Curiosity May Be the Great Equalizer in the Age of AI

For years, conversations about women and technology have often centered on the gap.

Who has access? Who is represented? Who gets promoted? Who gets left behind?

But a recent article about women embracing artificial intelligence offers a different—and perhaps more hopeful—way to think about the future of work.

According to Pnet's August 2026 Job Market Trends Report, which analyzed 1.5 million jobseeker profiles in South Africa, women now represent 32% of professionals listing AI skills on their CVs, up from 25% three years ago. Women are moving even faster in some areas of generative AI: approximately 60% of candidates listing ChatGPT are women, and women account for roughly 70% of professionals adding AI tools used for design and media.

The gap certainly hasn't disappeared. Men still represent about two-thirds of professionals listing AI skills overall, and women remain significantly underrepresented in areas such as machine learning and software development.

But the momentum caught my attention.

Because perhaps this isn't only a story about AI.

Perhaps it's a story about curiosity.

What Happens When Everyone Is Learning?

One of the fascinating things about generative AI is that relatively few of us grew up with it.

There wasn't a ChatGPT class most executives took in college. There wasn't a decades-long career path for prompt engineering. Organizations didn't spend the last 30 years developing leaders with deep expertise in generative AI.

We are all, to varying degrees, learning.

And that changes the equation.

When the rules are still being written, curiosity becomes incredibly valuable.

The advantage doesn't necessarily belong to the person who already knows the most.

It can belong to the person willing to ask:

What does this do?

What if I tried it differently?

How could this make my work better?

What don't I understand yet?

Who else should be part of this conversation?

That mindset matters far beyond technology.

I've come to believe that curiosity is one of the most underestimated leadership capabilities we have.

Curiosity moves us from certainty to exploration.

From defending our position to understanding another person's perspective.

From "This is how we've always done it" to "What might be possible?"

And from needing to have the answer to becoming willing to ask a better question.

But Curiosity Needs Opportunity

There is another side to this conversation.

We can't simply tell people to "be curious" and assume workplace gaps will disappear.

Organizations have a role to play.

Pnet's findings point to the importance of creating continuous opportunities for employees across functions to develop AI capabilities—not treating AI as a skill reserved only for technology teams.

That means leaders need to think carefully about who gets invited into the room.

Who receives training?

Who gets access to new technology?

Who is encouraged to experiment?

Who is given permission to learn without already being an expert?

And perhaps most importantly:

Who has someone saying, "Come with me. I'll show you what I'm learning."

That last question matters to me.

The People in the Middle Matter

When I wrote Men-In-The-Middle, much of my focus was on the critical role men can play in creating more equitable workplaces.

Not because women need men to rescue them.

But because people who already have influence, access and credibility have an opportunity to widen the circle.

AI presents another moment where that choice matters.

As new capabilities emerge, leaders can hoard knowledge—or share it.

They can surround themselves with people who already understand the technology—or intentionally invite others to learn alongside them.

They can reward the people who confidently say, "I know."

Or they can create cultures that also value the person brave enough to say:

"I don't know yet. But I'm curious."

Those decisions may ultimately shape who benefits from this next era of work.

Maybe the Question Is Bigger Than AI

Technology will continue changing.

Today's breakthrough tool will eventually be replaced by another.

So I'm less interested in whether every leader becomes an AI expert than I am in whether we are developing organizations filled with curious learners.

People willing to experiment.

People willing to ask questions.

People willing to reconsider assumptions.

People willing to share what they know.

And people willing to pull another chair up to the table while they're learning.

Because perhaps one of the greatest opportunities created by AI isn't simply increased productivity.

Perhaps it is the opportunity to rethink how we learn together.

If we get that right, curiosity could become something more than a leadership skill.

It could become an equalizer.

And maybe closing some of the gaps in our workplaces doesn't always begin with teaching people the answers.

Maybe it begins by creating cultures where everyone feels safe enough—and invited enough—to ask the questions.