The next Microsoft will be started by a 17-year-old girl, Tara Chklovski says

My Wildest Prediction is a podcast series from Euronews Businesswhere we dare to imagine the future with business and tech visionaries. In this episode, Tom Goodwin talks to Tara Chklovski, CEO of Technovation, a global tech education non-profit empowering girls to become entrepreneurs and leaders.

The gender gap in the workplace is still a problem. 

According to LinkedIn data from 2024, women make up 42% of the global labour force. However, while women hold nearly half of the entry-level positions, they account for less than one-quarter of C-suite, high-ranking roles.

These inequalities were particularly visible in certain sectors, said the study. In 2024, women represented only 28.2% of the workforce in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Tara Chklovski is working to change these numbers. She is the CEO of Technovation, a global tech education non-profit empowering girls to become entrepreneurs and leaders. Chklovski joins My Wildest Prediction to share her experience and bold views on the future. 

The place of young women in tech

“My wildest prediction is that the next Microsoft will be started by a 17-year-old girl,” Chklovski told Euronews Business.  

Chklovski has dedicated her career to ending gender disparities, founding her company Technovation to support girls aged 8 to 18 in launching their own tech-orientated firms. 

Although Chklovski recognises that some progress has been made on gender equality, she believes it is important for both men and women to acknowledge the huge disparities still marking our societies.

“When you're not tapping into 50% of your population for the ideas, for the innovation, for the perspectives, we all miss out,” Chklovski told Euronews. 

She added that gender stereotypes are still deeply rooted in our cultures to the point that they negatively impact our professional and private lives. 

“In Covid, women scientists who had children took the learning responsibilities for their children, and they did not publish. And the male scientists who had children, they published much more,” she explained. 

Chklovski also pointed out that women have less access to funding and social capital networks, meaning support programs are essential to even out disparities.

Technovation

Founded in 2006 as Iridescent, Chklovski’s company Technovation aims to raise the number of young women at the head of tech companies.

“Technovation works as an accelerator,” Chklovski explained, talking about her company.

“Young women work in teams with mentors, identify a problem they care about, and launch a tech start-up, pitching their business plans and ideas in the finals of the project.”

Technovation is currently active in around 120 countries in the world and supports women in the development of their projects, which are extremely diverse depending on the experiences of girls.

Beyond fostering entrepreneurship, Technovation places a strong emphasis on equipping participants with technical skills crucial for the future of tech.

“Many countries say, 'we are adopting responsible AI policies' - but they don't have a plan for building an AI skilled workforce,” Tara Chklovski told Euronews.

Additional sources • Johan Breton and David Brodheim video editors and sound mixers