A global voice in AI
Award-winning technologist and inclusive leader Meena Chand has come a long way since her upbringing in Nepal.
Despite being raised in what Meena calls a warm and supportive family environment, she lost her father when she was very young, which meant that she and her four siblings were raised by her mother alone and without money to spare. From these humble roots, Meena has forged a career designing the future of human-centred, accessible enterprise technology, while championing education and gender equity.
“My background was not privileged,” Meena said. “But perhaps by some blessing of God I received a scholarship in my childhood, supported by the Nepalese Youth Foundation organisation.”
This scholarship aided her early studies, but sometimes it takes more than raw intelligence and aptitude to succeed. When she reached university age, the cost of continuing her education cost around a million Nepali rupees (£5,000), which was an amount she could not afford – that is, until someone of influence spotted her potential.
She continued: “I was very good at debating when I was in school, and when I was a teen, I took part in a national debate competition. Somehow, through my logical reasoning, I won the competition and the principal of Kathmandu University helped me get a full degree scholarship.
“I pursued a Bachelor’s in Business Information Systems at the Little Angels College of Management, affiliated with Kathmandu University.”
Meena’s tough university regime saw her studying from morning until 1pm every day, then going to work to cover her living costs. This level of dedication has come to define not only her education, but also the career that she has since so successfully built.
After graduating, Meena continued learning but opted to take a more spiritual path, embracing religious dedication in a way that still inspires her efforts today. The Mayapur Institute in West Bengal, India, accepted her onto a Bhakti Sastri course, focusing on Science, Philosophy and Religious Studies, while simultaneously strengthening Hindu spiritual practice and her knowledge of certain scriptures. This comprehensive study programme helped open her eyes to how she would one day benefit the world around her: through technology.
Meena said: “I practised my ‘monk life’ for a few years, learnt Sanskrit and Vedic (spiritual) knowledge, and examined the reasoning and logic behind spirituality.
“Slowly, I began to see that there were lots of problems in the world, because people need better leadership. I’m very inclined towards engineering and computers because I studied information systems in my undergrad. Technology really can solve a lot of problems.”
Meena’s ambition was to help overcome global challenges through the power of technology. Following seven years working in online administration and software development, she chose to take her studies even further – but this time, she would venture thousands of miles from home.
“Through Women in AI, we give courses to students where they can have hands-on experience.”
She continued: “I need challenges for my own satisfaction, so I thought I should study a postgraduate degree in computer science. Somebody referred me to the University of Wolverhampton, saying that it is one of the best – the slogan is the University of Opportunity, you know!
“So I first moved from Nepal to India, and then to Wolverhampton. Moving to the UK was a culture shock, partly because of the language barrier, but I’d also had an education gap of several years, so it was a shock for my brain to be back studying full-time.”
Meena fondly remembers a project she completed at Wolverhampton in distributed and mobile computing, where she and other students designed a smart home system and built a smart WiFi server.
“I spent long hours working on that project, and through that experience realised I was deeply interested in IoT (Internet of Things) technologies,” she said.
“The project strengthened both my technical confidence and my curiosity about connected systems. It later guided me towards working with IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) solutions on the IBM i platform, where I now apply similar concepts in real-world industrial environments.”
After graduating from Wolverhampton with a distinction, Meena briefly returned to software development, before being snapped up by the very organisation she had studied with.
“I started working for the University of Wolverhampton as an international student life digital ambassador,” she said. “I still remember my first experience at Birmingham Tech Week, where I was selected to represent the University of Wolverhampton. There were 500 or 1,000 professionals and lots of students there. I didn’t know how to act at first, but it helped me develop my leadership skills.”
Another scholarship soon followed, enabling Meena to work with IBM, which soon caught the attention of the University of Cambridge where she worked a fully funded DEI Leadership Programme at their Homerton College. She has also completed internships with tech names such as Ignite (Innovate, Grow, Navigate, Ideas, Technology, Entrepreneurship) and the Open Mainframe Project, fully establishing Meena as a trailblazing light in tech leadership.
Meena’s career path combines hardware, software, AI, and innovation, which are technology areas she has always been passionate about. She offers the example of how she has used the low-code programming tool Node-RED and MicroPython to offer solutions in AI integration to detect plant health issues and control industrial hydroponics.
She explains: “Using Node-RED is like a big development. So, we have a mushroom farm in Manchester, where if the mushrooms need water, using Node-RED makes it automatic. They’ll be sprinkled with water and monitored, giving us the heat, the data, everything.”
In addition to her full-time role, Meena is education co-lead for Women in AI, where she helps build partnerships, manages collaborations, and creates opportunities to support women in AI in the UK.
Meena says that there remain challenges for women entering science, engineering, technology and maths (STEM) roles, especially in AI engineering and enterprise technology, and she feels compelled to help break down such barriers. Meena said: “While many women enter STEM fields, fewer progress into senior decision-making positions. There can also be bias in hiring, promotions, and access to high-impact projects.
“Through Women in AI, we give courses to students where they can have hands-on experience with tools like the IBM i platform.”
Inspired by her passion for this issue, in 2024 Meena founded the Kisori Scholarship Program, which provides free education and mentorship for underprivileged girls.
She continued: “I would like to see more transparent promotion systems, strong sponsorship and mentorship programmes, and equal opportunities to lead major technical initiatives. We also need more visible female role models in AI and enterprise technology. Real change will happen when organisations take measurable responsibility for diversity at leadership level, not just at entry level.”
Meena has since gone from strength to strength, and her professional efforts have been recognised with a range of awards and accolades. She won the IBM GSE UK Capture the Flag Competition, was awarded the IBM Z Xplore All-Star, completed the Open Mainframe Project LFX Mentorship (Linux Foundation), and has been a speaker at IBM GSE UK and IEEE Women in Engineering. She was also a poster presenter for the IEEE International Leadership Summit, scooped an award as a TechChannel Rising Star, and was recently selected as the IBM Champion 2026. Finally, Meena was shortlisted for the Global Queens Leadership Award 2026 and was one of just 13 women celebrated by Women in AI UK as part of their International Women’s Day 2026 celebrations.
Meena’s determination is helping her create real technological solutions and encourage women to follow her into a field where they remain underrepresented. Her success goes to show that, no matter how humble your origins may be, with the right mindset, determination, guidance and training, anything is possible – and Meena is nowhere near satisfied yet.
“I’m already on a global platform talking about AI, IOT, robotics, and net zero, and I want to contribute to all these areas,” she said. “Within decades, I know that I will reach the top.”
Meena’s path towards the peak continued this year, when she moved to SMT Data, a software solutions and services company in Denmark.
When asked if there was anything she wanted to add, Meena said: “Spirituality has played an important role in my life. It has helped me stay grounded, focused, and committed to serving society. I believe professional success becomes more meaningful when it is guided by self-awareness and a sense of responsibility.”
