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Across boardrooms, laboratories, startups, and corporate towers worldwide, a quiet revolution is underway. Women are no longer simply participants, they are innovators, strategists, and decision-makers shaping industries from AI and data science to FMCG and finance. Their influence is transforming not only business outcomes but the very notion of leadership itself.
This is not a story about quotas or tokenism. It is a story of vision, resilience, and purpose, women who refuse to wait for permission, who combine expertise with courage, and who turn opportunities into empowerment. As technology accelerates and markets evolve, these leaders demonstrate that inclusion is not merely a moral imperative, it is a competitive advantage.
At the WE Convention 2025, held on November 1–2 at Atlantis The Royal in Dubai, these remarkable women shared their insights and experiences, highlighting how empowerment translates into tangible impact across sectors.
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Through the voices of trailblazing women across sectors, this feature explores empowerment in practice: from claiming boardroom seats to mastering complex technological landscapes, these leaders prove that leadership is not gendered, it is human.
Women in tech: Leadership, education, and opportunity
For Kubra Canel, EMEA AI and Data Strategy Leader at Oracle, empowerment means representation across every pillar of the IT industry.
“For me, women empowerment means seeing women in every pillar of our industry,” she said. With more than 15 years in IT, she has witnessed the persistent underrepresentation of women, especially in leadership roles. Yet she remains hopeful: “One day, we won’t talk about woman leaders. We will only talk about leaders in IT, and we will see women equally represented in our industry.”
Kubra’s journey reflects the challenges and opportunities that define women’s careers in tech. Balancing a master’s degree while holding a full-time job was overwhelming, yet it became a career asset. “My master’s degree was all about AI and data science, and I started to reuse most of the information I learned in my master degree in my actual work,” she shared.
She also highlights the crucial role of multinational companies and HR departments in driving gender equality. “They need to make sure organisations are diverse, not only in leadership and management roles, but across every part of the organisation,” Kubra emphasised.
Beyond organisational responsibility, she encourages female engineers and scientists to raise their voices, advocate for themselves, and confidently step into leadership roles.
Community initiatives: Fostering leadership across organisations
Within Oracle, the URLE Women’s Leadership community has become a platform for empowerment. Mahira Pathan, EMEA Data Science Blackbelt, describes its purpose: “The community empowers women leaders by giving them a platform to present themselves, showcase their skills, and share new ideas.”
One distinguishing feature of the community is its inclusive approach. “We don’t limit participation to women,” Mahira said. “We follow a ‘champions’ model, where male employees can also support us and help foster leadership skills across the organisation.” Initiatives such as hackathons and leadership campaigns allow employees to demonstrate their abilities and step forward for leadership roles.
Empowerment in today’s corporate world is not about gaining permission, Mahira explained, but about leveraging available platforms. “As women, we often underestimate ourselves or wait until we feel ‘perfect’ before showcasing our abilities. Within our community, we encourage each other to push past that mindset.” For early-career professionals, empowerment can be as simple as saying, “Yes, I can take this on,” demonstrating the evolving meaning of equality in practical terms.
FMCG and corporate leadership: Policies and purpose
Supporting women in leadership, and being a woman in leadership, remains both important and challenging in corporate environments. Andrea Gontkovicova, VP of Corporate Affairs SSEA, CIS and MEA at Philip Morris International, emphasised the company’s commitment: “We have established both the processes and the corporate commitment needed to advance this work. We have been certified for many years as an equal-salary company, which goes beyond equal pay for men and women. It also includes equal opportunities for growth, access to career moves, and equal support for parental leave.”
Currently, 35 per cent of PMI leaders are women, reflecting progress while signaling potential for further growth. Andrea underscores the dual responsibility of organizations and women themselves. “When we make the decision to lead, it’s important to stand by it and keep moving forward. The journey can be tough, but it is also deeply fulfilling,” she said. She also stresses the importance of mutual support, whether through mentorship, advocacy, or simply being present for colleagues facing challenges.
