As they continue to push technological limits, AI Magazine profiles some of the top women in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) area for AI.
The Middle East and Africa (MEA) is currently confronting a major growth barrier: an unemployment rate of 42.5% among women, notably Arab women, which is thrice the global average. This is because more than half of the population is under 30.
Women presently only make up roughly one-third of AI science publications in Namibia, Nigeria, and South Africa, according to the OECD AI Policy Observatory. In addition, in South Africa alone, men are twice as likely as women to indicate having expertise in AI on LinkedIn.
Since there are currently too few women working in the AI field, many are advocating for increased possibilities and access for women to pursue jobs in technology.
In addition to supporting the next generation of women in AI, AI Magazine profiles some of the prominent women in MEA who are promoting AI throughout the region.
10. Vanessa Gathecha, Equiano Institute’s Head of AI Policy
Applied social scientist Vanessa Gathecha has worked in public policy, activism, public interest media, and digital change. She recently joined the Equiano Institute, where her goals are to develop, apply, and advocate for the safe application of artificial intelligence in Sub-Saharan Africa.
She will continue to study the societal ramifications of artificial intelligence (AI) and associated technologies as they permeate more aspects of daily life through her work at the Equiano Institute. Additionally, she works at Microsoft Research as an AI and Society Fellow on plural governance and generative AI (Gen AI).
9. Kinda Altarbouch, Lableb’s CEO
Kinda Altarbouch is the CEO and co-founder of Lableb, a search-as-a-service platform that boosts user engagement for websites, mobile apps, and SaaS platforms. It accomplishes this by giving users a better search experience.
Her efforts guarantee that customers will have improved access to commonly used search functions in Arabic, including autosuggest, filters, synonyms, geospatial search, and recommender systems.
Kinda served on the advisory board for Popular Science Arabia before joining Lableb.
8. Immaculate Kassait, Kenya’s Data Protection Commission’s Data Commissioner
As the nation’s first data commissioner, Immaculate Kassait is tasked with creating the legal foundation for artificial intelligence in Kenya. Her work is crucial to ensuring that AI supports larger national growth and initiatives like Kenya Vision 2030, a development program designed to increase Kenyans’ average level of life.
In her efforts to develop a more inclusive AI industry, she draws on her vast experience in elections, governance, and women’s rights. She has also established important programs in Kenya and other nations.
7. United Arab Emirates University associate professor Farida Al Hosani
The Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Public Health Center’s Communicable Diseases Department is renowned AI scholar Farida Al Hosani.
She has developed a research project as a result of her effort to provide the Emirati community with an AI-based healthcare solution for non-communicable diseases. To enhance patient experiences generally, this entails using AI to analyze data and better inform healthcare providers.
To further AI projects, Farida was recently named Vice President of the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) Advisory Board.
6. Manal Jalloul, AI Lab’s founder and director
Manal Jalloul is a Lebanese AI specialist who is dedicated to promoting beneficial AI use cases. She is the creator and director of AI Lab, a center for AI technology that provides workshops and training to create AI-led solutions. In addition, it offers AI, data analytics, and accelerated computing consulting services and is an approved Nvidia Deep Learning Institute delivery partner.
Manal was a Certified Deep Learning Instructor and NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute University Ambassador for five years at Nvidia. At the American University of Beirut, she also gave lectures.
5. IBM Research’s Director of AI for Healthcare and Life Sciences, Michal (Schreiber) Rosen-Zvi
Since 2015, Michal Rosen-Zvi has served as IBM Research’s Director of AI for Healthcare and Life Sciences. Building on her twenty years of experience in creating machine learning and deep learning algorithms to handle challenging challenges, she co-leads strategy focused on technologies for expedited drug development.
Apart from her professional duties, Michal is a multi-patent holder in the computational medicine domain and is fervent about utilizing artificial intelligence and quantum technologies to promote universal health.
4. Nufar Gaspar, Intel Design’s Director of Gen AI and AI Everywhere for the AI Solutions Group at Intel
For 13 years, Nufar Gaspar has been employed by Intel, specializing in artificial intelligence. In her current position as Director of AI Everywhere, she oversees a program designed to increase accessibility to AI while optimizing benefits for Intel personnel.
Nufar worked as an Intel Data Science Vertical Manager before taking on her present position, where she was responsible for developing big data and machine learning solutions for the company’s research and development teams.
3. The AI Society’s founder and board president, Fatmah Baothman
Based in Saudi Arabia, Fatmah Baothman was awarded a PhD in AI in 2003, making her the first woman in the Middle East to do so. She currently serves as the founder and board president of the AI Society, a group dedicated to advancing AI.
When it comes to AI, Fatmah is a real trailblazer. As a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on the Future of AI, she has formally represented Saudi women at many events, promoting female inclusion in the AI industry.
In addition, she has published various works on AI, including a book that was translated into Arabic and contained several AI terminology, and she has overseen hundreds of students in AI business ventures. Additionally, Fatmah teaches at King Abdulaziz University.
2. Oracle’s AI/ML KSA Leader, Aseel Addawood
Aseel Addawood is a seasoned data scientist with extensive knowledge of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science. Her job at Oracle requires her to comprehend business problems that can be resolved with the help of analytics and artificial intelligence.
She has also made a substantial contribution to several books, mentorship programs, and training projects. These are several ontologies, natural language processing (NLP), and prediction modeling journal and conference publications.
1. Narrimane Benakcha, director of AWS’s Middle East and Africa AI/ML & Digital Policy division
Narrimane Benakcha is the Head of Digital Policy for the Middle East and Africa at Amazon Web Services (AWS), a well-known cloud service provider. Narrimane oversees the company’s interactions with legislators, regulators, businesses, and academia to facilitate the easier adoption of cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. She specializes in technology policy and risk management.
Narrimane began her professional career in the financial sector as the Director of Public Affairs for Standard Chartered Bank for the Middle East and Africa. She oversaw HSBC’s compliance division in Morocco and assisted in establishing a section dedicated to financial intelligence in the area.