How AppSquadz is Empowering Women in Tech: Priyanka Agrawal on Leadership & Inclusion
📝InterviewsFrom mentorship to leadership, Priyanka Agrawal reveals how AppSquadz is empowering women in tech and creating opportunities in AI, cloud computing, and digital transformation.
The Indian IT services market is witnessing strong growth, driven by advancements in cloud computing, AI, and digital transformation, with the sector projected to grow steadily over the next decade. However, despite women making up a large share of STEM graduates, their representation in tech leadership roles remains limited, highlighting the need for more inclusive workplaces.
Amid this shift, AppSquadz is working to bridge the gap by empowering women across technical and leadership roles. This International Women’s Day, Priyanka Agrawal shares insights on building an inclusive tech culture, supporting women’s growth, and shaping a more diverse and equitable future in technology.
Embedding Women’s Empowerment into Everyday Work Culture
StartupTalky: How does AppSquadz contribute to women’s empowerment in the industry? Please share specific initiatives or programs.
Priyanka Agrawal: Empowerment is not something we talk about on special occasions. It is something we try to work into how we function on a daily basis.
When we started AppSquadz, we focused on creating an environment where women could grow into technology roles, not just supportive functions. Today, women are actively contributing across development, design, QA, and project leadership.
We strongly promote mentorship, where senior women leaders guide young professionals early in their careers, helping build confidence and long-term growth. Flexibility is also a key part of our culture, especially for working mothers and professionals balancing multiple responsibilities.
Women Leaders Driving Business Growth and Client Success
StartupTalky: Can you highlight any women leaders within AppSquadz who have played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s vision and growth?
Priyanka Agrawal: Many women leaders at AppSquadz have played a crucial role in shaping our business growth and client success.
Women in leadership positions are managing and delivering key projects across AWS and AI-based platforms, while building strong client relationships. Their ability to combine technical expertise with leadership skills has been instrumental in executing complex projects.
We have women project managers leading cloud-based initiatives, managing engineering teams, and driving collaboration, discipline, and successful delivery, all of which directly impact client outcomes.
Addressing Challenges Faced by Women in the Tech Sector
StartupTalky: What unique challenges do women face in your sector, and how is AppSquadz working to address these challenges?
Priyanka Agrawal: The technology sector has shown some advancement in terms of representation in senior technical and leadership roles. However, there is still a lot to achieve in this area. I have seen women professionals face a lot of issues in balancing their personal and professional goals. Another issue faced by women professionals is related to confidence.
At AppSquadz, we try to bridge the gap between personal and professional goals for women professionals through transparency and opportunities. We also have a zero-tolerance policy for any form of discrimination in the workplace. Flexible work arrangements are essential for women to be able to develop their careers while still being able to take care of family obligations. Upskilling is another key factor that enables them to remain competitive today through gaining access to training in a variety of technology fields, including cloud computing, AI, and digital transformation.
Evolving Diversity and Inclusion into a Strategic Priority
StartupTalky: How has AppSquadz’s approach to gender diversity and inclusion evolved over the years? What measurable impact has it had?
Priyanka Agrawal: In the early days of our company, we focused solely on recruiting the best talent available for our business. As our company evolved, we realized that in order to achieve true diversity, we needed to take a more structured approach to creating diversity. Today, gender diversity is part of our hiring, leadership, and culture strategies. Women professionals are not only part of the organization; they are actively engaged in client strategy, innovation, and delivery leadership.
We can say that the impact of diversity has been evident in many ways. We know that diverse groups working together more effectively will produce better client solutions. Additionally, we have noted greater employee retention rates for those employees who feel that there is a clear pathway for their growth within the organization.
A Message to Women Professionals and Entrepreneurs
StartupTalky: What message would AppSquadz like to share with aspiring women entrepreneurs and professionals this International Women’s Day?
Priyanka Agrawal: If there is one thing I would say to aspiring women professionals, it would be this: Never underestimate the importance of knowledge and learning. Technology is changing at an extremely fast rate. There are new technologies like AI, cloud computing, and data engineering, which are creating completely new avenues for professionals to work in. Investing time in learning these technologies will open doors for you, doors that did not exist five years ago.
Leadership has nothing to do with gender. Leadership has everything to do with persistence, curiosity, and the desire to solve important problems. There will always be obstacles, but persistence and skills development make a huge difference. By networking and developing relationships with mentors along the way, women can continue to gain experience and knowledge in the technology industry. Women will continue to play a larger role in the technology industry, as I believe the next digital transformation will feature many more women-led startups, women who code, and women in technology leadership.
Upcoming Initiatives to Support Women in 2026
StartupTalky: Are there any upcoming initiatives, campaigns, or partnerships that AppSquadz is planning to further support women’s causes in 2026?
Priyanka Agrawal: In 2026, we are planning to enhance our internal and external initiatives related to women’s empowerment. One such initiative that we are considering is working with certified nutritionists and wellness experts to enable our female employees to effectively deal with stress and live a healthy life. Technology professionals are known to be highly stressful roles, so this is an area we are focusing on.
Another area we are planning to cover is seminars on work-life integration, enabling professionals to create a sustainable career path. Yet another critical aspect is creating awareness and safety. We are planning to conduct seminars that create awareness among female professionals about their rights under labor laws and the Constitution, as well as confidence-building seminars.
Apart from internal initiatives, we are also considering partnerships with women-centric NGOs to enable upskilling. We are also planning to conduct free AI and cloud training sessions in colleges because we strongly feel that skill development is one of the most powerful enablers of empowering young women.
The Future of Women’s Leadership at AppSquadz
StartupTalky: How does AppSquadz envision the future of women's participation and leadership in the industry?
Priyanka Agrawal: Over time, we have developed an ecosystem that helps provide support and opportunity for both our female employees and those who wish to work with us so they can develop, lead, and execute cross-functional initiatives. A number of our women leaders came to AppSquadz from lower levels and have progressed by participating in the many mentoring and up/re-skilling programs available at AppSquadz.
Since 2014, we have had a 280% relative growth in the number of women employed at AppSquadz, and among the leaders, 75% of women leaders have been upskilled and advanced into leadership positions within the organisation.
For us, diversity is a journey. The journey of creating an ecosystem where the definition of a leader is based on aptitude, thoughtfulness, and results.
Muskaan Kapoor