How Sponsorship, Not Mentorship, Will Define the Next Era of AI Leadership | The Give to Gain Leadership Mindset

Samra Khan: I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to move from mentorship to sponsorship. And there's a big difference between the two. I always make this joke that women are over mentored and under sponsored in my world. Driving co innovation and partnerships at Google Cloud every single day. Structured talent development isn't just a, uh, nice to have. It is how you equip your team to actually execute on complex vision.

Kavita Krishnan: Giving is not a subtraction, it's intentional multiplication. Hi everyone and welcome to the special edition of Beyond Possible Dialogues International Women's Day 2026 special. I'm Kavita Krishnan, Director of Artificial Intelligence at Credence and I'm truly excited to host today's conversation. This year International Women's Day theme is Give to Gain. It's a powerful reminder, uh, that growth, whether personal, professional or organizational, is rarely accidental. It's built through intentional investment, through sponsorship, allyship, through leaders who are basically ready to open doors. I'm especially thrilled to be joined by Samra Khan, Director of North America System Integrator Partnerships at Google Cloud. Samra, welcome. It's wonderful to have you here.

Samra Khan: Thank you Kavita. Thank you very much. I'm very excited to be here talking to you today.

Kavita Krishnan: Samra, your leadership at Google Cloud puts you at the intersection of AI innovation and massive stakeholder ecosystem. In the spirit of International Women's Day and the Gift to Gain philosophy, we know that growth is rarely a personal or a solo journey. Can you share a time when someone's investment in you through coaching or a specific opportunity acted as the catalyst for your career? How was that true gift shaped the way you have given back to your team today?

Samra Khan: Thank you Kavitha for asking the question. You're absolutely right. Especially in the AI space, you can't really build your career or your growth without having sponsorship or partnership. However, a story that comes to my mind is early on in my career I was working for a late stage startup and and there is a new opportunity that came along within the organization and even though I was not a hundred percent ready for it at the time, my boss or my manager decided to give me that role because he truly believed in stretch assignments and focused on the leaders for tomorrow rather than focusing on the experience of the past. And actually that opportunity taught me very early on that you always want to go into opportunities and take roles from day one where you are challenged, not roles and responsibilities where you are actually comfortable doing the job and you know the job because the growth happens when we are um, uncomfortable. The growth doesn't happen Then when we are comfortable. And I'm truly appreciative that I got that opportunity at the time where I was given a role that I did not possess all the skills or the experience for at the time. But there is a level of deep trust and there was somebody who saw the potential in me on what I can do if challenged in the right way, coupled with advice and mentorship. And I think that's an opportunity we need to give and pass it on to everybody. The given this is that, uh, that particular experience completely shaped my DNA as a leader because someone gave me that access. You know, my focus today is on intentional multiplication of exactly just that. And that's why I'm so deeply invested in leading any programs that exist internally within Google or outside, around talent development and around growth and empowerment of the woman. And I continue to use and leverage my platform and support from my company, whether it is through sitting on boards of various different women in tech organizations, whether it is participating on different speaking engagements, or whether it's mentorship and support through other opportunity. Because I think it's extremely important for women to be seen to be heard and for us to develop that next generation of emerging leaders and entrepreneurs. And quite frankly in all of this, the gain for me is that how do I tie this back to the business and whether it's an AI world or technology world in general. But the most beautiful part is that this gift to gain team isn't just a philanthropic exercise that we do in March and then we sort of move on from it. It's a business imperative. Like leading teams with empathy directly drive success. And it brings diverse perspectives to the table which sparks more innovative joint offerings, you know, especially very, very crucial in AI right now. And ultimately, you know, it is accelerating the business across the board. So for me, the give opportunity is there to drive in a much stronger way for a more resilient tech ecosystem.

Kavita Krishnan: That's very great to hear. I think the point is on March, it's not about flowers, slogans or hashtags. It's building or rebuilding. That DNA of a true leader should become the motto of March than all the other aspects.

Samra Khan: Absolutely.

Kavita Krishnan: If you think from a broader perspective, like if you consider the AI landscape as a whole, there's something very striking. We are in that AI era where everything is reshaping all the industries that is around us. Yet women remain underrepresented in the rooms where data, strategy and AI decisions are made. If you take the statistics with women just accounting to less than one fifth of the AI leadership Roles globally. I personally feel leaders are leaving the talent, perspective and value on the table. And as you think of this year's IWD theme gift to gain, how should leaders, in your opinion, rethink investment in their data and AI leadership pipeline?

