Regional VP India
Cloudera
As we celebrate International Women’s Day 2025, the theme ‘Accelerate Action’ serves as a powerful reminder that advancing gender equality, especially in the technology industry, demands more than just conversations and one-time commitments. It calls for decisive, bold steps to break down systemic barriers, address biases, and create environments where women can thrive and lead.
While the technology sector has progressed over the past decade, women continue to be underrepresented across roles and leadership levels in India and globally. According to the Great Place To Work report, there is still an 11% gap in women’s representation between mid-level management and the C-suite in India.
The message is clear: incremental change is no longer enough. It’s time to accelerate meaningful action, from strengthening the talent pipeline to fostering inclusive cultures and creating clear pathways for women to rise to leadership roles. Here are three critical areas where organizations can step up and accelerate progress toward gender equality in tech.
1. Strengthen Early STEM Education and Mentorship
The path to an inclusive tech industry starts long before women enter the workforce. Encouraging young girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and providing them with mentorship and visible role models is essential to closing the gender gap.
In India, government programs such as Stand Up India and gender diversity mandates under the Companies Act, 2013 have already set important precedents by encouraging female entrepreneurship and ensuring greater representation in corporate leadership. Similarly, the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017, which mandates childcare facilities in workplaces with 50 or more employees, helps working mothers stay and grow in their careers.
However, accelerating action requires a deeper commitment from businesses themselves. Forward-looking organizations are embracing data-driven sponsorship programs, identifying high-potential women early, providing tailored growth opportunities, and ensuring women have a seat at the table, from the boardroom to innovation labs.
2. Foster Inclusive Workplaces with Equal Opportunities
India’s 129th rank out of 146 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2024 underscores how far we still have to go in building inclusive workplaces. Unconscious bias, uneven access to opportunities, and cultural stereotypes continue to block women’s progress in technology, making inclusivity a business imperative, not just a social one.
To accelerate action, organizations must embed equity into every aspect of workplace culture, ensuring that regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, or disability, every employee feels valued, respected, and empowered to succeed.
At Cloudera, our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) play a vital role in fostering safe spaces, amplifying diverse perspectives, and providing peer support for women and underrepresented communities. However, beyond programs, real inclusion is about cultivating a culture where diverse opinions shape business strategy, where leaders are held accountable for inclusion metrics, and where fair access to opportunities is non-negotiable.
When inclusion becomes a core cultural value rather than a box to check, organizations foster greater innovation, collaboration, and long-term resilience.
3. Accelerate Women’s Representation in Leadership
Despite the clear link between diverse leadership and stronger business outcomes, women remain significantly underrepresented in executive and decision-making roles in technology. Currently, only 8% of tech companies in India have female CEOs, highlighting the urgent need to accelerate action in closing the leadership gap.
Organizations must adopt intentional strategies to advance women into leadership pipelines, from mentorship programs that provide guidance to sponsorship initiatives where senior leaders actively advocate for women’s advancement into critical business roles.
Industry initiatives like Cloudera’s Women Leadership in Tech (WLIT) have shown the power of peer networks, visible role models, and collaborative learning in creating communities where women leaders thrive. These networks not only inspire the next generation but also foster the kinds of partnerships, innovation, and diverse thinking that drive sustainable business success.
When companies prioritize female leadership as a core business objective, they do more than improve gender representation, they create a ripple effect that influences culture, decision-making, and how organizations engage with customers, partners, and communities.
This International Women’s Day, let’s collectively commit to accelerating action, ensuring that women in technology are heard, valued, and empowered to lead. Because when women thrive, businesses, economies, and societies thrive, and that’s the future we must all work towards.
-Mayank Baid, Regional Vice President, India, Cloudera