In this article, I posit that AI agents are the payback from users for poor software applications, and I detail all the ways tech has snubbed customers. I also discuss how we can use lessons from the AI agents' explosion to deliver the tech users deserve. #AIAgents medium.com/code-like-a-...

2026 AI Forecast: 26 Predictions You Need to Know Now Last year, I published my 25 AI predictions for 2025 — and I’m happy to say many of them turned out to be strikingly accurate. If you want to get ahead of the curve — not chase it — this article is for you. #WomenInTech #SustainableAI #AIHype

The New Distraction Era: Five Weapons Silencing Women In 2026 Abortion, AI, bothsidesign, feminism, and trans people are being weaponised to distract us from the assault on human rights and tech bros plundering the planet. #WomenInTech #ResponsibleAI patriciagestoso.substack.com/p/the-new-di...

[Defying Patriarch: Three Strategies for a Joyous Holiday Season Three patriarchal principles that underpin this holiday season And three coaching remedies to help you What principle and strategy resonate the most with you? #WomenInTech #Patriarchy patriciagestoso.substack.com/p/defying-pa...

[UK Politicians & Silicon Valley] A match made in heaven Nick Clegg and Meta. Rishi Sunak and Microsoft and Anthropic. Now, OpenAI has appointed George Osborne as managing director and head of its "OpenAI for Countries" initiative. #Datacenters #AI #SustainableAI www.reuters.com/business/ope...

[INTERVIEW] We don’t need AI regulation I’ve been featured in the article “Does AI bias matter?” on Mobile World Live. I argue that the problem is not more AI regulation but that we exempt tech products from current laws and regulations. #ResponsibleAI #Bias #InclusiveAI #AI

Criminalised, Imprisoned, Forgotten - Gender Violence & “Bad” Women We can't end violence against women if we keep ignoring the "unworthy" victims. SCOOP: Tech makes it even worse. #WomenInTech #NoExcuse #GenderViolence #AI patriciagestoso.substack.com/p/gender-vio...

Who Enables Deepfake Porn? Tech Bros, Big Platforms, and Poor Regulation In my last article, I shared everything victims of non-consensual synthetic intimate imagery want you to know and what you can do about it. #WomenInTech #ResponsibleAI #Deepfakes #Sora2 #WomenInBusiness #EthicalAI #Patriarchy

[I did it again!] Most Influential Women in UK Tech 2025 - The longlist I’m delighted to share that for the fourth year in a row, I’ve appeared in the annual longlist of Most Influential Women in UK Tech. Who said there are no women in tech in the UK? #WomenInTech #WomenInLeadership #WomenLeaders

How the Global North uses #AI to recolonise the planet In this article, I discuss how the Global North exploits poverty and weak laws in the South to accelerate its digital transformation. #ResponsibleAI #EthicalAI #InclusiveAI #WomenInTech #SustainableAI #GenAI

Seven Ways Big Data Leaves Women Out of the Equation We’ve been told that data drives equality. It’s a lie. 7 ways data is weaponised against gender equality. #WomenInTech #WomenInBusiness #ResponsibleAI #DEI #Data #AI #WomenInBusiness #WomenLeaders patriciagestoso.substack.com/p/seven-ways...

CONTROVERSIAL - Is Your Chatbot Killing the Planet? The Truth About AI Sustainability How do we ensure that the tools we build and use align with climate goals and social justice? #AI #GenAI #SustainableAI #EthicalAI #AIEthics #AIStrategy #AILiteracy #AICompetence #ResponsibleAI

[Shiny Objects] Survey - UK Businesses Failing to Measure AI Value More than half of business and IT leaders report that fewer than 50% of their AI projects delivered measurable improvements. Only 11% of respondents say the majority of their initiatives (+75%) have led to tangible gains. #AIHype

A Call to Arms for Women Ready to Lead with Values, Vision, and AI This is the story of why I’m launching Women Leading with AI: Master the Tools, Shape the Future, a virtual group program in inclusive, sustainable, and actionable AI for women leaders. #WomenLeaders #ResponsibleAI #SustainableAI

In my last article, I shared a recent personal experience of being shamed by a woman during a free negotiation I was delivering. I came up with a framework to neutralise shame, the patriarchal tool women use against other women #WomenInTech #Coaching patriciagestoso.substack.com/p/a-framewor...

