In 2026, Leadership Still Evades Women in Tech. But GCCs May Be Changing That

For years, conversations around women in technology have often been viewed through a diversity lens—more women entering STEM, more women rising to leadership, more initiatives supporting inclusion. Yet the numbers still tell a more complex story. Women remain underrepresented in leadership roles across technology and innovation ecosystems.

According to a new study released by professional services firm Aon, only 20% of women leaders reach senior positions within the same organisation by the age of 50, compared to nearly half of men (49%).

Suneela Thatte, VP and Head, Healthcare R&D India, Merck Group, who leads multiple research and development functions, believes the challenges of innovation in India extend beyond gender.

“In the pharmaceutical industry and research leadership, stereotypes certainly exist,” she tells AIM. “But the bigger limitation for India historically has been the ecosystem for innovation.”

Meanwhile, Deepthika Korukonda, Director of IT at Blackbaud India, mentions that while entry-level representation has improved, there is a need to close the leadership gap across the industry. “A lot of it comes down to access—access to sponsors who advocate for you in rooms you're not in and networks where relationships are built over time,” she says.

But Harsha Arora, Hub Leader, GCC, Merck Group, believes the progress is visible in the overall scheme of things. “When I started my career, the ecosystem was very male-dominated,” Arora recalls. “But today I see a very different environment.”

Her experience reflects a shift in corporate culture—especially in organisations where leadership diversity is increasingly visible. “In my organisation today, many of the top leaders are women. My boss is a woman, our CFO is a woman, and that tone from the top makes a big difference,” she adds.

However, she, too, acknowledges that structural gaps remain. While gender ratios in entry-level roles have improved, women still drop off at mid-career stages.

AI, Technology, and the Adoption Curve

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence is yet another differentiator.

Historically, women were often seen as slower adopters of emerging technologies. But that perception may now be changing.

Harsha Arora recalls a moment that shifted her perspective. “I once met a woman cab driver who told me she uploaded her mother-in-law’s medical report to ChatGPT to understand it better,” she recalls. “She kept asking follow-up questions until she understood the diagnosis.”

For Arora, that interaction symbolised a broader transformation. “If someone from what we might call ‘India C’ is already using AI to solve real problems, it shows how quickly people—especially women—are embracing these tools.”

Thatte believes that historical barriers repressing aspirations may actually be fueling this momentum. “For centuries, women were denied opportunities,” she says. “Now that those doors are opening, there is a passion to grab them.”

Sharing her own journey, Nisha Girdhar, Senior Project Manager, AI Platforms, Fidelity International, remembers that her AI path wasn’t linear. 

“I moved from strategy to digital analytics, and eventually into AI by simply volunteering for projects that sparked my interest. This is the culture organisations must strive to build, one where women (and men) are not only welcomed into cutting‑edge domains, but are given the tools, visibility and sponsorship to thrive in them.”

Women engineers, too, are now part of key automotive product initiatives. Gangapriya Chakraverti, India Site Head and Managing Director at Ford Motor Company, oversaw Ford’s major product launches.

“If you look at our product development teams, we have had women working on several of our products,” she shares. “When EcoSport was launched, we had one woman leader in India who was actually managing the entire launch of that product.”

“Jobs that are available now are very different from what they used to be, maybe 10–15 years ago,” Chakraverti explains. “Now you can pretty much design an entire car virtually sitting in an office.”

Such examples highlight the growing influence of women in engineering-heavy sectors that have historically been male-dominated.

However, the challenge many organisations continue to face is what is commonly referred to as the “leaky pipeline”—a phenomenon where women enter the workforce in significant numbers but gradually drop off as they move up the career ladder.

“We start with a very healthy percentage representation of women at junior levels,” Chakraveri says. “But as they grow in the organisation, we do experience the same leaky pipeline kind of phenomenon.”

This pattern is not unique to the automotive industry. Across technology sectors globally, women often exit the workforce mid-career due to personal responsibilities, limited advancement opportunities, or workplace challenges. According to a report by Accenture and Girls Who Code, 50% of women abandon technology careers by the age of 35, compared to 20% in other fields. A key driver of the mid-career exit is a perceived lack of opportunities

The GCC Advantage

However, global capability centres (GCCs) may be bucking the trend.

Unlike traditional outsourcing models, modern GCCs operate as strategic innovation hubs within multinational companies. They manage complex research, engineering, and business operations while collaborating closely with global headquarters.

“In technology-driven sectors such as automotive engineering, the definition of ‘tech’ itself has expanded significantly. Today, it includes a wide spectrum of roles—from software development and engineering to data science, analytics, and product development,” Chakraverti shares. For women leaders, this environment can be uniquely empowering. 

Neeti Sharma, CEO of HRtech company TeamLease, tells AIM that women's participation in GCCs increased from 31.4% in 2020 to around 37% in 2025. With workforce growth and increased gender diversity focus, the absolute number of women is very likely to reach anywhere between 6–8 lakh in 2026. Female participation share is expected to move towards 40% in the next few years.

“One of the biggest roles of a GCC leader is bridging cultures,” Thatte says. “You have to build trust with global teams and demonstrate that capabilities in India are equal to anywhere else.”

This requires a blend of technical credibility, cultural intelligence, and strong communication.

Arora describes leadership in this ecosystem as both challenging and rewarding. “The art of storytelling becomes critical,” she explains. “If you can build relationships, articulate value, and show the courage to say no when something doesn’t make sense, you can truly influence decisions.”

She also believes GCCs offer leaders an opportunity to redefine India’s role in global organisations.

“If you only accept fragmented work, the value remains limited,” she says. “But if you demonstrate capability and ask for end-to-end ownership, the impact is much larger.”

For Anuprita Bhattacharya, Head of Merck IT Center, the lesson is simple. “In the GCC world, you have to claim your space.If you don’t claim it, no one will hand it to you.”

She adds that today’s ecosystem is far more open to disagreement and collaboration than in the past. “Earlier, the mindset was that whatever came from the West had to be accepted. Today we can openly disagree, propose better ideas, and co-create solutions,” Bhattacharya explains.

GCCs, the leaders argue, are giving women something that traditional technology structures rarely did: the opportunity to lead large global teams, shape strategy, and influence innovation directly.

Today, women are not just evolving corporate cultures, but also increasingly leading new technologies and global collaboration models, creating new leadership pathways for those who follow them. And in a conducive work environment, women leaders attract more women professionals.