1,500 NYC Tech Week Events and This One Stood Out

New York City Tech Week concluded last week. Boston’s Tech Week was last month and San Francisco and LA will host theirs in October. There were more than 1,500 events in NYC to choose from, with topics on AI, B2B, SaaS, HealthTech, FinTech, GTM, and more for engineers, founders, investors, students, and anyone interested in or working in tech. As you can imagine it was challenging to narrow down which events that myself and 40,000 (!) other attendees wanted to do.   

One of my favorite events here in NYC was put on by Women Defining AI and Women in AI, and sponsored by Vonage and Remy. “Reset + Build: Overcoming AI Anxiety.” There were lots of things I enjoyed about this event.
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It began with panel moderator, Taylor Borde, asking us to turn to a neighbor and share a “dumb” question that we’ve had about AI (and said “there are no dumb questions” which I also firmly believe). The point was to show that we’re not alone in having questions that we might be nervous to ask. It felt like we were all about to go on a journey of learning and understanding together, and not leaving anyone behind. 

A few of my favorite comments from the panelists:

• Stephanie Farquhar, Founder of Equitable Data Solutions said “We do have change management tools to help us bring in new tech like AI. You need to be iterative with processes.” What I got from this is that lots of companies are trying to figure out how to govern and roll out AI processes. But some seem like this is the first time they are introducing new technology but really it can be similar to other platforms rollout.
• Stephanie also said “When it comes to data roles, a lot of women shrink back.” She spoke about how this goes back to the gender gap in school. Many girls were taught either implicitly or explicitly that boys are better with math and numbers. Stephanie said that because of this narrative, many women don’t see themselves as “data” or “tech” people. But we can move on from this myth. 
• TeLisa Daughtry, Award Winning 16x Entrepreneur, said: “There are low risk ways to use AI. You can erase chats with Gemini and Claude. One way to experiment is to do a brain dump of priorities and ask it to sort tasks, provide roadblocks, and create a schedule, plan, diary or calendar.” For people just starting out, this is a fantastic way to see how AI can help save you time during the day. 
• TeLisa also said “Build (with AI) safely, loudly and boldly.” Love that!

Emily Leahy, Founder of InPhase, guided us through a grounding exercise. Afterwards there was a noticeable shift with calmer energy that was felt throughout the room. My friend and fellow Co-Director of TechWalk Brooklyn, Laren McLean said “I appreciated an event that centered around making AI accessible to everyone. I also appreciated the grounding session we did at the start of the panel. I felt that was a unique start to a tech centered panel.”

Nichole Acosta, Program Leadership Team Member for Women Defining AI, gave a demonstration. She built a daily operating system project in Claude and showed the audience how to set it up for ourselves. She made it easy to follow along and had the audience scan a QR code that led to a Google Drive. It contained the instructions to copy and paste into Claude, and also a file of questions for us to upload into a new Claude Project. The goal of this Daily OS is to work as a check-in to help us reflect on what matters, notice patterns over time, and track ongoing priorities and concerns.

After the event, I caught up with my friend Nissa Eberly who also attended. She said “With an industry that's historically been male-dominated, it was refreshing to see so many women at Tech Week. Now there’s something different happening, it’s no longer a competition. Women are now collaborating, uplifting and supporting each other, and are able to be at the forefront of AI and tech. Topics like privacy, safety, the environment, and bias matter deeply to me. Being in a room full of women who care about the same things and using AI for good felt powerful.”

Nissa and I joined Women Defining AI to meet other leaders in AI, share ideas, experiment, and continue learning about new tools through events IRL and URL. This nonprofit organization is dedicated to educating the public on artificial intelligence and promoting inclusive technological advancement. What started as a "study group" rapidly transformed into a vast support network with more than 1,000 members. We are creating a movement around amplifying and supporting women and nonbinary individuals in tech. If you’re curious, check out the Women Defining AI website or schedule a meeting with me to discuss.