CONTROVERSIAL - The “collaboration and empathy female gene” doesn’t exist I run an ongoing quiz, “How much is patriarchy ruling your life and career?” To my surprise, 67% of you have answered that “Women are naturally more collaborative and empathic.” #WomenInTech #WomenInBusiness #Patriarchy

CONTROVERSIAL - AI has become a religion Here, I share eight signs that we’re treating AI as a religion with priests, precepts, and prophecies. Also, how we can downgrade it back to what it is - a technology. Are you an AI believer, an agnostic, or an atheist? #WomenInTech #ResponsibleAI

AI companions are being marketed as solutions for loneliness, mental health, and even elder care. We need to ask harder questions: What kind of relationships are we building with machines? Who benefits from these connections? —and who is being left behind? #AICompanions #AILiteracy #AI

How Resilience Became the New Gaslighting “Just be resilient.” I used to believe in that mantra and considered it a personal badge of honour. But what if “resilience” is just a way of telling us to endure injustice quietly? In my latest piece, I unpack how resilience has been weaponised by ...

CONTROVERSIAL - Setting boundaries is not about telling people what to do. Boundaries are fundamental to having a successful career without burnout, but most people don’t understand how to set them. We’re told that setting boundaries is to say... #WomenInTech #WomenInSTEM #WomenInLeadership

I don’t believe that you can only be what you can see. In my experience, that stereotype is harmful. What if you're a trailblazer? Imagine if Mahatma Gandhi, Emmeline Pankhurst, Nelson Mandela, and Florence Nightingale had thought, “I cannot be what I cannot see.” #WomenInTech #WomenInSTEM

CONTROVERSIAL: You're running your career “on a budget” rather than investing in it. Women are taught to “save” and men to “invest.” This permeates our personal decisions, careers, and others' perceptions. For example, for decades, “women’s” magazines have...

CONTROVERSIAL: To revamp your career, ditch the “I should” list. Ditch the “I’m grateful for” list too. Instead, start with two “I want” lists. List #1: Look at your current career situation and make a list of all the things you have that you want.

From Free to Fee—The Power of Negotiation “They’ll think I’m difficult” “They’ll go with somebody else” Those are the most common fears I hear from professionals—especially women—about directly asking for payment for speaking engagements. And those thoughts get in the way of asking for a fee...

CONTROVERSIAL: You’re avoiding critical feedback What!?! “But I love feedback”, #AmbitiousWomenInTech tell me. What you love is praise. It's normal. Research demonstrates men get more actionable feedback about their skills and contributions, women receive feedback about how likeable they are.

I helped build a government AI system. DOGE fired me, rolled the AI out to the whole agency, and implied the AI can do my job and the jobs of the others they've fired. It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵

CONTROVERSIAL: “I’ll figure it out by myself” doesn’t work. Stop DYIing your career if you want to succeed. I learned it the hard way. As an immigrant daughter of immigrants, I was told that if I worked hard, I’d be rewarded. Others would notice me and I’d get my dream career... #WomenInTech

“I’m behind.” This is one of the most common thoughts my #AmbitiousWomenInTech clients share. And it’s a waste of time. Let me tell you why. When you think “I’m behind”, you’re - Comparing yourself to an imaginary "you" who didn’t experience your hardships or had to make hard decisions. ...

Controversial: NOT TAKING A DECISION is a DECISION What!?! Many #AmbitiousWomenInTech I know are trapped in the “right decision” rabbit hole. - Accepting or not a job offer? - Asking or waiting for a promotion? - Sharing their idea in the meeting or waiting for somebody else to voice it? They...

CONTROVERSIAL: You’re making it easy for others to steal your ideas in meetings. What!?! Let me show you how #AmbitiousWomenInTech Hepeating: a situation where a man repeats a woman's comments or ideas and then is praised for them as if they were his own. #WomenInTech #WomenInScience

CONTROVERSIAL: Perfectionism is self-doubt in disguise. What!?! “I’m a perfectionist.” Many overworked and overwhelmed #AmbitiousWomenInTech proudly wear this as a badge of honour. Perfectionism is a waste of time and a sign of lack of confidence... patricia-gestoso.kit.com/imposter-syn...

While tech leaders promise that AI will solve everything from economic stagnation to climate change, reality tells a different story. In this article, I explore how - Women spend an average of 9 more years in poor health than men, reducing their ability to contribute at home and work. #IWD2025

CONTROVERSIAL: Stop the drama about OFFICE POLITICS #AmbitiousWomenInTech. What!?! Amazing women in tech blocked under a thick glass ceiling complain to me that office politics are - Inauthentic - Sleazy - Self-serving As a result, they refuse to see the upsides...

