Eva Gengler appeared for the interview
in the newly acquired rooms of her consultancy
in Erlangen, enableYou. She laughs as
she explains that the furniture is still being
assembled. Despite this, she has taken the
time for the interview and starts by explaining
what enableYou is: “We are an
organisational
and IT consultancy that enables
companies and start-ups to pursue
more love, meaning and growth,” she says.
The workstyle at enableYou is somewhat
exceptional: “There are ten of us and there
are no hierarchies here. Instead, we rely on
collective intelligence.” Anyone could make
any decision. According to Eva Gengler,
this promotes a sense of responsibility and
also yields better results.
But to reduce Eva Gengler to just this one aspect of her job would be a sheer understatement. The 32-year-old is so much more: an expert in artificial intelligence, scientist, executive, speaker, artist. “I have the talent of taking on lots of different things. But variety is very fulfilling to me,” she says, beaming. In addition to her enjoyment of her work, she is driven by a very special dream: to make the world that little bit fairer – with an equitable company culture, and most importantly, with fair AI.
But to reduce Eva Gengler to just this one aspect of her job would be a sheer understatement. The 32-year-old is so much more: an expert in artificial intelligence, scientist, executive, speaker, artist. “I have the talent of taking on lots of different things. But variety is very fulfilling to me,” she says, beaming. In addition to her enjoyment of her work, she is driven by a very special dream: to make the world that little bit fairer – with an equitable company culture, and most importantly, with fair AI.
In her main job, Eva Gengler is
studying for her doctorate in feminist AI
at the Friedrich Alexander University of
Erlangen-
Nuremberg. Feminist AI advocates
for everyone equally – especially disadvantaged
people. It’s a theme that has
influenced
her life since starting her studies
and recurs throughout all her projects,
like a golden thread. “For my master’s,
I wrote about the ‘ethical implications of AI
in recruiting’. When I read about the wellknown
Amazon case, I couldn’t get it out of my mind,” she explains. Several years ago,
Amazon used AI to scan CVs, until it
emerged that women were automatically
being filtered out – because the AI was
largely based on men’s CVs. “Of course, that
wasn’t the intended outcome. Since then,
I have been interested in how AI can be
used more fairly,” she says.
Eva Gengler appeared for the interview
in the newly acquired rooms of her consultancy
in Erlangen, enableYou. She laughs as
she explains that the furniture is still being
assembled. Despite this, she has taken the
time for the interview and starts by explaining
what enableYou is: “We are an
organisational
and IT consultancy that enables
companies and start-ups to pursue
more love, meaning and growth,” she says.
The workstyle at enableYou is somewhat
exceptional: “There are ten of us and there
are no hierarchies here. Instead, we rely on
collective intelligence.” Anyone could make
any decision. According to Eva Gengler,
this promotes a sense of responsibility and
also yields better results.
But to reduce Eva Gengler to just this one aspect of her job would be a sheer understatement. The 32-year-old is so much more: an expert in artificial intelligence, scientist, executive, speaker, artist. “I have the talent of taking on lots of different things. But variety is very fulfilling to me,” she says, beaming. In addition to her enjoyment of her work, she is driven by a very special dream: to make the world that little bit fairer – with an equitable company culture, and most importantly, with fair AI.
In her main job, Eva Gengler is studying for her doctorate in feminist AI at the Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen- Nuremberg. Feminist AI advocates for everyone equally – especially disadvantaged people. It’s a theme that has influenced her life since starting her studies and recurs throughout all her projects, like a golden thread. “For my master’s, I wrote about the ‘ethical implications of AI in recruiting’. When I read about the wellknown Amazon case, I couldn’t get it out of my mind,” she explains. Several years ago, Amazon used AI to scan CVs, until it emerged that women were automatically being filtered out – because the AI was largely based on men’s CVs. “Of course, that wasn’t the intended outcome. Since then, I have been interested in how AI can be used more fairly,” she says.
But to reduce Eva Gengler to just this one aspect of her job would be a sheer understatement. The 32-year-old is so much more: an expert in artificial intelligence, scientist, executive, speaker, artist. “I have the talent of taking on lots of different things. But variety is very fulfilling to me,” she says, beaming. In addition to her enjoyment of her work, she is driven by a very special dream: to make the world that little bit fairer – with an equitable company culture, and most importantly, with fair AI.
In her main job, Eva Gengler is studying for her doctorate in feminist AI at the Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen- Nuremberg. Feminist AI advocates for everyone equally – especially disadvantaged people. It’s a theme that has influenced her life since starting her studies and recurs throughout all her projects, like a golden thread. “For my master’s, I wrote about the ‘ethical implications of AI in recruiting’. When I read about the wellknown Amazon case, I couldn’t get it out of my mind,” she explains. Several years ago, Amazon used AI to scan CVs, until it emerged that women were automatically being filtered out – because the AI was largely based on men’s CVs. “Of course, that wasn’t the intended outcome. Since then, I have been interested in how AI can be used more fairly,” she says.
