Hyderabad, Nov 19: Speaking about AI, Kirthiga Reddy, former Managing Director of Facebook India, said the AI tools and technology offer endless possibilities for the future. But there is a word of caution. “Use AI. Rely on it. But always double-check it,” she advised the 150-plus women at the session.
She was the guest speaker at the FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO)’s inspiring session titled ‘Growth Code’ at District 150 by Quorum, Knowledge City, Madhapur, held on Tuesday till late evening.
Ms Kirthiga Reddy, former Managing Director of Facebook (Meta) India, shared her remarkable journey—her early life, education, career milestones, and her vision for women in leadership and technology.
Opening the session, Ms Prathibha Kunda, Chairperson of FLO, said the event was designed around two defining questions:
1. “What is the future demanding from women leaders?”
2. “And who is someone who has already lived that future before the world saw it?”
She added that with 75% of the global workforce needing new digital skills by the end of this decade, and women holding only 18% of leadership roles in technology, the challenge lies not in capability but in opportunity and awareness. “Leaders adapt to change — but visionaries arrive before it begins. Kirthiga Reddy is that rare force of foresight,” she said.
Krithiga’s journey is remarkable. From Nanded to Silicon Valley to Facebook, India’s First employee, she travelled a very long.
In conversation with Ms Mrinalini Shastri, entrepreneur and FLO member, and Ms Prathibha Kunda, Ms Reddy spoke about her childhood across Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, shaped by her father’s transferable job.
“People who know me may not know that I am a Telugu woman. Moving across states early in life taught me adaptability and agility,” she said.
She shared her journey from Nanded to the US, becoming a Stanford graduate, and later serving as the Chair of the Stanford Business Management Board.
She recalled the moment she decided to join Facebook when it was still a young company in India. “It was a futuristic product with a future full of promise — so I grabbed the opportunity,” she said.
Despite being a product leader by background, she took on operational responsibilities at Facebook India and grew with the challenge.
Ms Reddy shared anecdotes illustrating the platform’s transformative impact: A woman once told her, “I don’t use the internet… but I am on Facebook.”
“This showed me that people don’t care about the technology — they care about what it does for them,” she said.
Another story was of a domestic worker who, despite being unable to read or write, used Facebook effortlessly and joyfully. “Our mission was always to give people the power to share.”
After a successful stint at Facebook, Kirthiga plunged into entrepreneurship. She is now CEO & Co-Founder of Verix. She is the first female investing partner at SoftBank’s $130B Vision Fund, and Founder of AI Kiran — a large-scale movement to empower Indian women in Artificial Intelligence.
AI Kiran, an initiative of her company, is supported by NASSCOM, Aspire For Her, Youth Ki Awaaz, Karya, AnitaB.org, SheTO and others. It aims to reach 1 million women in the next year through mentoring, learning programmes, and leadership opportunities. “AI Kiran is about recognising and nurturing future women leaders in AI — and doing it at scale,” she said.
Although seen as a role model for thousands of women in tech, Ms Reddy said her mother has been her greatest influence. She added that her daughter once reminded her that “inspiration must come from within.”
When asked what quality she looks for in founders before investing, she listed three:
1. A bold vision,
2. An obsession to solve a real problem, and
3. Something uniquely Indian in the solution
Over 150 FLO members attended the session.
Leave a Reply