50% of men have used generative AI, compared with 37% of women. That 13-point gap matters because AI capability is increasingly becoming career capability. Source: Aldasoro et al., “The Gen AI Gender Gap,” Economics Letters, 2024.
She Ships AI was created to push against that gap.
Launched by Skilium AI in partnership with IBM Women in AI (WAI), the three-week applied AI program is designed to help women move from knowing AI matters to being able to use it, build with it, and show what they can do.
Why I Built She Ships AI
I have spent years working across the rooms where AI is being built, taught, discussed, and adopted, from AWS and IBM communities to PyData, SciPy, IEEE, executive forums, and the open-source ecosystem.
I am an AI researcher and data scientist, founder of Skilium AI, an IBM Champion, and Lead of IBM Women in AI. I also serve as Chair of the NumFOCUS board, supporting 60+ open-source projects that power modern data and AI, and I have trained more than 1,000 professionals through AI programs, workshops, and keynotes.
Across all of those rooms, I kept seeing the same gap:
People do not need more AI information. They need a way to turn information into capability.
That is what She Ships AI is designed to do through three things:
Training + Mechanisms + Practice
Training: understand the building blocks
Week 1 started with five concepts:
Chat. RAG. Agents. Memory. Tools.
The goal was not terminology.
It was to help participants understand how modern AI systems fit together and when each capability is useful.
The shift is from:
“Which AI tool should I learn?”
to:
“What problem am I solving, and what AI capability fits?”
That is already helping participants feel more confident about where to start.
Mechanisms: turn intention into momentum
Most people do not suffer from a shortage of AI content.
They struggle to turn that content into action.
So She Ships AI adds structure: real use cases, guided exercises, milestones, accountability, peer learning, and tangible outputs.
You are not just told to “practice AI.”
You have something to build.
Practice: create proof
Over the three weeks, participants will experiment with custom GPTs, AI workflows, websites, simple applications, and agentic use cases.
They will also explore IBM Bob, connecting the concepts introduced in Week 1 with hands-on AI-assisted building.
The point is not another certificate.
It is proof of capability.
- Something you can show.
- Something you can explain.
- Something you can use.
- Something you built.
50+ Applied. Eight Were Selected.
More than 50 women applied for Cohort 1, with eight selected across North America, the Middle East, and South Asia.
The founding cohort consists of Aurelie Saada, Hira Shah, Sophir Biscard, Zahra, Ayub, Chelvy Sun, Zoha Ahmed, Risha Butt, and Madhulika Vinnakota. These leaders span AI transformation, product management, data engineering, entrepreneurship, professional development, and emerging technology careers. Some already work in FAANG, some own their own shops, and some are just ready to graduate.
That tells us something important:
The next generation of AI builders will not all be AI engineers.
They will be product leaders who understand customers, founders who understand markets, operators who understand workflows, data professionals who understand information, and domain experts who know the problems worth solving.
AI becomes much more powerful when it meets expertise people already have.
Why Proof Matters
A certificate says you completed something.
A build says:
“Here is what I can do.”
That build might be something you show your manager, discuss in a promotion conversation, demonstrate in an interview, test with a customer, use to improve a workflow, or develop into something larger.
The emerging advantage is not simply knowing AI.
It is:
Domain expertise + AI literacy + execution
That combination is where capability starts turning into career leverage.
Cohort 1 Has Started. Who’s Next?
Week 1 is complete.
The foundations are in place.
Now the building begins.
Over the coming weeks, we will share what these eight women create, test, and ship.
And if you are reading this wondering:
“When is the next cohort?”
That is exactly the question I want you asking.
Follow IBM Women in AI and Skilium AI for the next She Ships AI cohort announcement.
Eight women are building what’s next. Who ships next? 🚀