TOP 100 WOMEN

Joy Buolamwini

Founder

Algorithmic Justice League

As a grad student at MIT , Joy Buolamwini pioneered research into AI bias . In 2020 , she was part of efforts to discredit facial recognition systems that had wildly different error rates corresponding to skin colour . Amazon , Microsoft and IBM suspended their facial recognition programmes as a result . She said , “ When I started talking about this , in 2016 , it was such a foreign concept . Today , I can ’ t go online without seeing some news article or story about a biased AI system . People are just now waking up to the fact that there is a problem .”

Denise Coates

Founder

Bet365

In the 1990s , when the internet was only accessible via an oven — sized desktop , Coates correctly guessed that the internet would have a huge impact on daily life , from jobs to recreational activities . After working in betting shops , Coates decided to move online and despite difficulty finding investors , she secured a loan and created bet365 . com in 2000 . The gamble paid off ; Coates is now the UK ’ s highest paid boss and the biggest tax contributor , but she chooses to keep a low profile . In 2012 , Coates was awarded a CBE .

Cynthia Stoddard

Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer

Adobe

It was thirty years between Stoddard ’ s BA and her MA , but she made them count , working in strategic planning , budgeting and more . Stoddard understood early on that understanding IT was massively important to businesses and has worked to bring the two together . Entering her 5th year at Adobe , she is now looking at the advantages of bringing Artificial Intelligence into the business , with a plan to improve efficiency and customer experience . Despite security vulnerabilities , she enjoys working from home in California .

22 March 2021