(May 15, 2025) In April 2025, a new chapter in India’s technological landscape began with the launch of AI Kiran, an ambitious initiative designed to empower one million Indian women in artificial intelligence. The brainchild of growth-stage investor Kirthiga Reddy who has previously served as Facebook India’s first employee, AI Kiran is a movement to build a cross-functional community of women in AI across domains such as healthcare, education, sustainability, and enterprise tech. Hosted on the Government of India’s Manthan platform, the initiative combines mentorship, funding access, blockchain-verified recognition, and curated learning programs to unlock leadership opportunities and global visibility for women at every stage of their AI careers.
AI Kiran is backed by a powerful coalition of partners, including the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, INK Women Foundation, and global organizations such as AnitaB.org, SheTO, Neythri, AspireForHer, Youth Ki Awaaz, and Karya. The launch spotlighted 250 leading women in AI, creating the foundation for a multi-year roadmap that blends government policy, private sector mentorship, and civil society collaboration. The initiative aims not just to elevate women’s participation in GenAI roles where they currently make up only 33 percent at junior levels and just 19 percent at senior levels in India but to catalyze a global transformation by ensuring women shape and lead the AI systems of tomorrow. At the helm of this plan is Kirthiga Reddy, whose career spanning both India and the US has consistently fused technological foresight with inclusive innovation.
With India projected to be a global AI powerhouse, empowering its women in this space isn’t just local impact, it’s global transformation.
Kirthiga Reddy
A career full of technological foresight
Kirthiga Reddy is a trailblazer in every sense of the word. She is currently the CEO and co-founder of Verix, a firm that is defining the industry standard for verification in the age of digital transformation and AI. She is also the President of Athena SPAC, a private equity pre IPO fund making investments and creating long term partnerships to empower founders reach long-term success. As Founding Investment Partner of F7, a seed fund created by seven female ex-Facebook leaders, and the first female Investment Partner at SoftBank’s $130B Vision Fund, Reddy has spent her career backing the next wave of frontier and enterprise technologies. In her own words, “I’m a builder, turned investor, and now back to building. CEO, Virtualness. Driven by the mantra ‘When businesses succeed, livelihoods flourish.'”
Starting her career as an engineer, her operational legacy is just as groundbreaking. Reddy was Facebook India’s first employee and later its Managing Director, playing a critical role in establishing Meta’s footprint in the region. Under her leadership, Facebook India’s revenue scaled to over $1 billion, while the company built out advertising product-market fit, launched one of Meta’s global operations centers, and helped usher India into the mobile-first era.
Whether it’s forging paths for women in AI, investing in next-gen tech, or advising boards, Kirthiga Reddy’s career has one recurring theme of turning “What if?” into “What’s next?”.
Krithika Reddy with American technology executive, philanthropist, and writer Sheryl Sandberg
Born of modest beginnings, wired for big vision
Reddy’s origin story is quintessentially Indian and deeply inspiring. Raised in a middle-class family, her childhood was shaped by frequent relocations due to her father’s tenure at Lloyds Steel, taking her through a spectrum of Indian life from bustling metros like Mumbai and Chennai to industrial townships like Dandeli and Nanded, and also included mid-sized towns like Nagpur, Tarapur and Nashik.
“From my dad, I picked up his strong work ethic, the value of ‘planning my work and working my plan’. My mother gave me spirituality, cheer, and a can-do attitude,” Reddy reflects. This dual inheritance of pragmatism and optimism would later become her signature leadership style.
Though her introduction to technology came from the well-trodden Indian society’s directive of “engineering or medicine,” she fell in love with STEM on her own terms. Inspired by pioneers like Padmasree Warrior and Sheryl Sandberg, Reddy carved a career that would take her from Silicon Valley labs to global boardrooms.
My mom did not have the opportunity to finish high school. As I reflect on the change within one generation, I am filled with optimism about what’s possible for the next generation and responsibility for driving the change.
Kirthiga Reddy
Krithiga with Amitabh Bachchan who received the first IAMAI Social Media Person of the Year award when she worked for Facebook
From Facebook’s first India employee to a global growth-stage investor
When Facebook (now Meta) was charting its expansion into South Asia, Reddy became the company’s first hire in India, later rising to Managing Director of Facebook India and South Asia. Her six-year tenure was transformative which drove mobile-first strategies, building the foundation for Meta’s advertising success in the region, and scaling revenue to over $1 billion.
