SheTO Unites at Annual Ignite Summit

Igniting industry change through powerful keynotes, engaging panels with top speakers, including a highly anticipated panel led by award-winning journalist and former Today Show anchor, Ann Curry, to empower and elevate SheTO’s global network

What:  SheTO, the largest global network of women and non-binary engineering leaders, will be hosting its 3rd annual Ignite Summit at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. The 2024 summit attracted over 700 attendees, and this year more than 500 have already registered from around the world. 

This year’s summit features an inspiring lineup of female speakers and panelists including Minda Harts, New York Times bestselling author; Raji Arasu, CTO of Autodesk; Jyoti Bansal, CEO of Harness; Julia Austin, Harvard Business School faculty and author; Joanna Strober, CEO of Midi Health; Kim Scott, author of the Radical Candor; Nidhi Gupta, the very own CEO of SheTO, and many more. Ann Curry, a barrier breaker and the first woman of color on the Today show – will lead a powerful panel titled "Uninvited Yet Unstoppable," helping attendees master the craft of storytelling as a leadership tool. Together, the panelists explore topics on overcoming leadership hurdles, the evolving role of AI in engineering, strategic business growth, health tech innovations, and more. Attendees will have access to over 25 curated sessions designed to help women+ leaders navigate industry challenges, learn directly from these trailblazers, and engage in intimate roundtable discussions that foster meaningful connections.

“When I started SheTO, it was because I spent too many years being one of the only women in the room – and I knew there were more of us out there, facing the same experience and craving connection,” said Nidhi Gupta, CEO and Co-Founder of SheTO. “This summit is a reflection of what happens when we finally have a space built for us – where we can show up exactly as we are and reshape the engineering landscape together.” 

Why: Nidhi Gupta, CEO of SheTO, was often one of the only women executives in the room throughout her engineering career – an experience that inspired her to launch SheTO and its mission to build a powerful, connected community of women+ engineering leaders. The Ignite Summit is a direct response to Nidhi’s story, and the reality so many others still face. It’s a space where women can come together, feel seen, and gain access to candid conversations, mentorship, and continuous support. It’s more than just accelerating careers, it’s about creating an industry where women having a seat at the table is no longer the exception, but the norm. 

Who: The 100% vetted, organically grown network stands tall with over 5,000 members across 65 countries, with members traveling from all over the world to connect, collaborate, and attend the Ignite Summit. With less than 9% of engineering executive positions held by women, SheTO was founded to change that by building a powerful community of women+ in engineering who are rising together, lifting each other up, and opening the doors for the next generation of leaders. SheTO doesn’t just advocate for representation, the community actively creates it. 

Where: 

Computer History Museum 

1401 N Shoreline Blvd, Mountain View, CA 94043

When: October 10, 2025

Time: 8:00am - 6:00pm

Speakers Include: 

• Akriti Dokania (Partner, Ridge Ventures) 
• Ann Curry (Award-winning journalist and reporter, most known for the Today show)
• Amy Reichanadter (Chief People Officer, Databricks) 
• Ashmeet Sidana (Founder and Chief Engineer, Engineering Capital) 
• Hersh Tapadia (CEO and Co-Founder, Allstacks) 
• Jessica Fritsch (Director of Engineering Operations, Remesh) 
• Jessica Karr (Founder and Managing Director, Coyote Ventures) 
• Jing Huang (VP of Engineering, SurveyMonkey) 
• Joanna Strober (Midi Health) 
• Jyoti Bansal (CEO and Co-Founder, Harness)
• Julia Austin (Executive Fellow, Harvard Business School) 
• Kim Scott (Author) 
• Maggie Baxter (Solutions Engineer, Incident) 
• Maria Yuin (VP of Engineering, Salesforce) 
• Michelle Grover (CTO, Slalom) 
• Minda Harts (Bestselling Author) 
• Preetha Ram (Managing Partner and CTO, Pier 70 Ventures) 
• Raji Arasu (CTO, Autodesk) 
• Smruti Patel (VP of Engineering, Apollograph) 
• Sunita Verma (CTO, Ironclad) 
• Swati Raju (VP of Engineering, ServiceNow) 
• Tolithia (CEO, Beam Benefits) 
• Vrishali Thorat (Senior Engineering Manager, Rubrik) 
• Vrushall Channapattan (Director of Engineering, Okta) 
  
  

Sessions Include: 

Keynotes: 

• Uninvited Yet Unstoppable - Ann Curry, Nidhi Gupta 
• Self-Advocacy and Trust as Your Superpower - Minda Harts
• Radical Candor in Action - Kim Scott

Main Stage: 

• The Future of Engineering Leadership - Raji Arasu, Maria Yuin (Moderator) 
• Prompt to Production - Smruti Patel, Jing Huang, Jessica Fritsch (Moderator)
• Measuring AI Boost: Value, Metrics, and Scale - Hersh Tapadia, Swati Raju 
• How to Be on the Biz as Opposed to in the Biz - Julia Austin, Sunita Verma 
• Leading Through Scale and Change - Jyoti Bansal, Monica Bajaj 
• Women’s Health, Rewritten - Joanna Strober, Jessica Karr, Preetha Ram (Moderator) 
• Radical Candor in Action - Kim Scott, Nidhi Gupta 

Executive Track: 

• The Future of Engineering Talent - Amy Reichanadter, Satish Kumar, Michelle Grover (Moderator) 
• Getting to Boards and Investing - Akriti Dokania, Tolithia, Ashmeet Sidana
• Positioning Engineering as a Strategic Driver 
• Engineering Productivity Unpacked 

Roundtables: 

• The Surgical Strike: Mastering Micro-Management for Targeted Impact
• Navigating the Tech Tsunami Without Drowning
• Navigating Career Traditions and Pivots in Engineering
• Security with AI Tooling 

About SHETO: 

SheTO is the largest global network of women and non-binary engineering leaders. It is a 100% vetted community built exclusively for women+ leaders in Engineering, IT and adjacent roles. Whether you’re looking for a mentor, want to improve your network, meet amazing tech leaders, want to lean on others like you for support, or simply just want to give back, this community of more than 5000+ women across 65+ countries is for you. SheTO is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and proudly hosts annual summits, regular events and more to strengthen the bonds within its community and accelerate the careers of its members. Founded by women engineers, for women, and with the support of strong allies and partners, SheTO’s mission is to close the immense gender gap in engineering executive roles. To learn more, please visit: https://www.sheto.org/