Employers

How is AI impacting Gender Equality in Tech: Progress or a New Divide?

Postcode Lottery Presents: Edinburgh Industry Roundtable Breakfast

23 September 2026

The industry roundtable events have become a firm fixture of the Ada Scotland Festival and our partner the Postcode Lottery hosted a dynamic discussion bringing together a broad range of views, concerns, and advocacy over the ascendancy of AI.

To open the discussion, statistics were presented framing the ongoing concern that—before we even consider gendered implications of AI—the number of girls taking computing at school remains low, creating an impact that cascades across further and higher education and into the workforce. Does AI compound already unfavourable statistics for women in tech roles?

Already AI is perceived as a male dominated domain. The narrative is that men use it more, they trust it more and they are praised for using it while women are criticised. The implications for women in tech roles and how they adopt AI was a starting point for the discussion which quickly spilt into many areas on a global scale.

AI in a workplace setting

Everyone agreed the landscape is moving quickly and for some too quickly. There was an acknowledgement that we are still working out how best to implement AI in the workplace and we are in a place of test and fail to forge the best way forward.

Positive impacts raised included:

  • It is a powerful tool and examples were shared of how AI had helped women start their own businesses with some considering it to be a democratising tool.
  • It can close gaps through increasing access to support and information.
  • Examples of efficiencies and powerful problem solving within a workplace environment were raised.
  • Exploring how AI can change the way you work for some was liberating and exciting.
  • It is creating new roles in the workplace.

Issues and concerns to navigate and address:

  • More does not always equal more so how do we get to a place of true productivity?
  • “Get with it or get behind” messaging is not helpful and closes down routes to true exploration and leads to FOLO – fear of looking obsolete.
  • Are organisations sleepwalking into a new world with financial and operational implications? If employees are token-maxing and losing basic skills, then subsidies are dropped and organisations left with huge bills to settle in a new reality of deskilled workforce.
  • The barrier to entry is low and it is down to the individual user to figure out how to use. The proliferation of unnecessary agents was an example given. Addressing this at an organisational level is key to improving use and productivity.
  • We need to learn and fail. There is no friction and this is particularly a concern for the newer workforce and in an educational setting.
  • The time efficiency argument does not always hold up when as a tech team lead you are constantly expected to play with it in your spare time.
  • We are at risk of the human being completely removed from the recruitment process as CVs are AI generated and sifted by an AI tool.
  • In a client facing environment there are various routes to navigate: some clients will not allow the use of AI, for others you may need to use AI to remain competitive, and you need to stay ahead of the curve so you can advise your client appropriately.
  • How do we address poor design? Using AI can be a very expensive way to land a simple solution but equally it can also be a powerful problem solver. How do we get to the sweet spot and take everyone with us?
  • Job losses due to AI adoption with a likely weightier impact on women
  • Lack of regulation at a national and international level is leading to poor practice.

The bigger picture

Much of the discussion was couched within bigger societal concerns for the future.

  • Gendered and intersectional biases are amplified in AI
  • The impact on climate change, including the planned proliferation of data centres. Where have the sustainability targets of four years ago gone?
  • The impact on human wellbeing?
  • The fear of losing creative thinking and advancing cognitive decline.
  • The violence and exploitation of women is escalating but it is hidden behind tech.
  • We forget or some might not know a lot of sources already exist without the environmental footprint associated with AI use. An example being Library Science.
  • We have not tackled digital inclusion and digital poverty and we continue to race ahead. We need to move forward with equity and equality.
  • How do we assess the validity of the data when we don’t know the provenance?

So how do we explore and navigate the road ahead? What needs to happen at an individual, organisation, regulatory, and societal level?

  • What are we using AI for? The word “intentional” came up a lot! It is a powerful tool and we need to apply it with intelligence and with the right ethics in place.
  • Reimbursement is poor so remove the negative of “stealing IP” by paying for sources used. A Spotify-type model. People at the front end are getting paid, so those contributing to the backend should too.
  • AI is an agnostic tool, but the focus is on opportunity rather than the challenges. We need to address both.
  • AI is not the cause. This isn’t a tech problem it is a human and structural problem, so we need the guardrails in place.
  • We need to collaborate to develop a list of the critical issues and gather the right expertise to test and to solve. By addressing the harms and ethics we will get a better outcome.
  • We need the right people in the room to make change. Governments need to listen and act.


There were many views voiced in the room, from advocating AI as a tool of democratisation and a gateway to equality of opportunity to real concerns over its potential harms to humanity as a whole. We did not get close to solving gender-based AI related workplace issues or indeed societal ones, but while some round the table focused more on the opportunity and others on the challenges there was a convergence of opinion that robust and intelligent governance, good design, a clear ethical lense, and educated intentional use can usher us in a better direction.

Next step – let’s bring the Government to the next breakfast!

A very big thank you to Sara Walker and Tori Dougall for hosting the table discussion, to Anna Skelly for organising, and to all the highly knowledgeable and strong voices in the room for sharing their views, their insights so eruditely, honestly and passionately.