Samra Khan: Kavita, look, you hit the nail on the head, right? Recent data shows that while women make up about 22% of the global AI talent pool, the number drops to less than 15% of the global AI talent pool when we're talking about executive AI roles. So it's fairly low. To me that isn't just a diversity problem. To me it is actually intelligence crisis. And what do I mean by intelligence crisis? I mean AI reflects the priorities of the people who design and who deploy it. Right? You're living and breathing it on a daily basis. If we have a narrow leadership and even executor's pipeline, we will get a narrow problem framing. We risk then hard coding biases into the systems that are supposed to be the drivers of our future, so to speak. So to me the give here is when we apply a giving theme, which again we should continue to do year round, to our AI pipeline of leaders and people, we need to fundamentally rethink what investment looks like in developing the right talent pool. It is not just about passive hiring. It is about actively giving resources. We need to give women stretch assignments. We need to have them in the room where the strategy decisions are being made. We need to have the right budget and time for AI upskilling and we need to give them active vocal sponsorship in the room. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to move from mentorship to sponsorship. And there's a big difference between the two. And I always make this joke is that women are over mentored and under sponsored in my world driving co innovation and partnerships at uh, Google Cloud every single day. A ah, structured talent development isn't just a nice to have, it is how you equip your team to actually execute on complex vision. And complex vision could specifically be translated into a complex vision for AI which we all know, whoever is in the tech industry right now, everybody has that as a number one priority on the UM board. In terms of the gain, I think the innovation and the market penetration and the gain because of this is undeniable for any company or any enterprise. Who's going to invest in the diversity pool and woman growth when we intentionally invest in this pipeline, whether that is internally within our orgs or by lifting up the external ecosystem like I'm um involved in some of them, whether it be Anita B.org or Grace Hopper or Woman of Mina in tech or investing time and having conversations with our partner leaders and executive. We gain a massive competitive advantage because diverse AI leadership ensures that innovative solutions that we bring to market actually connect with all end users, not just certain demographic or region or gender end users. We give access the training, the trust we get more robust, we get ethical and highly profitable. And I think ultimately it drives top line for the companies that take that approach.

Kavita Krishnan: I think one statement that truly resonated with me is the mentorship versus the sponsorship approach. And truly everybody hears that, okay, I can be your mentor, that you are the. We can have some senior leaders mentor the young women to become leaders, but truly are we giving that sponsorship that is required? That's still a uh, open question to many organizations that we see. And in of the leadership summits, probably on the dais, we see one women out of a group of five or ten men sitting there and talking. So it's time we make that smart initiatives to bring back, give that open avenues and have a true mentorship program for women to succeed.

Samra Khan: Correct. I think I might coin, you know, or patent the term over mentored and under sponsored.

Kavita Krishnan: That's truly correct. I think you deserve a patent for that. We often talk about empowerment as ah, something philosophical. But real impact comes from systemic action. And even when you were answering your previous question, you spoke about how systemic action is required. From your perspective, what are the most effective ways organization can actually intentionally build and sustain women leadership pipeline in data and AI?

Samra Khan: I think there's a couple of different things. So number one, look, philosophy is a great starting point or a starting line, but it takes operational rigor to actually cross the finish line. If we want to build and sustain women's leadership and data in AI, we have to stop treating this as a diversity thing and we have to stop treating it as a HR initiative and start treating it like a culture core business strategy, from what I've seen works at the highest levels is like real impact comes down to institutionalized sponsorship that we talked about a little bit earlier. First, internally we have to institutionize how we grow talent. We need to move away from the idea of casual coffee chats, networking and really build structured talent development programs. Organizations really need a framework that allows employees across the entire org to deliberately explore personal growth, secure active mentorship. Not saying it's not important, it's absolutely important and works in many, many cases and really match with stretched assignments. Right. Who's challenging you? Oh, you're doing this a, uh, great job for next five years. How about now? It's time for me to learn or do something new and different. And we have to operationalize sponsorship so that advocating for women isn't especially in AI, isn't just left to chance. Secondly, leverage the ecosystem. External organizations must leverage their platform M to support the broader tech ecosystem, right? So there are companies in the position where they're able to do more compared to other companies that are able to do less. I've been very blessed and lucky that there have been several leaders within Google Cloud as well. Google Cloud as a company has the philosophy of supporting not just people within their own four wall, but actively sponsoring funding, mentoring within massive industry communities, organizations that impact tens and thousands of members. We aren't just giving back. We are actively cultivating highly qualified pipeline of emerging entrepreneurs, especially in AI. And the whole industry benefits from it. It's not specific to an individual organization. And then ultimately my hope is that we tie then that pipeline or that talent pool to revenue and to business outcomes and we measure the business based on these initiatives that we drive internally within an organization. What type of gains and results we are getting from the AI perspective. Guess who do we need right now in the AI world the most? It's not the coders, right? It's not the people writing the code, rather people who ask very, very smart questions, AKA prompt engineers. Guess who are the best human beings on this planet in real life that ask a lot of very, very good questions. I would like to say it's the woman.