It wasn’t always evident that IT of all
things would become her big passion. Eva
Gengler grew up near Nuremberg with her
two younger sisters, attended a musical
secondary
school and loved painting. “I get
that from my father. He painted a lot
with me and took me climbing. I was a real
daddy’s
girl,” she explains. At home, her
mother liked to read stories aloud, especially
books by Cornelia Funke. Eva’s
childhood dream was to illustrate children’s
books.
Although nothing has come of that yet, Eva Gengler has carried on with art. She has set up a studio in her apartment. She listens to Harry Potter audiobooks while she paints, because “the English narrator has such a pleasant voice,” she says. On her website, Flavours of Colour, she presents and sells her paintings and cards – colourful motifs that she creates with alcohol ink. Scroll further down, and she reports on her business, IT and AI. “I’m a scanner,” she writes, meaning she is someone who only feels complete with a wealth of interests and projects on the go. Who isn’t just passionate about one thing, but who constantly has to try something new. “It’s like an urge and wasn’t easy at school. It felt grossly limiting to have to choose one field of study and then possibly only one career,” explains Gengler.
She dropped out from two different degree courses: earth science and teaching – in the long run, they both felt too monotonous. “My parents were very concerned if I would find a profession.” Only later did she realise that every field of study can open up many paths. She ended up following the advice of her father, a tax consultant, and studied business administration. One thing led to another: a master’s in business informatics, a semester abroad in India, consulting jobs, a board position at Erfolgsfaktor FRAU e. V., an organisation that advocates for more women in professional and leadership positions.
Although nothing has come of that yet, Eva Gengler has carried on with art. She has set up a studio in her apartment. She listens to Harry Potter audiobooks while she paints, because “the English narrator has such a pleasant voice,” she says. On her website, Flavours of Colour, she presents and sells her paintings and cards – colourful motifs that she creates with alcohol ink. Scroll further down, and she reports on her business, IT and AI. “I’m a scanner,” she writes, meaning she is someone who only feels complete with a wealth of interests and projects on the go. Who isn’t just passionate about one thing, but who constantly has to try something new. “It’s like an urge and wasn’t easy at school. It felt grossly limiting to have to choose one field of study and then possibly only one career,” explains Gengler.
She dropped out from two different degree courses: earth science and teaching – in the long run, they both felt too monotonous. “My parents were very concerned if I would find a profession.” Only later did she realise that every field of study can open up many paths. She ended up following the advice of her father, a tax consultant, and studied business administration. One thing led to another: a master’s in business informatics, a semester abroad in India, consulting jobs, a board position at Erfolgsfaktor FRAU e. V., an organisation that advocates for more women in professional and leadership positions.
It wasn’t always evident that IT of all
things would become her big passion. Eva
Gengler grew up near Nuremberg with her
two younger sisters, attended a musical
secondary
school and loved painting. “I get
that from my father. He painted a lot
with me and took me climbing. I was a real
daddy’s
girl,” she explains. At home, her
mother liked to read stories aloud, especially
books by Cornelia Funke. Eva’s
childhood dream was to illustrate children’s
books.
Although nothing has come of that yet, Eva Gengler has carried on with art. She has set up a studio in her apartment. She listens to Harry Potter audiobooks while she paints, because “the English narrator has such a pleasant voice,” she says. On her website, Flavours of Colour, she presents and sells her paintings and cards – colourful motifs that she creates with alcohol ink. Scroll further down, and she reports on her business, IT and AI. “I’m a scanner,” she writes, meaning she is someone who only feels complete with a wealth of interests and projects on the go. Who isn’t just passionate about one thing, but who constantly has to try something new. “It’s like an urge and wasn’t easy at school. It felt grossly limiting to have to choose one field of study and then possibly only one career,” explains Gengler.
Although nothing has come of that yet, Eva Gengler has carried on with art. She has set up a studio in her apartment. She listens to Harry Potter audiobooks while she paints, because “the English narrator has such a pleasant voice,” she says. On her website, Flavours of Colour, she presents and sells her paintings and cards – colourful motifs that she creates with alcohol ink. Scroll further down, and she reports on her business, IT and AI. “I’m a scanner,” she writes, meaning she is someone who only feels complete with a wealth of interests and projects on the go. Who isn’t just passionate about one thing, but who constantly has to try something new. “It’s like an urge and wasn’t easy at school. It felt grossly limiting to have to choose one field of study and then possibly only one career,” explains Gengler.
She dropped out from two different
degree courses: earth science and teaching –
in the long run, they both felt too monotonous.
“My parents were very concerned if
I would find a profession.” Only later did
she realise that every field of study can
open up many paths. She ended up following
the advice of her father, a tax consultant,
and studied business administration.
