Claim Your Seat: A Tech Leader's Advice for Women in Leadership

As enterprises navigate an increasingly AI-driven and digitally connected world, sustainable transformation now depends on leadership that can align technology with business value, people development, and organizational adaptability.

For global technology leader Alaine Charchat, VP IT & Digital Emerging Markets, Reckitt, the priority lies in building business-led innovation ecosystems where AI, automation, and data intelligence work together to drive measurable impact, operational resilience, and long-term growth across diverse international markets.

Alaine brings over 20 years of experience across consumer goods, healthcare, and telecommunications, leading large-scale modernization initiatives, digital acceleration programs, and enterprise technology transformations.

In conversation with Global Woman Leader Magazine, Alaine Charchat from Reckitt talks about leading Digital Transformation in emerging markets. Sharing insights from her two-decade long professional journey, she speaks about creating agile teams, democratizing technology adoption, and empowering women to step forward confidently into leadership roles.

Read the complete article for deeper insights.

Q. Your career trajectory has spanned two decades, from leading digital transformations to overseeing large-scale technology organizations. Which defining moments shaped your leadership style?

A. Throughout my career, three distinct phases shaped the leader I am today. My foundation years were essential for developing deep technical skills, moving from intern to coordinator and learning what it truly means to be a technology professional. In the next phase, as I transitioned into middle management, I learned to lead people, understanding behaviors, motivations, and the importance of learning and unlearning.

The most defining moment came when I became a senior manager and realized I didn’t need to know or control everything. I learned to trust my team, build strong relationships, and deliver through others. That mindset shift transformed my entire leadership approach.

Q. As you led the digital transformation strategy, how did you ensure technology became a strategic enabler for business growth and aligned with broader organizational priorities?

A. My approach to digital transformation has always been grounded in ensuring that technology serves the business strategy. I operate with three core principles: business‑led prioritization, measurable value creation, and disciplined focus. That means partnering deeply with commercial, finance, and supply teams, creating joint ownership for outcomes, and establishing governance models that keep everyone aligned on the value we are trying to unlock.

A good example of how we brought this philosophy to life is the transformation journey we started three years ago. It began with a large‑scale Hackathon that brought together more than 100 people from IT and the business to solve a real commercial challenge in Ecommerce. It played a crucial role: it created alignment, broke silos, and showed the organization what was possible when teams cocreated around a shared business problem.

That momentum became the foundation for the following year, when we launched a structured efficiency program focused on automation. Together with the business, we mapped over 200,000 hours of opportunity and built a multi‑year portfolio that we continue to execute. In the most recent year, the focus evolved again, this time to AI. IT and the business worked side by side to identify real, high‑value use cases, ensuring we invested only in what mattered most and what was directly tied to business impact.

Across all these stages, the common thread was the same:

Technology only becomes a strategic enabler when it is business‑driven, measurable, co‑created, and tied to organizational priorities.

This is how we ensured technology didn’t just support the strategy, it helped shape and accelerate it.

Q. Leading the GenAI transformation in emerging markets must have come with unique challenges. How did you navigate the complexities of implementing such cutting-edge technology in these regions?

A. Leading GenAI adoption in emerging markets requires balancing ambition with the realities of digital maturity, infrastructure gaps, and highly diverse regulatory environments. My approach was to focus on pragmatic acceleration, moving fast where it made sense, while building the foundations needed for scale. We started by choosing high‑impact, low‑complexity use cases that could prove value quickly and reduce resistance. From there, we established a clear governance model, working closely with Legal, Compliance, and Cyber to define safe boundaries for experimentation in regions where regulation evolves rapidly.

A critical step was capability building. We brought leaders to immersive sessions with Microsoft, giving them hands‑on exposure so they could make informed decisions and sponsor change with confidence. We then launched a Citizen Developer program to democratize AI and data tools, ensuring AI wasn’t limited to technical teams but embedded into the daily workflow of the organization. Emerging markets offer a unique advantage, which is the agility to test, fail fast, learn fast, and adapt. This flexibility allowed us to position GenAI not as a disruption, but as a practical engine for productivity, efficiency, and smarter decision‑making.

Q. With a focus on innovation, collaboration, and retention, what leadership strategies have you found most effective in creating a high-performing team?

A. High‑performing teams thrive when they understand their purpose and the real business impact behind their work. I emphasize clear, shared objectives and strong alignment with business OKRs. Empowerment is another principle I value deeply. Team members must have autonomy combined with accountability, fostering creativity, ownership, and speed. I dedicate significant time developing talent through coaching, technical and behavioral training, and expanding visibility for Latin American professionals across global opportunities.

This focus contributed to achieving 0% turnover last year. I also cultivate psychological safety and a “One Team” mindset, encouraging transparency, continuous feedback, and collective success over individual delivery. These elements consistently elevate performance and engagement.

Q. How do you see these technologies evolving in the coming years, especially in industries that rely heavily on consumer-driven demand?

A. Data and AI will evolve into fully predictive and hyper‑connected ecosystems, especially in consumer‑driven industries. Companies will need unified platforms connecting consumer, supply, marketing, and product data in real time to anticipate behavior, optimize demand forecasting, and personalize experiences.

At Reckitt, our Genesis platform already accelerates content creation, enhances campaign analysis, and supports pricing and trade decisions. AI will increasingly act as a strategic copilot, automating insights and elevating productivity across all functions. As markets like China show, digitalization is no longer optional. The future will require democratizing AI while ensuring strong governance, ethics, and data security, balancing innovation with responsible stewardship.

LAST WORD: As a purpose-driven leader and advocate for women in tech, what advice would like to share with young women aspiring to lead in technology, particularly in sectors where women are still underrepresented?

My advice to young women is to recognize the unique value they bring and not allow fear or underrepresentation to limit their ambitions. Claim your seat at the table, participate in strategic discussions and make your voice heard. Leadership in technology requires curiosity, empathy, courage, and collaboration, strengths women naturally embody. Continuous learning is essential to overcoming impostor syndrome and staying confident in a fast‑evolving field. Surround yourself with mentors and allies, including those who inspire you by example and those who teach you what not to emulate. Most importantly, don’t wait to feel fully ready before embracing opportunities. Growth often happens precisely when you step into the unknown.