Mary Gukasyan, MD at Kraft Heinz Middle East & Africa, reflects on empowerment as freedom. “Equality, freedom, professionalism, education, these elements must come together to create real opportunities,” she said. Growing up in a traditional Armenian family, Mary faced cultural skepticism about women pursuing education. Her mother’s encouragement helped her cultivate ambition and independence, which became foundational to her career.
In the corporate world, empowered women deliver results in challenging business areas. Mary shared, “I was often assigned the hardest tasks, transformation projects, difficult conversations, and complex situations. These experiences built resilience, courage, and confidence.”
At Kraft Heinz, diversity is a core value closely aligned with empowerment, ensuring women have equal opportunities to participate in decision-making and leadership.
Navigating work-life balance and career transitions
Balancing personal and professional responsibilities remains a significant challenge for many women leaders. Mary recounted the dilemma of pregnancy while on an ambitious career path: “Should I take maternity leave, knowing that I might lose opportunities?” Open communication with her manager enabled her to create a clear plan, allowing her to return to an even higher position.
Later, relocation posed another challenge. Mary reflected on balancing her daughter’s routine and education with professional growth: “What helped was open communication, talking with my daughter, discussing everything with my husband, and helping them become more agile and adaptable. In the end, their support made it possible.” She emphasises that success requires peace of mind: “Without stability in your family, relationships, and home life, it is very difficult to perform well at work.”
For Eng. Yasmin Al Enazi, head of Women in AI Middle East, empowerment is when women are measured by the problems they solve and the value they create, not by presence. She faced skepticism when pregnant with her second child but insisted her performance be measured by KPIs, proving her ability. Later, she transitioned from the corporate world to startups and innovation ecosystems to align her career with purpose, impact, and long-term vision.
Yasmin emphasises continuous reskilling, intentional learning, and leveraging platforms such as tech conferences and innovation events to build networks, gain mentorship, and participate in inclusion efforts.
The role of technology and soft skills in women’s leadership
Yasmin underscores the importance of women leveraging their innate strengths in technology and leadership. “Women already possess powerful abilities, especially soft skills such as communication, adaptability, resilience, and multitasking. These skills are increasingly in demand in the tech world and make us uniquely capable.” In a rapidly evolving AI and digital economy, she believes reskilling, agility, and openness to change are critical to sustaining both personal and organisational success.
Maria Vasileva, CEO and board member at AM Wealth Limited, frames women’s empowerment through economic agency: “Empowerment is not a slogan, it’s a transformation. It’s about women gaining control: control over their choices, their time, and their capital. When a woman understands money not as stress but as freedom, she changes the trajectory of her family, her business, and even her community.”
Maria’s own career demonstrates this principle. Moving to the UAE marked a turning point, bringing global business experience to a new jurisdiction. Despite early regulatory challenges, she and her team took ownership of licensing processes, wrote policies and procedures, and navigated the system directly, ultimately succeeding as a minority woman in the field. She emphasises that the future of gender equality lies in economic equality, ownership of capital, decisions, and impact. Women as founders, investors, shareholders, and board members will reshape industries and influence how capital flows worldwide.
From representation to transformation
The voices of Kubra, Mahira, Andrea, Mary, Yasmin, and Maria collectively reveal that women’s empowerment is multifaceted. It involves education, organisational support, community-building, mentorship, resilience, purpose, economic agency, and leadership. True empowerment is not limited to participation; it is about influence, ownership, and the courage to shape the future.
Across sectors, empowered women are driving innovation, transforming business strategies, and setting new standards for leadership. Their stories underscore that equality is not a box to check, it is a journey of determination, vision, and impact. When women lead, communities prosper, industries innovate, and economies thrive.
The conversation is no longer about whether women belong at the table. It is about how they are redefining the table itself, creating spaces where inclusion, diversity, and excellence coexist, and where the next generation of leaders, regardless of gender, can rise with confidence, purpose, and influence.
