Violet Snell is a machine learning & AI leader whose career bridges rigorous academia and real-world impact. With an Oxford Engineering & Computer Science degree, a PhD in Computer Vision from Surrey’s CVSSP, and hands-on stints across research and software engineering, Violet pairs scientific depth with product pragmatism. She’s led AI for high-stakes domains — from medical imaging and fraud detection to road-safety systems that spot mobile use and seatbelt non-compliance — and brings a clear, ethical lens to how AI is built and deployed.
We dive into her Socratic leadership style; how to advocate for AI’s strengths and limitations inside the business; and practical playbooks for inclusive hiring (from job-ad language and panel design to smarter graduate pipelines). Violet unpacks why champions beat “distant role models” for getting girls into tech, what schools and universities can really do (hello, diamond schooling & Code First Girls), and how diverse teams spot — and fix — bias in AI. Thoughtful, candid, and refreshingly actionable.