Femmebot: The Podcast Powering Women in Tech

This week, we're doing something a little different. Instead of a full interview, we've pulled together a few of our favourite moments from three incredible conversations, all centred around one big idea: AI transformation isn't really about the technology. It's about people. In under 10 minutes, you'll hear insights from Sarah Carney, Louise Cummins and Rochelle Tognetti on wh...

Spotify Episode Description What happens when AI enters the writer's room? This week on Femmebot, Clare Alstin and Catherine Stone sit down with Kate Armstrong-Smith, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Athelia Technologies, a company helping storytellers navigate the rapidly evolving relationship between creativity and AI. With a career spanning theatre, television, immersive media and emerging technolo...

This week on Femmebot: The AI Question, we hear from Kate Armstrong-Smith, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Othelia Technologies. Kate has spent more than two decades working across storytelling, creative production and emerging technology, helping writers, producers and studios navigate the rapidly changing relationship between creativity and AI. When we asked Kate how she's using AI, her answer went far...

In this episode of Femmebot, we sit down with Rushenka Perera, VP of Marketing ANZ at SAP, to unpack what modern marketing leadership actually looks like inside one of the world’s biggest enterprise technology companies. From aligning sales and marketing teams to building high-performing creative cultures, Rushenka shares how she’s navigating the shift toward AI without losing the human side of ma...

In this Femmebot mini episode, we ask the question we end every show with:  how are you using AI? This week, Laetitia Andrac — Founder of Understanding Zoe, an AI-powered platform supporting neurodivergent children — shares exactly how AI fits into her daily life. From running a business to managing a household, Laetitia breaks down the real, practical ways she’s using AI to save time, reduce over...

We don’t talk about communication enough in tech. It’s often seen as a “soft skill” — but in reality, it’s the thing that shapes leadership, culture, performance… and whether people actually follow you. In this episode, we sit down with Terri Martin, Head of Corporate at NIDA, to unpack why communication is actually one of the most critical (and overlooked) skills in business.  We cover: Why most...

At the end of our conversation with Terri Martin, we asked a simple question: How are you actually using AI in your day-to-day? Her answer is honest — and a bit of a reality check. In this mini episode, we unpack: Where AI is genuinely useful (and where it’s not) Why she’s cautious about relying on it too much What happens when you stop flexing your communication muscle The balance between efficie...

Most AI startups begin with a technical problem. This one started with a deeply personal one. In this episode of  Femmebot , we sit down with Laetitia Andrac — founder of Understanding Zoe — an AI-powered platform helping families, teachers and therapists better support neurodivergent children. After leading data and AI initiatives at Telstra, Laetitia shifted her focus to something much closer to...

In this episode of Femmebot, we sit down with Wendy Walker — former VP of Marketing Asia at Salesforce, Cannes Lions Jury President, and a leader who’s spent over 25 years shaping growth and creativity across global brands. Wendy also recently published her first book,  Between Flights , a collection of reflections written in the margins of a very full leadership life. This conversation explores h...

Wendy Walker has spent more than 25 years leading growth and creativity across some of the world’s biggest brands including Salesforce and Intuit. In this short Femmebot AI segment, Wendy Walker shares how she’s integrating AI into her everyday workflow and what she believes many marketing leaders are still missing. With more than 25 years leading growth and creativity across global brands, Wendy...

What if the reason more women retire with less isn’t confidence — but systems? In this episode of  Femmebot , we sit down with Lucy Kough, Founder & CEO of Tap the Gap — a fintech startup helping women build wealth while they shop. After more than a decade in senior creative leadership roles in advertising, Lucy made a bold pivot into tech. With no traditional engineering background, she learn...

How do you use AI when you’re building a tech company without a traditional technical background? In this special Femmebot mini-episode, Lucy Kough — Founder & CEO of Tap the Gap talks to how she’s personally using AI day-to-day as a non-technical founder. From stress-testing product logic and understanding code, to building confidence in technical conversations, Lucy shares how AI has become...

In this episode of Femmebot, we sit down with Louise Cummins to talk about what leadership really looks like in a time of rapid technological change. As AI reshapes how organisations operate, leaders are being asked to balance innovation with clarity, speed with judgment, and technology with people. Louise shares how AI is being applied inside enterprise environments, the mindset required to drive...

