DARYA MAJIDI THE 4.0 WOMAN
DARYA MAJIDI, ITALIAN PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED NATIONS WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT FUND SINCE 2024, FOCUSES ON AI SKILLS TO COUNTER THE GENDER GAP
Darya Majidi Prima Donna 2025 awarded in Montalcino
The Casato Prime Donne Award 2025 is awarded to an extraordinary and visionary woman. An Italian-Iranian entrepreneur who has been fighting for years to increase the skills of women, especially young women, in artificial intelligence. Darya Majidi is the Woman 4.0 who believes in digital as a means to accelerate the path towards gender equality.
A few days ago Linkedin rated her among the 200 Top Voices in the world regarding AI. There are 4 Italians and Darya Majidi is the only woman. Fortune Italia listed her among the 50 Most Powerful Women in Italy and dedicated her to the cover of the October 2023 issue. In 2021, she was mentioned by D. di Repubblica as one of the 100 women who are changing the world, and in 2022, Io Donna by Corriere della Sera named her among the 10 women who are impacting Italy.
DARYA MAJIDI: SKILLS, HEART, AND COURAGE TO GIVE WOMEN A NEW FUTURE
<<The key is in three words: Breaking the glass ceiling that imprisons women in subordinate roles requires first breaking down a prejudice: that women are poorly suited to scientific studies. This isn’t true, and fearlessly facing the changes triggered by artificial intelligence is the way to achieve this.>> Indeed, according to the ICILS (International Computer and Information Literacy Study) survey, the digital skills of Italian thirteen-year-old girls reach a score of 500, compared to 482 for their male peers. Therefore, there are no genetic handicaps. However, the prejudice remains, and with significant effects: in Italy, two-thirds of those enrolled in STEM degrees (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) are men, the faculties that lead to the highest-paid professions. In Europe, however, the gender gap is only five percentage points. Even graduates in digital technologies related to communication are 80% men. Another discouraging figure: in Italy, only 13.7% of innovative startups are led by women.
Women are essentially giving up before they even try, but without AI skills, the women of tomorrow will be left behind in salaries and professional roles.
Darya Majidi is fighting against this situation.
“AI will eliminate some professions but will change all activities, and only those with the skills to use it will be able to look to the future with optimism. This is why female digital empowerment is essential to achieving gender equality.” And that’s why Darya Majidi organized AixGirls, a week-long tech camp in Volterra for high school students. The 2025 edition took place from July 20th to 26th in Volterra with 20 girls from all over Italy, and it was free.
This initiative mirrors other similar examples: Girls Go Circular, Women TechEU, and the GOL Program, with partnerships between institutions, businesses, and civil society to strengthen digital skills, support female entrepreneurship, and generate systemic change. The PNRR had women’s empowerment among its objectives. It’s a shame that of the €216 billion allocated, only 1.6% is directly targeted at women. With more resources, people like Darya could do much more.
THE ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF ENDING THE GENDER GAP
Reducing the gender gap is no longer just a matter of social justice but a strategic lever for growth, competitiveness, and innovation, as well as an antidote to demographic decline. “It is during motherhood that AI plays a decisive role,” explains Darya, opening up a new landscape of opportunities for women and nations.
According to the International Monetary Fund, reducing inequality in employment between men and women could contribute to GDP growth of almost 8% in emerging and developing economies.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2025, which annually measures the progress made by women on four fronts (economics, education, health, and politics), estimates that, at the current rate, it will take 120 years to achieve gender equality. Enlightened figures like Darya are pushing the accelerator, and Italy truly needs it. Europe leads the world rankings, with Iceland firmly in the lead, but our country is in 85th place with the jersey of shame
THE GENDER CERTIFICATION LAW
A step forward for Italy is the UNI/PdR 125:2022 certification, the Gender Certification. Three years after its publication, 8,100 companies have signed up. This equal opportunity certification is the fourth most widely adopted by Italian companies. Donatella Cinelli Colombini has also certified her company with its wineries that are the first in Italy with an entirely female workforce
WHO IS DARYA MAJIDI
Her Iranian, Muslim father met Darya’s mother, who is of Istrian origin, while he was a cadet at the Naval Academy in Livorno. The two fell in love and married. They returned to Iran, where her father became an admiral and Darya was born. 12 years later, “due to the Khomeini revolution, we became apostates,” and they were forced to return to Italy. Darya’s professional breakthrough came when she was 28, and her Computer Science thesis, on the application of Artificial Intelligence to neurology, became the first spin-off created by a woman at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa.
She quickly realized that she was more suited to entrepreneurship than teaching, and founded Daxo Group, a strategic consulting and digital transformation training firm. Daxo Group is the first company in Italy to be certified with ISO 30415 for the implementation of Diversity & Inclusion policies. Speaker, teacher, mentor, and author of the books “Donne 4.0” and “Sorellanza Digitale – Femminismo 4.0.”
Darya Majidi was the Innovation Councillor for the City of Livorno and Vice President of Confindustria Livorno for Research and Innovation.
She is the mother of a daughter.