“We all know that AI is already starting to, and has the power to transform how we work, who’s in the workforce, how we live, how we communicate,” Sandberg said.
Lean In’s pivot to AI comes as only half of companies are prioritizing women’s career advancement, and more than 30% are placing little to no priority on advancing women of color, according to the organization’s 2025 Women in the Workplace report. Women’s jobs are three times more likely to be automated by AI — and their vulnerability is compounded by underrepresentation in AI leadership and development.
Women are more likely than men to feel threatened, overwhelmed, and like they’re “cheating” when using AI, the study found. They’re also more likely to avoid AI due to ethics and accuracy concerns.
“These are great concerns to have, and it’s awesome that women care about ethics and not cheating. But what’s really concerning is that this might inadvertently cause women to use AI less than men,” Griswold told Fortune.
The survey found that men are 27% more likely to have been praised for using AI, and women are 23% less likely to receive manager support to use it.
“The managers who are encouraging the men to use AI and not the women — they may not even know they’re doing it,” Sandberg said, adding that biases against women are often unintentional. “When you surface those biases, when you tell people, you tell managers, look, that the overall data says you’re encouraging men more than women — that is the first step to correcting that bias.”
Griswold joined Lean In as head of product and AI in January, and by March she had replaced longtime CEO and co-founder Rachel Thomas. She said to accomplish Lean In’s goal of getting more women into leadership, they need to use AI.
“We hope that Lean In can be a place that encourages [young women] to use AI and actually [produces] real results,” she said, adding that she hopes it can be a place where women build their confidence and accelerate their careers.
“We need to make sure that we are focused on helping women of the next generation lead, and product and AI are going to be so critical to that, which is one of the many reasons we’re very lucky that Bridget has stepped into the leadership role,” Sandberg said.