CONTROVERSIAL: You CANNOT negotiate a feeling #AmbitiousWomenInTech What!?! You’ve learned that you're underpaid, that you’ve been passed over for promotion again - despite an amazing performance - or that you won’t lead that great project that will increase your visibility. You feel...

[I’ve been featured] Women in tech don’t need DEI What!?! Let me explain. I was featured in an article on Computing discussing how tech’s performative approach to DEI has not delivered its promise.... #WomenInTech #WomenInSTEM #WomenInScience #Tech #Patriarchy #TechBros #IWD2025 #DEI #coaching

You can download the image for free at betterimagesofai.org/images?artis... And download the playbook from @aixdesign.bsky.social and Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision blog.betterimagesofai.org/archival-ima...

I still remember the aha! moment when I discovered the word “mansplaining”. Same with manels, hepeating, or glue work. This happened to me with the term "weaponised incompetence" and I want to pay it forwards. #WomenInTech #WomenInSTEM #WomenInScience #Mentoring #EpistemicInjustice

Do you want to massively improve productivity whilst boosting sustainability? The answer is not #AI - it’s improving outcomes for women. PRODUCTIVITY: From the McKinsey report “Closing the women’s health gap: A $1 trillion opportunity to improve lives and economies” (January 2024) #WomensRights

Dear #AmbitiousWomenInTech, I have a confession to make. I neglected networking for many years - to the detriment of my career. I thought networking was… - A waste of time - Unauthentic - Something to be done at the pub or the golf (two places I typically don’t go to) #WomenInTech #Mentoring

Dear #AmbitiousWomenInTech, is your fear of failure blocking your career progression? I recently attended TEDx Manchester where Olympic cycling gold medallist Chris Boardman talked about being a loser. He shared a slide with only the words “I’m a loser” several times throughout his keynote. He...

“But Patricia, what I need is the right CV…” This is the typical response when I first tell my #AmbitiousWomenInTech clients who want to find their dream jobs that they need to prioritise networking: "What?!" Prioritising the “right” - aka “perfect” - CV over networking works for your first job.

Dear #AmbitiousWomenInTech: If you’re stuck in your career despite annual reviews praising your performance, the answer is not to do more technical courses. Your communication skills are letting you down. Simply put, you’re seen as a top performer with LOW POTENTIAL... #WomenInTech #InnerCritic

It’s again that time of year when I get requests to discuss my career in tech and share my insights on gender equality in the workplace as part of International Women's Day activities. This year was no exception. I’ve already received three requests, and there is still one week to go! #IWD2025

Dear hashtag#AmbitiousWomenInTech: I bet you’ve spent hours crafting emails for senior leadership with all the necessary details for them to make a decision. But either they didn’t answer or their reply was something like “awesome”, i.e. “I don’t care”... The reason? #WomenInTech #WomenInSTEM

Dear #AmbitiousWomenInTech: Do you have the .mp3 “I’m bad at negotiating” playing in your head? Time to learn how to stop it and change track, like you’d do with a podcast you don’t like. Like my client, who wanted to work from home permanently, but was convinced it was impossible...

Dear #AmbitiousWomenInTech: What if I tell you that many myths about negotiation are holding you back? - People know what you want but they won’t give it to you - It always has to be a win-win - It’s all about money - You need to be good at improvisation And the most important one #WomenInTech

Dear #AmbitiousWomenInTech: How is serving you - Not asking for what you want? - Telling yourself that others know better? - Endlessly ruminating about why you don’t advocate for yourself? What if you think negotiation is about... #WomenInTech #WomenInLeadership #WomenInSTEM #WomenInScience

Dear #AmbitiousWomenInTech: Your feelings and thoughts are between you and negotiating your next promotion, a salary increase, or a job offer. What!?! If when you hear “negotiation”, you feel - Anxious - Ashamed - Guilty - Trapped - At disadvantage Or... #WomenInTech #WomenInLeadership

Dear #AmbitiousWomenInTech: Your brain loves to throw confusion at you to keep you safe. When you’re “confused” you… - Don’t apply for jobs - Don’t network - Keep yourself in a neverending cycle of courses and certifications. Moreover, you gaslight yourself. What!?! #WomenInTech #WomenInSTEM

Dear #WomanInTech - You’re not making progress in your career because you lack empathy for your future self. Let me explain. You’re dissatisfied with your career, so you… - Read a book about a role model in tech - Watch a TED talk about confidence - Attend a webinar on women succeeding in tech