Women can become leaders by advocating for themselves and daring to dream, while businesses should not focus on gender equality ratios, but rather create a practical culture of diversity, say technology pioneers.
"Women can own their achievements by seeking opportunities, speaking up, negotiating, claiming credit for their work, and not waiting for permission to lead," Patama Chantaruck, country managing director at Accenture Thailand, told the "Empowering Asia Leadership Forum 2025: The Leadership Gap in Tech" seminar yesterday by Novituz and EmpowerHER Asia project.
Women can enjoy boundless opportunities, free from societal bias or self-doubt, by facing challenges and rising above them, she said. It is important to take action and show empathy for yourself as well as others, said Ms Patama.
"Be confident as the world sees you. Self-doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will," she said.
Ms Patama was one of eight female country managers of Microsoft and worked in the US with the company.
"Don't let perfectionism or self-criticism hinder your career path," she said.
Ms Patama said women in technology can rewrite the rules by embracing life-long learning and viewing themselves as creators, not just consumers.
She encourages women to lead boldly by challenging the status quo, negotiating like a leader, owning their expertise by speaking up and claiming credit, and building a network that drives power moves.
"Don't measure your success against someone else's timeline. Your leadership is your own," said Ms Patama.
"Businesses should not treat female ratio management as special treatment. To ensure inclusivity and sustainability, businesses need to move beyond focusing on gender, nationality or background," said Pochara Arayakarnkul, chief executive of Bluebik, a SET-listed technology firm, at the seminar.
"Having special treatment for women might hurt more than help. Organisations need a culture that accepts diversity, utilising people with different kinds of expertise. Equality does not mean similarity," he said.
Mr Pochara said the number of women in tech is still low as few women learn science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, but this number is growing as tech firms work with universities to encourage more STEM and digital technology graduates.
"We anonymise proposals to reduce bias and use a flexible working model for new parents or those taking care of old parents," said Mr Pochara.
Saruj Thipsena, chief technology officer of AI startup Stelligience, said diversity, equality, inclusion should not be taken merely as companies' principles but should be really put in practice.
He warned about "unconscious bias" regarding age in Thailand, which is an aged society, as more first-time workers collaborate with employees in their 50s and 60s. For example, young workers might prefer to use small fonts in documents that might not suitable for their senior colleagues.
Tanapong Ittisakulchai, vice-president for go-to-market at NTT (Thailand) Ltd, said businesses can build their open working environment, growth mindset, create opportunities, and educate more about unconscious bias.
