When women lead, engineering gains empathy

When women lead, engineering gains empathy.

India has no shortage of women in engineering. They fill classrooms, code on night shifts, and design in labs across the country. But what stands out today is not just their presence — it’s their influence. Women leaders are beginning to set the terms of engineering’s future, pushing conversations beyond speed and scale toward empathy, responsibility, and imagination.

For Dell Technologies, the future of engineering is not just about shiny tools but about strengthening the basics. In a world rushing toward AI, the essentials of power, cooling, and user experience still define resilience. “Core engineering will remain vital — power, cooling, user experience — these are areas where innovation must accelerate,” says Sudha KV, Vice President, Dell Technologies. She believes the next generation must also embrace diversity and entrepreneurship to lead responsibly.

At Salesforce, the conversation turns to mindset — a subtle but defining shift. Technology may accelerate work, but how engineers approach problems determines whether they deliver solutions or breakthroughs. “A good engineer solves,” says Parul Jain, VP - Software Engineering, Salesforce. “A great engineer reframes. She doesn’t just ask ‘how?’ — she asks ‘why not?’”

The weight of identity also runs through these conversations. Women often find themselves singled out as exceptions, yet many resist that framing. Vidya Venkataramani, Executive Leader, Global Advanced Design Tools and Engineering Sciences, GE Aerospace – India, is one of them. “I want to be recognised first as an engineer,” she says. “But yes, the perspective I bring, shaped by my journey, is unique.”

Training platforms like Simplilearn see the change play out in the very role engineers are expected to perform. Instead of being tied to repetitive fixes, they are moving into oversight and orchestration. “The role of engineers is shifting from tactical firefighting to orchestrating systems,” says Kusum Saini, Director – Principal Architect, Simplilearn.

Manufacturing and design bring yet another dimension to this evolution. The ability to model outcomes before anything is built is transforming creativity itself. “Virtual twins allow us to test what-if scenarios before a machine is built,” says Renuka Srinivasan, Education Sales Director, Dassault Systèmes. “It’s a powerful way to pair creativity with science.”

The blending of IoT, automation, and predictive analytics is giving rise to systems that learn and adapt on their own. “IoT, automation, and predictive analytics are coming together,” says Purvi Sanghvi, Director, Axis Solutions Limited. “That’s where we’ll see intelligence embedded into the everyday.”

And in the public sphere, engineering becomes inseparable from service. The stakes are not just efficiency but lives affected by every line of code. “Every line of code and every AI model has the potential to improve real lives,” says Bhagyashree Bhoyar, Engineering Manager, OpenGov. “When you’re building for governments, that responsibility is immense.”

What women leaders are shaping today is less a profession than a legacy. They are leaving behind models of responsibility, creativity, and courage that the next generation will inherit.