Escaping the “Messy Middle”: Why AI is Women's Next Leadership Battleground

By Shilpa Bhandari

Senior Partner & Lead Client Partner at IBM Consulting

Shilpa Bhandari

As artificial intelligence reshapes the business landscape, a critical challenge demands our attention: the persistent gender leadership gap and the phenomenon known as the 'messy middle.' This term describes the alarming drop-off of women in middle management positions, which creates an increasingly narrow pipeline to senior leadership roles. The rise of AI and generative technology isn't just highlighting this problem—it's creating a pivotal moment that could either widen or close this gap forever.

The 2023 IBM Institute for Business Value Women in Leadership study, a special report in partnership with Chief, revealed a stark reality: only 12% of C-suite and board-level positions are held by women. Even more concerning is the shrinking pipeline of women leaders, with only 14% in senior VP roles, 16% in VP or director positions, and 19% in senior manager roles—all lower than in 2019.

Women in technology and consulting face numerous hurdles in their path to leadership. These challenges include managing extensive work hours, frequent travel requirements, and the burden of conducting iterative research from isolated data sources. This often leads to exhaustive planning within largely linear processes for creating client deliverables. Additionally, the limited presence of female role models and lack of sponsorship and advocacy for promotions further compound these challenges.

However, the era of AI and generative AI presents a unique opportunity for women to seize the moment. By positioning themselves as early adopters and embracers of change, women can acquire and master the skills that are becoming essential in today's workplace. This is a crucial moment for women to take a giant leap forward, escape the ‘messy middle' and define the leadership roles of the future. Conversely, if women don't leverage generative AI to gain a competitive edge today, their representation in the leadership pipeline may decline even further (see: https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/en-us/report/women-leadership-ai).

According to a World Economic Forum report, AI is predicted to significantly impact job-required skillsets, with LinkedIn forecasting that global job skillsets could change by as much as 65% by 2030. Recognizing this fundamental shift in both AI applications and working methodologies, IBM recently launched its AI-powered consulting model.

This AI-led consulting approach differs fundamentally from traditional consulting in several important ways. It shifts from a time-based approach to one focused on problem-solving and results, and from linear processes to open collaboration. This transformation offers women a powerful escape route from the messy middle by addressing some of the key barriers in their consulting career growth. With a focus on problem-solving and outcomes, combined with digital assistants, women can quickly master industry drivers and solve client problems more efficiently. This shift away from purely time-oriented approaches allows for greater flexibility and work-life balance—directly addressing the factors that have historically trapped women in middle management. As a senior leader in banking and financial services, I have seen first-hand how emerging technologies, particularly Generative AI, are actively reshaping industries and operational practices.

In banking alone, GenAI applications span numerous areas like customer service, investment research, credit approvals, fraud detection, personalized marketing, offer creation, pitch book assistance, and regulatory reporting with summarization and anomaly detection. All these use cases are creating multiple new opportunities for women to be at the forefront and leading the way.

Here are five actionable steps women can take to leverage generative AI capabilities and AI-first consulting to help bridge the gender leadership gap:

1. Be the frontrunner to learn and apply 'new ways of working'. This includes raising your hand for new proofs of value and application of Gen AI use cases and seeking out emerging leadership opportunities in Gen AI.

   
   

2. Transform client conversations from opinion-led to evidence-driven, from siloed knowledge to democratized expertise. In my current role as a senior IBM consulting leader leading one of the largest enterprise clients for IBM worldwide, I have seen this approach break new ground, especially since everyone is in learning mode and evidence-driven pitches and scaling of use cases provide the much-needed answers of ‘how’ to apply these technologies and the potential results.

   
   

3. Nominate women from your direct/indirect teams to participate in key projects. This will allow women to experience firsthand the productivity and flexibility boost offered by AI-led delivery and consulting. As a member of IBM’s consulting financial services senior leadership team, nominating high-potential women for key new roles emerging as the organizational design and approach to consulting reshapes has been my direct focus. (see: https://www.privatebank.citibank.com/insights/addressing-ais-gender-risks)

   
   

4. Create specific AI learning goals for yourself and your team. Launch AI team challenges to share and develop new skills collaboratively. For example, in IBM when we launched Watson X in Think 2023, the entire adoption was driven by a massive drive called the ‘WatsonX Challenge’ where every IBMer was to be part of a team and identify a client or industry use case and try to apply the Gen AI technologies to solve that problem. These teams brought together team members of diverse skills – deeply technical, design, strategy, client relationship, and business leadership.

   
   

5. Use AI to foster more inclusive work environments. Some of the ways this can be done are by analyzing communication patterns and promoting gender-neutral language. Support women entrepreneurs focusing on AI initiatives and proactively seek help and collaboration from trustworthy third parties and partner ecosystems.

   
   

This is more than just an opportunity—it's a turning point. By embracing AI-powered consulting, women can fundamentally transform how they work, lead, and innovate. The efficiency and creativity that AI brings aren't just tools; they're catalysts for breaking free from the messy middle and reaching the highest levels of leadership. As new roles emerge—from Chief AI Ethics Officer to Lead Prompt Engineer to Chief Model Auditor—women have the chance to not just fill these positions, but to shape them. The future of leadership is being written right now, and women must be the ones holding the pen. The messy middle doesn't have to be a stopping point—it can be the launching pad for the next generation of women leaders in the AI era.

Shilpa Bhandari is a Senior Partner & Lead Client Partner at IBM Consulting. A member of IBM wide signature client leadership team, Shilpa is a fierce advocate for inclusion & diversity and is the founder & co-Executive Sponsor for WIWA (Women Inspiring, Women Advancing), an ERG within IBM Consulting with a focus mentoring, motivating, and advancing mid-career women. Shilpa is also member of the team of IBM women executives at the Women’s Bond Club and co-chair of the Scholarship Committee. With over two decades of experience in global P&L leadership roles in leading technology and consulting companies,  Shilpa has been at the forefront of driving transformation by embracing change and advancement in technology.