Witches of the Web 🧙‍♀️

Our Women in Tech group at First Orion hosted a Halloween-themed meeting yesterday called “Witches of the Web.” We had a conversation about the role of women in technology and how we’re shaping the future of AI.

Before our guest speaker, Austin Schoessel, took the floor, the WIT team shared some important context about why this group exists:

Women hold 35% of tech jobs in the U.S.

None of the Big Five tech companies — Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, or Microsoft — have ever had a female CEO.

Only 8% of CTOs are women.

About 25% of executives are women, but only 5% are women of color.

These numbers matter. Underrepresentation affects the systems we use every day — from facial-recognition software that struggles to identify women of color, to AI hiring tools that have favored men even when qualifications are identical.

Austin gave a presentation on artificial intelligence — what it really is, how it already shows up in our daily lives, and how to use it with confidence. His biggest point was that you don’t have to be an expert to work with AI effectively.

He shared the CARE Framework, a simple way to write better prompts:

Challenge: What problem are you trying to solve?

Action: What do you want AI to do?

Result: What should the output look like?

Elaboration: Any extra details that help?

Being specific is what makes AI useful — not complicated language or deep technical knowledge.

Austin also reminded us that we already use AI every day: Netflix recommendations, GPS routes, autocorrect, spam filters. It’s less about replacing people and more about using technology to make work smoother.

I left the meeting feeling grateful for the space our Women in Tech group creates. It’s a reminder that women don’t just belong in tech — we bring essential perspective to how it grows.

Happy Halloween, Witches!