Celebrating the winners of the GSMA Women Digital Leadership Awards 2026
Announced at M360 ASEAN 2026, the GSMA Women Digital Leadership Awards recognise nine women whose ideas and leadership are helping to shape a more inclusive, trusted and innovative digital future across Asia Pacific.
The future of digital technology will be shaped by the people who build it, challenge it and ensure it works for everyone.
At M360 ASEAN 2026 in Kuala Lumpur, the GSMA recognised nine women whose ideas and leadership are helping to shape that future. The winners of the GSMA Women Digital Leadership Awards 2026 made outstanding contributions to conversations around AI, digital trust, inclusion and innovation across Asia Pacific.
Presenting the awards, GSMA Chief Marketing Officer and ChangeTheFace Board member Lara Dewar commented:
“Your achievements remind us that leadership takes many forms. But it is always grounded in courage, vision and a commitment to creating positive change. We are proud to celebrate your accomplishments and look forward to seeing the impact you continue to make across our industry.”
The awards were created to celebrate women driving progress across the digital ecosystem and to elevate perspectives that are too often underrepresented in technology leadership. This year’s theme, Women, Trust and the New AI Reality, invited participants to explore how emerging technologies can be developed and deployed in ways that are responsible, inclusive and centred on people.
As AI becomes increasingly important to everything from network operations and cybersecurity to healthcare and customer services, diverse voices are essential. The Women Digital Leadership Awards recognise those leading these conversations and helping to create a more trusted digital future.
Gold Award winners
This year’s Gold Award winners stood out for their ability to connect technology with real-world challenges and opportunities.
Quratulain Chaudhary was recognised for exploring how trust, technology and the leadership of women are helping to transform Pakistan’s digital future.
Nidhi Bhasin, CEO of Digital Green India, received a Gold Award for her article, Why Is the Woman Who Feeds India Always the Last to Know? Through the experiences of women farmers, the piece highlights the importance of designing digital tools with communities rather than simply for them.
Annie Chong was recognised for examining the human skills needed to complement AI and ensure technology remains inclusive, accessible and effective.
Khusbu Rai and Nikita Babbar received a Gold Award for their work exploring how AI-enabled healthcare can improve access to services and deliver better outcomes for underserved communities.
The Silver Award Winners were: Fatima Alvi, Karen Wee, Deepthi Sudharsan and Dharaa Patel.
Recognising leadership that matters
The Women Digital Leadership Awards form part of the GSMA’s wider commitment to supporting a more inclusive digital ecosystem as showcased by its recent integration of the ChangeTheFace Alliance into its Connectivity for Good programme. By recognising women who are advancing critical conversations around technology and society, the awards help elevate diverse perspectives and showcase the expertise that is shaping the future of the industry.
The work recognised this year spans agriculture, healthcare, cybersecurity, digital inclusion and AI governance. Together, these contributions demonstrate that building trusted digital societies requires more than technological innovation alone. It requires leadership, collaboration and a commitment to ensuring technology delivers benefits for everyone.
The GSMA celebrated the six winners at a special senior female leaders ChangeTheFace dinner hosted by Lara Dewar, GSMA Chief Marketing Officer and Jeannette Whyte, Head of Policy and External Affairs, GSMA Asia Pacific.
