Shweta Agrawal, is Top 40 Under 40, is a seasoned AI Product Leader and the Chief Product Officer at Boston New Technology (BNT), where she drives one of Boston’s most dynamic platforms for founders, technologists, and investors.
She is also the Startup Advisor and mentor to women and underrepresented groups in shaping the future of artificial intelligence.
An active speaker and thought leader, Shweta has shared insights on AI and Product leadership at major global stages including AI Summit, Women in Tech Global Conferences and the CPO Summit.
Beyond her professional work, she is a trusted advisor to startups and a dedicated advocate for inclusive innovation, empowering underrepresented founders and the next generation of AI product leaders.
1. Are you excited to speak at the Women in Tech Global Conference and what motivated you to join our community of 200 000 women in tech and allies?
Yes, genuinely, and with real gratitude. What drew me in is the scale of the mission and the spirit underneath it: women in tech and allies, from every part of the world, gathering to learn from one another, support one another, and quietly open more doors than they close. Communities like this matter because careers are not built alone. They are shaped by access, by encouragement, by the people who saw something in us before we fully saw it in ourselves. I have been on the receiving end of that more times than I can count, and it has changed the trajectory of my work.
Most of what I have built has happened inside communities like this one startup ecosystems, product circles, women-in-tech networks, founder rooms, places where people show up to learn together. I have watched, over and over, what becomes possible when someone feels seen and supported at exactly the right moment. That is not a small thing. It is, in my experience, the thing.
I am thrilled to join this powerhouse community of 200,000 innovators. In an era where AI evolution can feel overwhelming, showing up for one another is our greatest strength. This conference is about more than just keeping pace; it is about equipping ourselves with the knowledge and community support needed to turn uncertainty into a competitive advantage.
2. Share with us your background, your journey in tech, and what inspired you to develop your career in this direction.
I grew up in a small town, curious from very early on about how things worked and how people could help one another. For a while, I wanted to be a doctor. I was drawn to healing, to service, to the idea of making someone's life a little better in a way they could feel.
Life took me elsewhere, but that motivation never really left. I just found a different language. Technology became my way of helping people at scale, solving problems, simplifying complexity, opening access, and making systems feel a little more human than they often are. My path has not been linear. I have worked across products, startups, community building, education, and AI, and somewhere along the way I learned what I love most: helping people turn an idea into something real, useful, and worth their effort. Product leadership gave me a place to sit at the intersection of customers, business, design, and engineering which is where the most interesting questions tend to live.
The deeper truth is that my ambitions come from very ordinary places. A love of learning. A love of hard work. And a steady belief that we should open doors for others whenever we can. Technology, at its best, helps people feel more capable, more included, more supported. That is still what gets me out of bed.
3. Why is the topic "Future-Proofing Your Career: The Product Leader’s Guide to Staying Relevant in the Age of AI" important to you?
Because AI is reshaping how we work, lead, build, and learn and I do not believe fear is the right response. Adaptation is.
For product leaders, staying relevant in this moment is not really about tools. It is about strengthening the things AI cannot replace judgment, customer empathy, strategic clarity, communication, and the capacity to make sense of complexity when the picture is still forming. AI can accelerate almost anything. Human leadership still has to point it somewhere worth going.
I care about this conversation because so many talented people are quietly asking, Where do I fit in this new world? I want them to know that they do fit but they may need to evolve how they think, learn, and lead. That is not a loss. That is the work.
This is also where my own life is right now. Through ProductCamp, where I serve as CoPresident and COO, and through Product Lab, the program I developed inside Boston New Technology, I spend a lot of time helping founders, product managers, and professionals think more clearly about customers, problems, markets, and execution. Product is not really about features. It is about learning to ask better questions, make better decisions, and create something that matters to real people.
That is what makes AI such an important conversation, not a threatening one. The product leaders who will thrive are the ones who can hold AI fluency in one hand and human insight, ethical thinking, and customer understanding in the other. I love teaching this because I get to watch people relax to see them realize the future is not something happening to them. It is something they get to shape.
4. Who would you advise to attend the Women in Tech Global Conference, and why?
Women in technology, aspiring product leaders, founders, students, career changers, and allies. All of them.
This conference is for anyone trying to understand where technology is going and how to grow with it. It is also, quietly, one of the best places I know to find community. Sometimes a single conversation, a single session, a single connection is what gives someone the clarity and courage they need for the next step. I have seen it happen, and I have lived it.
Through my work with Women in Tech and AI and Startup Weekend, I have watched the ecosystem change in real time. More people are entering technology from non-traditional paths. More founders are building with AI from day one. More professionals are asking not only how to advance, but how to do work that is meaningful, inclusive, and useful to others. That is a beautiful shift, and it deserves spaces big enough to hold it.
That is why gatherings like this matter. They help us see further than our current role, our current company, our current chapter. They make room for new leaders to step forward, for experienced ones to give back, and for all of us to remember the thing that is easy to forget when the work gets loud: technology is, in the end, about people.