Rana el Kaliouby warns AI’s male-dominated culture may deepen the gender wealth gap

AI scientist, entrepreneur, and investor Rana el Kaliouby has raised concerns that the artificial intelligence industry risks becoming another male-dominated space, warning that a lack of diversity could create long-term economic disadvantages for women. Speaking at the SXSW conference in Austin on Sunday, she emphasised that the issue extends beyond representation and could have broader financial implications.

“I think AI today is a boys’ club,” el Kaliouby said onstage when asked whether that perception was accurate. “I think diversity is not a very popular conversation topic these days, but I think it’s so important because AI is creating incredible economic opportunity.”

El Kaliouby, who sold her emotion AI company Affectiva in 2021 and now serves as co-founder and general partner at Blue Tulip Ventures, highlighted how she is actively trying to address the imbalance through her investment strategy. She noted that three out of four investments at her firm are in startups led by women CEOs.

“I don’t ‘just’ invest in women,” she explained. “But I really try to seek these women founders and support them, if not by a check, but in other ways, because they’re not getting the opportunity that they should and they need.”

She warned that the consequences of underrepresentation in AI could be significant if left unaddressed. “If women are left out — because they’re not founding these companies, because they’re not getting the funding, because they’re not even investing in the funds that are investing in these companies — we’re going to look back five years from now or a decade from now, and…we’re going to have widened the economic gap like crazy. So this is something that really concerns me,” she said.

Her comments come at a time when discussions around diversity have become less prominent in parts of the tech industry, following the rollback of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives under the Trump administration. These shifts are influencing not only hiring practices but also the way technology products are developed. In the case of AI, companies may feel increasing pressure to align model outputs with government priorities.

For el Kaliouby, the implications of limited diversity extend beyond economics to the quality and impact of AI systems themselves. “I do think we are living in a very exciting time,” she said. “But I also feel strongly that if we don’t intervene, like, if we don’t really stand up for what we care about, like ethics and diversity of thought and perspective, and prioritising this idea of centring around the humans…the outcome may not be great.”

She concluded by stressing the urgency of the moment and calling on leaders and participants in the field to shape its direction actively. “So I feel like it’s a very critical moment to use our voices and our leadership to shape where this is going.”