Artificial Intelligence has gone from being a big, scary monster taking over the world to a powerful tool that assists people in building companies. Leaders are now understanding how AI streamlines workflows. As with any emerging sector, how do women create a space where they thrive over the “bro code?”

According to new research commissioned by Amazon Web Services, 77% of U.S. women in professional roles are interested in learning generative AI skills. Additionally, 80% would apply to jobs that involve generative AI. Yet only 6% consider themselves AI experts, and 42% say their companies fail to offer meaningful AI skill development.

“These challenges could have long-term consequences,” says Jenni Troutman, director of products and services at AWS training and certification. “The interest is clearly there, but interest without access leads to missed opportunities. And in an industry where women only make up about 22% of the AI workforce, we can’t afford that kind of gap.”

Although AI is becoming easier to learn, 33% of women don’t know where to begin.

The AWS study found that women’s top challenges when building AI fluency include being unsure how AI applies to their current role and having limited access to training.

“I was shocked that so many women felt like they didn’t have access to resources,” Troutman says. “There’s so much out there, but it made me realize we must do a better job of helping people find and trust the right tools.”

Fear isn’t holding women back. It’s the sheer speed of change. “Generative AI isn’t new in theory, but what’s new is the pace and scale of what’s possible,” she continues. “And that’s overwhelming for anyone, not just women.”

Over the past few years, females have become more confident in the office. However, there are still areas of improvement that need to be addressed. For instance, the Harvard Business Review reported that during a study, a main self-evaluation question revealed that 80% of women believe they have a “poor performance.” In comparison, only 56% of men do.

Regarding AI, the World Economic Forum reported key findings from Randstad’s Workmonitor 2025 study, which found AI is the top-three skilling priority for 40% of global talent. While 44% of men were more likely to say so than 36% of women, the gap was less pronounced when it came to their belief in their qualifications in the technology and AI skills they already had (73% of men vs. 69% of women).

Now, with new AI skill sets required by companies, women often underestimate their qualifications. “Women tend to look at a job’s requirement and think, ‘If I don’t meet every single one, I’m not ready,’” states Troutman. “Meanwhile, others might meet just a portion and still go for it.”

Closing the gender gap in AI is about shifting the mindset from perfection to progress. That’s where foundational learning matters. AWS Skill Builder and AWS Educate offer more than 135 free, low-cost AI and machine learning courses, from Generative AI Essentials to Amazon’s Nova models training.

One key entry point? Prompt engineering. “It sounds technical, but it’s just about asking the right questions,” she explains. “If you’re in HR or marketing and using a tool to generate content or analyze data, your prompts determine how useful the results are. That’s a skill anyone can build.”

Troutman began her career in consulting at Accenture, working in business intelligence and strategy. Though she didn’t set out to work in training, her consulting mindset proved invaluable when she joined VMware to build out a global sales enablement practice.

“I didn’t know anything about training from the delivery side,” she says. “But I treated it like a project. I figured out the infrastructure and the programs and how to make them effective.”

That same problem-solving approach led her to AWS, where she’s helped scale training and certification from thousands of learners to millions.

For women ready to validate their knowledge, AWS offers two key certifications:

“Certifications aren’t just about career changes,” Troutman notes. “They help people feel more confident using AI in their current role, and that’s just as important.”

Organizations can better support women’s conviction in pursuing AI by:

“If you don’t understand how AI tools can help you innovate, now’s the time to learn,” Troutman concludes. “Because soon, AI fluency won’t be a bonus. It’ll be a baseline.”

The future of work is already taking shape, and women are poised to play a defining role in its direction. To participate fully, they must have access to opportunity and the confidence to chart the path in an AI-driven world.