How women can continue to foster fulfilling high-tech careers in the AI age

Striving to develop specialist, in-demand skills will help you stay ahead of the game, Secure Code Warrior co-founder Fatemah Beydoun writes.

Are you wondering whether the shine has gone off a potential career in ICT, with the rise of AI threatening to automate scores of interesting, well-paid roles out of existence?

It's a reasonable concern, given the extraordinary level of interest, publicity and speculation this ground-breaking technology has engendered.

In the wake of the 2022 launch of ChatGPT, and the subsequent release of other similar large language models, there has been a veritable onslaught of misunderstanding, misinformation and media clickbait about how AI will affect the future of work.

Critical thinking remains key

The good news is, the bad news has been wildly overstated. Yes, AI will continue to automate many routine tasks across almost every profession and, naturally, the IT sector will be at the forefront of that push.

Non-routine tasks, not so much. That's because there's no replacement for critical thinking, specialised expertise and the contextual knowledge that makes projects work – knowledge that can only be gleaned from real-world experience.

In the sphere of cybersecurity in general and application security in particular, human oversight remains an absolute 'must' to harness the benefits of AI productivity. 

That's because these tools simply cannot produce enterprise-ready, secure code. Human smarts are needed for that, in the form of developers and cyber professionals who have the capacity to think critically, review code with security expertise, and leverage those tools safely.

Diversity matters as much as ever

More of those smart roles should be going to women. In 2025, our gender remains significantly under-represented in the IT sector Down Under.

In Australia, women comprise just 20 per cent of the highly technical workforce, according to the Tech Council of Australia. That figure drops to 16 per cent for women aged 40 or older.

It's a similar story in New Zealand, where women occupy just 23 per cent of professional IT roles overall, despite the sector's ongoing need for person power.

Signs suggest things may even be getting worse across the ditch. Fewer than one in 20 girls there reportedly consider a career in science, technology, engineering or maths, compared with one in five boys.

That's to their detriment and to the detriment of the IT sector too. It's a fact that diverse teams produce better results and, consequently, better business outcomes, than those comprised of a single demographic or gender.

Creating the conditions for women to thrive in an AI-powered world

Our countries and our industry can and should do more to turn these numbers around; providing openings for women to enter the sector, via start-up incubators, tech graduate programs and greater government support for homegrown technology that addresses real world business needs. 

The talent is here and it's not being harnessed anywhere near as effectively as it could be, were there a concerted effort to match emerging talents with available opportunities, and to create truly welcoming environments where women can thrive.

It's also essential we encourage women to channel their energies into the areas where demand will remain highest in the years to come, as AI makes an increasingly large impact on the IT industry at large. 

It's likely there'll be less scope for generalists – think frontend developers and testers – who can nominally turn their hand to any project or task with a programming component. Rather, specialisation will be key, in security engineering, infrastructure, regulatory frameworks and a plethora of other niche disciplines. Successful stayers will be those who become true masters of their craft and are truly committed to lifelong learning, as has always been the case in this ultra-dynamic space.

Meanwhile, soft skills, including the ability to communicate efficiently, effectively and persuasively, apply strategy and explain business value, will remain as vital as ever they were, if not more so.

Stronger together

Women have never fully capitalised on the extraordinary opportunities for advancement and success offered up by the tech sector. While AI may be changing the game, those opportunities still exist in large measure, for ambitious individuals with talent and drive to match. Those of us who've enjoyed fulfilling careers in this space have a responsibility to ensure the door stays wide open for the next generation of capable, committed cyber women.