Kavita Krishnan: What comes to my mind when you told about asking questions is while I was back in my school days, my teacher told Kavita, you ask questions like boys. That struck me. I didn't like that question statement. But I think boys ask questions very differently, very intelligently. And with that notion of asking boys the intelligent question I personally did not like. I think girls ask more questions, drill down questions which are more relevant in the AI systems. Not just superficial questions. Asking the right questions at the right time and making sure the answers also aligns to what their thought process is. And definitely women excel in that, I believe.

Samra Khan: I agree, Samra.

Kavita Krishnan: There is no question the conversation around women in data and AI has evolved. Visibility is definitely higher, the intent is clearer than ever. But from your vantage point, where have we genuinely moved the needle? What are the gains we have collectively achieved in maybe last couple of years?

Samra Khan: Yeah, absolutely. Look, it's not all doom and gloom. I think we've come a long way in the last decade compared to where we were while we talked about the Baseline data around, you know, women's representation in AI is fairly low, especially even in the leadership. But as a data driven leader, I don't just look at the baseline, I also look at the velocity. And the velocity of change over the last two, three years has been incredible when it comes to women. So let's talk about how that is, number one, rapid AI adoption.

Kavita Krishnan: First.

Samra Khan: We're seeing a massive gain in user adoption. And when AI first exploded onto the scene, there was this noticeable sort of trust and adoption gain between men and women. But recent data, uh, heading into 2026 shows that woman adoption of AI tools has grown more than double than the rate of men, rapidly closing that gap. So this is a critical win. You know why? Because today's power users are tomorrow's builders and strategists. So I think I see that as a very positive sign. I mean, the second thing is that we have to start leading the next phase of AI. And what do I mean by that? You know, we've moved the needle on where women are leading. We aren't just fighting for a seat at the table anymore. We're actively defining enterprise rules of engagement. If you look at the most influential voices in shaping AI right now, specifically in the AI governance, in ethical scaling, in sustainability, around energy, around workforce productivity and around employee enablement, women are the ones that are actually leading those conversations. So there are leading indicators that if women are leading the charge on ensuring AI is deployed, responsibility and that will drive profitability as well across the globe, then I think we're in a pretty good shape. And I think our future is really bright. I think that's why it's very important to have the infrastructure of giving. The biggest thing for me is the sheer power of the ecosystem. I cannot emphasize enough on it. Maybe a decade, decade ago, being a woman in data or AI, you know, often men being the only one in the room. I think today through several different organizations, I talked about, you know, anitabi.org or like women of MENA in tech or, you know, there's women in data, there is like girls who go, there's several that are out there that have built that infrastructure and support. And like, I encourage all women to do two things. Number one, join these organizations. And number two, if you are in a position, uplift others with you. Because we have all heard, right, that rising tide lifts all ships. So we're really, you know, we really need to share our playbook, pool what we're doing as a group, and really make the isolation for women in the world of AI, or in the world of tech in general go away. Because what we're looking for is a collective power that is ultimately a, uh, 10x multiplier for growth.

Kavita Krishnan: I truly like two aspects from your playbook. One, to uh, make sure you join all these initiatives and to make sure everybody around you is also uplifted to the next level. That truly shows why such leaders are there in Google Cloud. Sangha, uh, it's ah, so happy to have you mentor each of us and make us understand how important it is to cultivate that thought process in each of us to make sure the participate and at the same time give and gain more thought leaders in this area.

