Shantha Maheshwari: Leading with Grit and Grace in Tech's Male-Dominated World

Shantha openly discusses the challenges women face in tech's C-suite and provides valuable insight into creating inclusion, building healthy pipelines for female leaders and inspiring a new generation to lead intentionally and authentically.

- By Aanchal Ghatak

SHANTHA MAHESHWARI Markets Lead, EY Global Delivery Services

Shantha Maheshwari's journey to a technology leader at EY Global Delivery Services is one of resilience, commitment to adaptability, and charting new paths. From humble beginnings to engaging and leading critical teams through crises, Shantha has consistently forged her way through uncomfortable spaces where norms are not the norm.

From leading teams through early cloud transformation - a “new” area of engagement that few had experienced - she has shown what strong leadership looks like even when that meant it was outside of her previous experience or knowledge. As a woman working in a male-dominated industry, Shantha has face -and tackled barriers with grit, mentorship, and a belief that she had something unique, and positive, to contribute.

In this conversation, she shares what it means to lead more inclusively, the systemic barriers women are still facing in tech leadership, and what she hopes to leave as a legacy for future generations.

What defining moments shaped your journey to tech leadership?

Growing up in a modest background, I learned resilience and adaptability early on, and these lessons became my compass. Joining the tech industry was a dream, and my career has been marked by moments where I led teams through crises, challenged the status quo, and embraced gratitude for the privilege of leadership. One defining moment was leading a team through a critical system outage—stepping in, staying calm, and guiding the team through ambiguity.

This experience taught me that leadership is about presence, not position.