“Show to make a difference”

When the world came together to celebrate International Women's Day in 2025, Microsoft UK organized its own event on March 6 on March 6 with the topic: “Investing in our future: Enable. Authorize. Elevate '. Here Microsoft's British HR director Keyonda Gallardo reflects her knowledge from the day.

I recently came to Microsoft's UK Business after 8 years in the USA. This was my first international women's day in London. It was an astonishing opportunity to work closely with our LinkedIn colleagues -together we have an employee -resource group network of 3,000 women.

In our LinkedIn office, it was inspiring to feel the strength and energy that many people bring together in a practical and personally.

This year's topic invested in our future – Enable, Empower, Elevate. It was so interesting to take part in meetings in which topics such as “investments in female founders”, “career”, “the development of the ally”, “diversity and inclusion in the digital age” and “The interaction of the climate and gender” were fired.

I learned so much and ended the day with a strong feeling of pride how far we got, but also a realization that the challenges remain:

1. How can we continue to support ourselves at work, but also bridge the gaps with allies?

2. How do we create an environment in which everyone can be their best and reach their career goals?

3. What else can we do so that this does not feel like a unique event?

We have to make sure that we are working on creating the best experience for every day, not just once or twice a year. IWD must be a celebration of what we have achieved, but also a day when we reaffirm our unshakable commitment to make things even better.

Share knowledge

Pam Maynard, Chief Ai Transformation officer from Microsoft, and I started the day with a Fireside chat in which we shared our career tours. I was really moved by the extent of the engagement in the room and online. It was also great to hear that our stories were helpful tips that were relevant in the current environment.

I really believe that there is power to share knowledge (both work and what is not), since it can sometimes help others to recognize what is possible and to give you concrete examples (or ideas) that could help to unlock your own careers.

This is not only important for this early career, but can also be a player for a variety of situations.

Challenging perfection

Pam and I also discussed some of the challenges that we face in the previous part of our career – challenges that many women still stand today.

I often exerted additional pressure on myself to be perfect. I had the need to check every box before I set up my hand. This additional pressure that I put on myself was not justified.

In retrospect, I wish I had concentrated more on learning (compared to the evidence) and gave me the space and permission to simply try new things just to learn and grow.

We can do so much more to help women feel that way.

Building networks

We also discussed mentoring against sponsorship and the importance of building up a diverse network of people who help you learn and stretch.

At Microsoft we work in a hybrid environment so that the production of connections can be a little more difficult, but we just have to take time to build these human networks.

Meaning of the ally

Allied is important to create an integrative environment in which everyone feels valued and can thrive.

One topic that was very important to me was the need for more consistent support from male allies in Microsoft and LinkedIn.

An event like the International Women's Day is an example of how men can appear to support female employees. It was great to have some allies in the room for this important day.

The discussion topics provided great information about what works at the workplace and which additional support is required.

I would like to learn more from our allies – especially what challenges you put with an ally. The understanding of both perspectives is important because we further strengthen the ally in the workplace.

Diversity and AI

When I look into the future, I see an immense potential for AI to unlock opportunities for women at work. As Pam said in her keynote: “The entire ethos is that the AI, that it is successful, must be included.”

Darren Hardman, CEO of Microsoft UK, summarized it well when he said: “I am happy about the potential AI in this area. We build technology that can remove barriers and compensate for the field for everyone.

“Self -confidence, supported by the technology, can help us to be better allies and to be more effective for others because we always want to improve.”

There are some specific examples of how AI can help to unlock women at work.

For networking, AI can be a game changer that facilitates the connection in a hybrid work environment and corresponds to employees with willing mentors with suitable backgrounds and personalities.

In addition, it could also be used to help individuals manage their career more effectively.

I see a world in which AI can help individuals to understand their strengths and development opportunities deeper, and either use this information to find jobs that fit their specific profile, or to assign a career plan to take the roles for developmental purposes.

Last thoughts

The International Women's Day 2025 was proof of the power of the community, cooperation and the joint vision.

I confidently ended the day that Microsoft's commitment to including AI will remain steadfast. Through the investment in diverse talents, promoting an integrative culture and the development of AI technologies, I am firmly convinced that we not only enable and enable individuals, but also increase society as a whole.