AWS has partnered with Bengaluru-based born-in-the-cloud company ShellKode to train one lakh women developers in GenAI.

The two companies have collaborated in an effort to help women developers upskill themselves during the current shift towards AI in the workplace. As a part of this, ShellKode launched “EmpowerHer”, which will work towards upskilling the developers.

“We’re empowering a generation of aspiring developers, particularly women, with the cutting-edge tools and knowledge of AI to transform India’s innovation landscape and shape the future of enterprise,” said Arun Kumar, ShellKode CEO.

The programme will pair the developers with GenAI mentors in order to help them better understand how GenAI works. In addition, the company stated that the mentors will be able to provide “personalised and invaluable guidance, career advice, and a supportive network.”

This will be done through networking events, seminars and online interactions with the GenAI community, where they will be able to connect with industry professionals.

The need to democratise the AI landscape in India has been a continuing conversation. Recently, several companies have pledged to increase the number of women developers in the country, including Microsoft. The tech giant had pledged to upskill and certify over 75,000 women developers in AI by 2025.

Likewise, the Karnataka government had also collaborated with JobsForHer in March this year towards a similar goal. The Karnataka Digital Economic Mission (KDEM) had launched the HerShakti, specifically for women in tech. As part of the initiative, they hope to upskill 500 women in the next six months.

Similarly, in an era where mid-career employees are rushing towards upskilling themselves, the gender distribution has been fairly even in demand. Several edtech startups have reported increased interest in AI and AI-adjacent courses, especially among women in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

With this in mind, the EmpowerHer programme comes at an opportune time.