This period is documented in her book, The Opportunity Engine, where Reddy offers reflections and frameworks for building high-growth, sustainable businesses. It’s a rare ringside view into the digital revolution that reshaped a nation “With Facebook India revenue topping $1B, this is a ringside ticket to learn from the first six years of the Facebook India journey, delivering the first several $100Ms of revenue, and getting buy-in on the vision to $1B,” mentioned Reddy.
She was instrumental in building one of Meta’s global operations centres, developing product-market fit for Facebook’s ad tools in India, and leading cross-functional teams at a scale rarely seen in the startup world. Her ability to blend global acumen with local insight set her apart.
I look for three fundamental factors in anything I do: Is it a big bold vision that I believe in? Are there people I can learn from every day? Do I bring the expertise to be a game changer to deliver on the vision?
Kirthiga Reddy
First female investment partner at SoftBank’s Vision Fund
Reddy’s pivot from operations to investment came when she joined SoftBank Investment Advisers becoming the first female Investment Partner at the behemoth Vision Fund. There, she zeroed in on frontier tech, enterprise solutions, and health tech, backing founders with world-changing ideas.
“My role at SBIA was yet another once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to be part of one of the largest tech funds in the world; work with inspirational founders who are redefining the future across industries,” remarked the fitness freak who loves marathons, outdooors and has hiked Mt. Everest Base Camp twice.
She brought to investing the same growth mindset that had marked her operational career. Her decisions were guided by a single clarifying question, one that hung on the walls of every Facebook office, and that was, “‘What would you do if you weren’t afraid?’ That question has guide her at every crossroad.
Launching AI Kiran: A moonshot for women in AI
Now, Reddy is again at the frontier with AI Kiran, a highly significant initiative to build a cross-functional, blockchain-verified AI community for Indian women. It’s hosted on India’s Manthan Platform and backed by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, INK Women, and a coalition of private and civil society partners.
AI Kiran combines mentorship, funding access, and blockchain-verified recognition to build a vibrant AI community for women across healthcare, education, and sustainability. It’s a vibrant membership community with access to curated learnin and high-impact events connecting women across geographies.
Kirthiga Reddy
With India’s AI market projected to reach $17 billion by 2027, Reddy wants to ensure women aren’t just passengers on this rocketship, rather they’re copilots.
At its launch on April 21, in conjunction with UN Creativity and Innovation Day, AI Kiran spotlighted 250 prominent women in AI, and announced plans to reach 1 million women through mentorships, curated learning programs, branding support, and leadership platforms.
AI Kiran’s blockchain-based recognition system ensures global shareability and transparency which are important cornerstones for resume-building in a distributed, credential-sensitive world. The initiative is also a funding magnet, aiming to raise $3 million through INK Women Foundation for scholarships, summits, academic collaborations, and storytelling efforts.
A life of and, not or
Kirthiga has studied in both India and the U.S, and has worked extensively in both countries, and is now based in the U.S. One of Reddy’s most powerful messages is about balance. It is something she refuses to see as a zero-sum game. For her, personal and professional aspirations are not in conflict but in harmony.
“There is never a perfect time for getting married or having children, but if these are important life goals and one feels ready, the converse is true – it is always a perfect time.” She’s a fierce advocate of turning “Ors” into “Ands”. It’s a mindset she believes is critical for women navigating career and family.
“Accept offers of help, believe in yourself, surround yourself with people who believe in you almost more than you believe in yourself and celebrate milestones along the journey.”
A global connector, local changemaker
Today, as Reddy steers Verix, a trust-tech platform with global ambitions, she’s continuing her lifelong quest to connect people, build communities, and unlock opportunity through AI Kiran in her native country and beyond. Her leadership across continents, corporate boards, tech funds, and nonprofit ecosystems has cemented her legacy as not just a successful woman in tech, but a powerful ecosystem builder.
It is terrifying to test new waters but just as liberating to forgo your inhibitions.
Kirthiga Reddy
Kirthiga Reddy at the Rashtrapati Bhavan
Whether empowering Indian women in AI, shaping investment portfolios, or mentoring the next generation, Kirthiga Reddy continues to light the path forward brilliantly, boldly, and with purpose.
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