Samra Khan: Absolutely.

Kavita Krishnan: Samrat. Uh, to close our conversation on gift to gain, we know that the biggest breakthroughs happen when leaders take a big leap of faith. Outcomes are never 100% age guaranteed, but still we do it. And if you had to challenge all our listeners here today, whether they are aspiring leaders, managers or executives, what are two specific investments they should make it right now to meaningfully accelerate women into the AI leadership roles?

Samra Khan: I think I'll just say one thing right. We need to redefine what the leap of faith really means. I agree with you 100% that it absolutely requires leap of faith, Kavita. True leadership is about making those bets. If we are serious about the gift to gain mandate, not just for this month or for this year, but for many years to come, we have to recognize that giving advice isn't just enough anymore. We have to give capital and we have to give political capital and we have to give financial capital to the people that we really want to grow. And if we really want to see them go places. And in this case by people, I mean women, you know, to meaningfully accelerate women into AI leadership, I challenge our listeners to make two very specific investments today, not tomorrow, but today. Number one, I talked about it earlier. The first investment is to give stretch sponsorship, not just mentorship. And what I mean by stretch sponsorship is you are advocating on that person's behalf when they're not in the room, but you are also giving them a platform to deliver something in access of what they can. And that's where the stretch assignment and the sponsorship comes together. So that's very, very important. So I challenge every leader listening, go look at your upcoming high stakes AI initiatives or strategic channel partnership. Find a woman on your team who's 70% ready or 80% ready or whatever, 90% ready, and give her the project. Put your own political capital on the line to back her up. And I Can tell you from my own experience driving co innovation driving strategies, they always have a much higher chance of success when you give the level of trust to diverse group of people and let those people rise to the occasion as opposed to sticking with status quo and playing safe. I think the second big thing is the ecosystem support. It's important that we all continue to invest and give platform to those that don't have the access to it. I challenge leaders to look beyond your own internal companies, your own people, your own teams and see what you can do outside your own four walls and boundaries. And instead of operating in a black box, sort of put a glass box and go out and have a bi directional view of what's going on in the world of AI and tech. And I think my final takeaway is that you are right that outcomes are never 100% guaranteed. But I will guarantee this if you actively give sponsorship and you actively give ecosystem support and you definitely will gain massive competitive advantage because when you go build your AI solutions that actually resonate with all end users, you will drive the kind of adoption that ultimately translates into top line revenue growth that will only happen by the whole community around the world being involved in it. And not only that, they will also feel more empowered. So there is an aspect of employee experience and human empathy that will also come into the play which I believe is a lot more important than top line and bottom line.

Kavita Krishnan: What I'm expecting is International Women's Day 2026 tagline will be stretched assignments and sponsorship.

Samra Khan: Sounds good. I'm all for it.

Kavita Krishnan: Come back in 2027 Women's Day also to discuss on the same topic of stretched assignments, how we can take most of our organizations and the women leadership around um, it to get more sponsorship and how we can empower each of our fellow executives and leaders to go to their next level.

Samra Khan: I'm happy to do so.

Kavita Krishnan: Now frankly, the time is ticking and I felt I would have got another one hour to talk to you because it's truly inspiring, Samra, really, thank you. Not just for the sharing the insights today, but for the leadership examples you continue to set and everything that you have spoken about today. There's one thing that truly strikes just that investment is not somebody giving a charity. It's truly an uh, organizational strategy. Stretched assignments, stretch sponsorship, building that next generation leaders needs. All of this as a uh, continued process and when we can intentionally give either through sponsorship visibility, stretched opportunities or any systemic action that we do. We are not just uplifting the individuals here, as you said, we are strengthening the teams, we make sure acceleration is there in all the innovations and what the final goal is. Uh, truly a gender neutral AI ecosystem and what you aspired, all the business goals, roi, everything coming around that gender neutral AI ecosystem. On behalf of Credits and Google Cloud, Kavita and Samra, happy International Women's Day to all our uh, listeners.

Samra Khan: Please continue to gift again. Thank you.

Kavita Krishnan: Definitely. Thank you so much all of you. And let's all continue to give so we can truly gain.

Samra Khan: Mhm.