EP 262 Women, AI, and the Invisible Load (with Heather Cannings)

Why are women adopting AI at lower rates than men - and what’s really going on underneath the stats? In this episode, host Susan Diaz and Heather Cannings, Women Entrepreneurship Program Lead at InVenture and producer of StrikeUP Canada, dig into time poverty, “cheating” fears, late-night upskilling, and what real support for women entrepreneurs needs to look like in an AI-forward world.

Episode summary

Susan is joined by Heather Cannings, who leads women’s entrepreneurship programs at InVenture and runs StrikeUP, a national digital conference that reaches thousands of women entrepreneurs across Canada and beyond.

Heather shares what she’s seeing on the ground: huge curiosity about AI, mixed with pressure, fatigue, and a sense that it’s “one more thing” women are expected to learn on their own time. Many of the women she serves are juggling multiple roles - business owner, employee, caregiver - then experimenting with AI at 10-11 pm after the workday and bedtime routines are done.

They unpack the emotional layer too:

• why AI still feels like “cheating” or being an imposter for many women

• the question of whether you have to disclose using AI

• how to reconcile charging premium prices while using AI behind the scenes

Susan and Heather link lower AI adoption rates among women to a wider pattern: another version of the wage gap and systemic inequities in who has time, safety, and support to skill up.

The conversation then turns to:

• Practical, real-world use cases women are already using AI for (grant writing, content, summarizing long docs).

• What good support systems actually look like for time-strapped entrepreneurs (designing for constraints, not fantasy calendars).

• How small, scrappy businesses and large organizations can learn from each other on speed, governance, and risk.

• The uncomfortable reality that many roles most at risk of AI automation - admin, entry-level comms, research - are heavily female.

They close with a hopeful lens: how women can use AI to increase their value and control over time and income, why this moment is a genuine opportunity for democratization, and how Heather’s StrikeUP event is trying to meet women exactly where they are.

Key takeaways

AI doesn’t feel neutral for women - it feels like another test. Many women entrepreneurs are curious about AI but also feel judged, worried about “doing it wrong,” or like they’re cheating if they use it. Imposter syndrome shows up as: “Is this really my work if AI helped?”

Time poverty is the real barrier, not lack of interest. Heather sees women using AI at 10-11 pm after full workdays and caregiving, trying to finish newsletters, social posts, or grant drafts. They are upskilling - just in stolen moments, not spacious strategy sessions.

Support systems must be designed for real constraints. Don’t assume people have:

unlimited time

teams

strong internet

quiet workspaces

Many women join digital events from cars, back rooms, or storage areas between tasks. Training and support must be consumable, flexible, and realistic.

One-off AI webinars aren’t enough. A single 60-minute “intro to AI” often just generates an overwhelming to-do list. What works better:

smaller, workshop-style sessions

hands-on guidance on a specific task or tool

practical, “do it in the room” support so women leave with something done, not just inspired.

Women are already using AI for practical, high-impact tasks. Common use cases include:

writing and improving copy

content planning and social media

summarizing long documents

drafting grants and pitches

The focus is on time savings, staying within tight budgets, and safely getting more done—not chasing cutting-edge AI for its own sake.

Enterprise and small business can - and should - learn from each other.

Big firms: bring resources, governance, and policy thinking.

Small businesses: bring speed, scrappiness, and the ability to implement immediately.

Ecosystem players (non-profits, funders, educators) can translate between the two and help find a healthy middle ground.

There’s a gendered risk in AI-driven job change. Roles often flagged as “at risk” - admin, entry-level comms, research - are heavily staffed by women. Without intentional upskilling and redeployment, AI could quietly deepen existing inequities.

There’s also real opportunity. AI can be a “quiet force in the background” that removes 5-10 hours of repetitive work a week - enough to change a woman’s lifestyle, income, and capacity. It can help women move up the ladder, redesign roles, or reshape their businesses around higher-value work.

Designing AI with women’s realities in mind matters. Women shouldn’t just be users; they should help shape how tools are designed, so AI reflects real constraints like caregiving, part-time work, and patchy access - rather than assuming a mythical founder with unlimited time and support.

Episode highlights

[00:01] Susan sets the scene: 30 episodes in 30 days and how Heather fits into the series.

[00:57] Heather introduces InVenture and her role as Women Entrepreneurship Program Lead, plus the StrikeUP conference.

[01:55] Why AI remains a hot topic for StrikeUP’s audience of women entrepreneurs.

[02:57] AI as a catch-22: it can save time, but learning it feels like “one more thing.”

[03:56] “Is this cheating?” – women’s fears about using AI and being judged.

[05:09] AI, transparency, pricing, and the complexity of “should I tell clients I used AI?”

[05:39] How this ties to stats showing women adopting AI 25% less than men—and why Susan sees it as another version of the wage gap.

[07:07] Draft vs final: why treating AI output as a first draft, not finished work, is crucial.

[08:33] The problem with generic, AI-generated content about “women in AI” that sounds impressive but says very little.

[09:20] Real-world use cases Heather sees among small business owners.

[10:22] The 11 pm pattern: women learning AI in stolen, exhausted moments.

[12:06] Why women are resilient and experimenting—but lack daytime access to deep learning and setup time.

[13:27] Designing support systems that don’t assume unlimited time, teams, or bandwidth.

[14:24] Making training consumable, recorded, and accessible from phones, cars, and storage rooms.

[15:34] Why one-off webinars don’t work—and the case for small, workshop-style sessions.

[18:09] What big firms can learn from scrappy entrepreneurs (and vice versa).

[20:10] The myth that corporates “have it all figured out” on AI.

[22:19] AI and job loss: the gendered impact on admin, entry-level comms, and research roles.

[23:20] Reframing: how women can use AI to increase their value and move up.

[25:16] Adaptation over doom: calculators, the internet, and why we’ll adjust again.

[27:04] Heather’s vision: AI as a quiet force helping women gain more control over time and income.

[28:41] StrikeUP 2025 details: date, format, giveaways, and on-demand access.

If you support or are a woman entrepreneur, use this episode as a prompt to ask:

1. Where are women in your world already using AI - in stolen moments - and how could you meet them there with better support?

2. How can you design AI training and tools that assume real constraints, not fantasy calendars?

3. What’s one concrete way you can help a woman in your ecosystem use AI to increase her value and control, instead of feeling like she’s at risk of being automated away?

Connect with Susan Diaz on LinkedIn to get a conversation started.

 

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You can learn more about StrikeUP and register for the free digital conference at strikeup.ca and connect with Heather Cannings on LinkedIn.