Want to learn how to invest? In this episode of Femmebot, we sit down with Sinéad Fitzgerald — Microsoft partnership lead by day, founder of Vested Impact by night, and one of the most quietly powerful forces reshaping how women access capital in Australia and New Zealand. Sinéad joins us in her personal capacity for a raw, generous conversation about money, power and agency, and why women have be...

In this standalone Femmebot series, we ask every guest the same question: how are you actually using AI right now? Each episode is a short, focused teaser released the week before our full-length conversation — a chance to hear how leading women in tech, marketing and leadership are using AI in real life, not in theory. In this episode, Sinaed Fitzgerald shares how AI underpins her day-to-day work...

Why would a CMO at the top of her career walk away to study the brain? In Part 2 of our conversation, Rachelle Tognetti dives into her unexpected leap into neuroscience—and what it taught her about leadership, learning, and the future of AI. Rachelle opens up about taming her “monkey mind,” using meditation as a superpower, sitting in neurobiology lectures next to future neurosurgeons, and how AI...

What do you get when you mix the dot-com boom, a cancelled London job, a ski mountain in France, and one of Australia’s biggest marketing transformations? Rachelle Tognetti. In this first half of our conversation, Rachelle takes us from her accidental start in digital marketing to becoming Deloitte Australia’s first female CMO. It’s a story of saying yes, following curiosity, backing yourself, and...

Helicopter pilot Erin Mealor spends her days landing on moving ships off the coast of Western Australia which is one of the most challenging flying environments in the country. But what’s just as fascinating is how fast technology is reshaping the cockpit. In this episode, Erin takes us inside the world of marine pilot transfers, the shift from hands-on flying to advanced autopilot systems, and wh...

When AI starts applying for jobs… who’s really doing the hiring? In this episode, Dr. Arwen Griffioen, Head of AI at Hatch, joins Catherine Stone and Clare Alstin to unpack the messy new world of AI-powered recruitment — where job seekers are using ChatGPT to mass-apply, recruiters are using AI to screen, and somewhere in between, the human connection got lost. Arwen shares how Hatch is reimaginin...

From Goldman Sachs to Google to Uber — and now :Different — Mina Radhakrishnan has lived through some of the wildest chapters in tech. In this episode, Mina joins  Femmebot  hosts Clare Alstin and Catherine Stone to unpack what she’s learned about building products, leading teams, and staying human through rapid change. She shares stories from scaling Uber from 20 people to thousands, launching fe...

From the Australian Army to Microsoft’s tech frontier — Sarah Carney’s career is anything but ordinary. As the National Technology Officer for Microsoft Australia & New Zealand, Sarah sits at the centre of some of the country’s biggest conversations around AI, data, and digital transformation. She’s also Microsoft’s Responsible AI lead and a proud member of the regional AI product Red Team, he...

AI is changing the face of beauty and fashion, but is it really as simple as writing the perfect prompt? In this episode we sit down with a personal favourite Instagram creator and digital artist Laura Dunkelmann, whose striking AI beauty imagery has set a new bar for realism, texture, and imagination. Together they explore: How AI is democratizing creativity, giving small brands and creators the...

Creativity, AI & The Power of the Middle What happens when creative integrity collides with artificial intelligence — and how do we stop empathy from becoming a “nice-to-have”? In this episode of  Femmebot , we sit down with  Jen Dobbie , a creative strategist turned technologist who has navigated agencies, startups, and big tech. Jen brings a candid perspective on what’s lost when nuance disa...

Felicity Furey: Building Brave Leaders in STEM From walking into a university lecture hall filled almost entirely with men, to becoming an award-winning engineer, entrepreneur, and CEO of  We Aspire , Felicity Furey has made a career out of breaking barriers. In this episode of  Femmebot , Felicity shares her journey from creative beginnings to civil engineering, and why bravery—not just confidenc...

Aerospace engineer, pilot, and Director of New Market Development at LanzaJet, Renee Wootton Tomlin has spent her life chasing the skies. Her mantra? Back yourself, assume good intent, and keep mentors close. In this episode of  Femmebot , Renee reveals: How she went from Air Force Cadets at 15 to shaping the future of sustainable aviation Why cultural nuance is her superpower in global business H...