MPW 2025: Sindhu Gangadharan reflects on bridging the gender gap in tech with innovation & inclusivity

At the Business Today Most Powerful Women (MPW) 2025 awards ceremony, Sindhu Gangadharan, Managing Director of SAP Labs India and Head of Customer Innovation Services at SAP, reflected on a remarkable career that has spanned decades in the tech industry — an industry that, just a few decades ago, offered few female role models. Today, Gangadharan’s achievements stand as a beacon for women striving to break through the industry's long-standing gender barriers.

In the late 1990s, when she first entered the tech world, Gangadharan encountered an industry devoid of visible female leaders. "There were very few women role models that you could look up to, especially in technology," Gangadharan recalled. Fast forward to the present, and her own career trajectory now mirrors the significant but incomplete changes in the sector. Gangadharan is not just an accomplished tech leader — she is also the current chairperson of NASSCOM, India's apex body for the $250 billion technology sector.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Gangadharan highlighted the strides made over the years but also addressed the work still to be done. "Today, if I just fast forward to where we are, that has changed significantly," she said, referring to the industry's evolution in gender representation. While women now make up around 33% of India's tech workforce — a notable improvement from the past — Gangadharan pointed out that only 25% of those women hold management positions. "There's a significant rung that we need to cross in that ladder," she stressed, framing the issue not merely as a diversity concern but as a crucial business challenge. "If we don’t address this, we are leaving behind essential perspectives in the solutions we build," she warned.

For Gangadharan, technology is the key to both innovation and inclusivity. She stressed that harnessing technology responsibly is vital to shaping a more inclusive future. Particularly, she emphasized the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the fight for gender equity. "AI should be built with relevance, reliability, and responsibility," Gangadharan explained. "Inclusive data, shaped by diverse participation, is critical to preventing algorithmic bias." She believes that, if AI is leveraged properly, it can become a game changer, offering new avenues for women’s economic empowerment.

Beyond her work at SAP, Gangadharan is also passionate about fostering entrepreneurship. She shared an inspiring example of a recent SAP cohort of enterprise tech startups founded solely by women. “We had so many, and it was so tough to pick,” she said, highlighting the emerging wave of female entrepreneurs in the tech sector. Gangadharan’s optimism is reflected in the broader national ambition to ensure India’s digital infrastructure, exemplified by platforms like UPI and Aadhaar, becomes a global model for inclusive tech. This infrastructure, she believes, can empower women at scale—especially women in underserved regions — by providing them access to digital platforms for business and trade.

Despite the progress, Gangadharan’s message is clear: the work is far from over. "All of us, as organisations, platforms... individuals, have a role to play," she said. This call to action was not just about lifting one another up but about actively working together to dismantle the barriers that continue to hinder gender equality in tech.

As someone who once navigated a field with few female guides, Gangadharan’s trajectory is a testament to how far the industry has come. But her mandate, as she assumes leadership of NASSCOM, remains focused on ensuring that the tools available today — including AI, digital infrastructure, and inclusive policies — are used to bridge the gap that still exists in women’s representation. "The face of tech is changing, and the tools to accelerate it are finally in hand," she concluded, with a vision of a more inclusive future, powered by technology and collective action.