Avast Blog_News: Women working in cybersecurity – a spotlight on Deepali Garg

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A Data Science and AI expert reveals why women must be at the table in the exciting male-dominated AI field.

Because International Women’s Day should just as well be every day, Avast is proud to have worked with the San Francisco Chronicle to feature one of its very own in the special insert "Women in Computing," highlighting exceptional women in technology. The following is a Q&A session with Deepali Garg, a data scientist and AI expert at Avast.

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you first became interested in Data Science as a career path.
I am a Senior Data Scientist at Avast in the AI (artificial intelligence) and Network Security group. I build machine learning algorithms that are the basis for solutions to protect smart homes from cyberattacks. I’ve always known that I wanted to work in the technology field. I graduated from MIT with an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science major, and I love what I do.

What has your experience been like working in AI?
Exhilarating! It’s a very active field – new research and findings every day and still more to discover! AI impacts every aspect of life, from better medical diagnosis to shopping online. It is the smart way companies get things done at scale. It’s thrilling ... and it places a huge responsibility on the AI community's shoulders.

Why do you think it's important to encourage women to pursue a career in this area?
Stephen Hawking said superintelligent AI will be very good at accomplishing its goals, but if those goals aren't aligned with ours, there will be trouble. AI models are based on data and on algorithms that researchers create. If these are consciously or unconsciously biased, then those biases will be built into the systems that we create. It is critical for women to be a part of the AI community and to drive the progress, lest we be surrounded by AI systems that either reinforce biases or are useful only to the very narrow demographic that builds it.

What do you think are some of the challenges with being a woman in tech? Are there any you have encountered?
I have been in countless meetings and on numerous teams where I was the only woman. The demographic in most tech companies is too skewed towards men. Young women engineers are left without role models to take cues from. Gender imbalance creates a culture where women simply don't 'fit-in' – from lunchroom banter to team camaraderie. But most damaging are the unconscious biases that question women's abilities and that creep into casual interactions and comments. In this field, women have to be extra confident, they have to speak up and advocate for themselves.

Do you think the industry is changing as far as attracting and retaining more women in this field?
I am heartened by companies like Avast that are invested in attracting and retaining women in technology. Half the population is left untapped when we don't include women. To build systems, inclusion is imperative.   

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