One thing led to another: a master’s in
business
informatics, a semester abroad in
India,
consulting jobs, a board position at
Erfolgsfaktor
FRAU e. V., an organisation
that advocates for more women in professional
and leadership positions.
Then, pursuing
a doctorate in feminist AI, while at
about the same time founding the business
consultancy enableYou with her partner.
Last year, she also co-founded the think tank feministAI. The idea behind it is to create a feminist artificial intelligence. “In the best case, current data-driven AIs show reality as it is now. They reflect the perspectives of industrialised nations and privileged people. Women, people of colour and people from other regions are underrepresented,” explains Eva Gengler. But because AI can learn, it can be used to create a fairer world. It starts with the little things. In workshops, Eva Gengler demonstrates how prompts can be used to yield fairer results and what to be aware of. “If you enter ‘Show me ten powerful people at a table’ into a generative AI, it will spit out an image with ten relatively similar-looking men. But it should only do that if you explicitly ask for ten powerful men,” she says. She wants to break those patterns.
Why is it so important to her? “Maybe because of my father. I was like a substitute son and was raised with the idea that the whole world is open to me. But in reality, that’s often not the case for women.” Whenever she finds time, Eva Gengler meets up with her father to paint. “He is pleased because he thinks I’ve now surpassed his abilities.” She also gets her love of the mountains from him. She often escapes to the mountains for multiple-day hut-to-hut hiking tours and climbing routes. “In the mountains, I feel pleasantly small. I prefer them over the sea,” she admits. Does she have any more dreams for her life? “Do you know the ‘Big Five for Life’? Things you absolutely want to do? I have to admit that I would like to climb Mount Everest someday.”
Last year, she also co-founded the think tank feministAI. The idea behind it is to create a feminist artificial intelligence. “In the best case, current data-driven AIs show reality as it is now. They reflect the perspectives of industrialised nations and privileged people. Women, people of colour and people from other regions are underrepresented,” explains Eva Gengler. But because AI can learn, it can be used to create a fairer world. It starts with the little things. In workshops, Eva Gengler demonstrates how prompts can be used to yield fairer results and what to be aware of. “If you enter ‘Show me ten powerful people at a table’ into a generative AI, it will spit out an image with ten relatively similar-looking men. But it should only do that if you explicitly ask for ten powerful men,” she says. She wants to break those patterns.
Why is it so important to her? “Maybe because of my father. I was like a substitute son and was raised with the idea that the whole world is open to me. But in reality, that’s often not the case for women.” Whenever she finds time, Eva Gengler meets up with her father to paint. “He is pleased because he thinks I’ve now surpassed his abilities.” She also gets her love of the mountains from him. She often escapes to the mountains for multiple-day hut-to-hut hiking tours and climbing routes. “In the mountains, I feel pleasantly small. I prefer them over the sea,” she admits. Does she have any more dreams for her life? “Do you know the ‘Big Five for Life’? Things you absolutely want to do? I have to admit that I would like to climb Mount Everest someday.”
Then, pursuing
a doctorate in feminist AI, while at
about the same time founding the business
consultancy enableYou with her partner.
Last year, she also co-founded the
think tank feministAI. The idea behind it
is to create a feminist artificial intelligence. “In the best case, current data-driven AIs
show reality as it is now. They reflect the
perspectives of industrialised nations and
privileged people. Women, people of colour
and people from other regions are underrepresented,”
explains Eva Gengler. But because
AI can learn, it can be used to create a fairer
world. It starts with the little things. In
workshops, Eva Gengler demonstrates how
prompts can be used to yield fairer results
and what to be aware of. “If you enter ‘Show
me ten powerful people at a table’ into a generative
AI, it will spit out an image with ten
relatively similar-looking men. But it should
only do that if you explicitly ask for ten powerful
men,” she says. She wants to break
those patterns.
Why is it so important to her? “Maybe
because of my father. I was like a substitute
son and was raised with the idea that
the whole world is open to me. But in reality,
that’s often not the case for women.”
Whenever she finds time, Eva Gengler
meets up with her father to paint. “He is
pleased because he thinks I’ve now surpassed
his abilities.” She also gets her love
of the mountains from him. She often escapes
to the mountains for multiple-day
hut-to-hut hiking tours and climbing
routes. “In the mountains, I feel pleasantly
small. I prefer them over the sea,” she
admits.
Does she have any more dreams for
her life? “Do you know the ‘Big Five for
Life’? Things you absolutely want to do?
I have to admit that I would like to climb
Mount Everest someday.”
CREDITS
Photography: Dirk Bruniecki, Art Direction: Julia Schmidt, Production: Vanessa Zeeh, Styling: Ines Baric, Hair & Make-up: Jasmin Endres, Photo assistance: Laura Ellinghoven
Photography: Dirk Bruniecki, Art Direction: Julia Schmidt, Production: Vanessa Zeeh, Styling: Ines Baric, Hair & Make-up: Jasmin Endres, Photo assistance: Laura Ellinghoven
