, and that's already outdated. You're already like a month old in the field, basically. So the neck-breaking speed at which AI is evolving is a challenge. The opportunity I see, especially for women, comes from some alarming numbers I've been looking at online. Only 3 out of 10 women have even heard of AI terms or are familiar with AI. Of all these women, only one woman actually knows what it means - they've heard or learned a few things, but they don't know what it means or how to apply it. Of those, only one woman actually knows what they have heard and learned and can apply it the right way. I think those kinds of numbers, especially among the women group, are alarming. I've also heard that AI is such a level playing field - everyone is as new as you are to this. It's an opportunity for women to basically now level set the playing field with everyone else out there, especially with other genders. There's an opportunity to learn AI at this juncture, to not just let this tech wave pass by and be left back or be an underserved community in the AI space. That should not happen to women, at least in this era. So all women have an opportunity to level set the playing field and learn this technology and be ahead of the curve.

For me, discipline is a really important thing, and trust and commitment - I think all of these go hand in hand. When you say you would deliver something, you would deliver. I want people to be able to count on me, and I would have to stay committed to whatever I said I would deliver. If I can't, I have the courtesy and respect for others to let them know ahead and not waste others' time or give false promises. Also, mutual respect for each other is non-negotiable. I have never thought there is another way around it, but I have to say it out loud - that's something that's non-negotiable. Respect for anyone at the table, irrespective of their experience, racial profile, gender - it doesn't matter. Whether it's the CEO versus an intern, doesn't matter. Anybody needs to be heard, and everybody needs to get the basic due respect and courtesy, unless they spoke something offensive. There is no need to disrespect anyone. Stay committed to whatever you said you would deliver, and let them know ahead. Those are some things I try to live by as a bare minimum, and there are more that I can build on top of it, for sure.