Leena Nair, the second female global CEO of Chanel and a pioneer in promoting gender diversity in the workplace, recently discovered a stark disconnect between reality and AI representation when experimenting with ChatGPT. During a visit to Microsoft’s Seattle headquarters, Nair and her team asked the AI to generate an image of Chanel’s senior leadership team visiting Microsoft. The result was a glaring mischaracterization: an all-male group dressed in suits, which failed to reflect the actual makeup of Chanel’s leadership, composed predominantly of women.
Nair pointed out that Chanel’s workforce consists of 76% women and that the brand’s clients are overwhelmingly female, at 96%. Yet, ChatGPT’s depiction did not account for this demographic reality, showing only men who weren’t even dressed fashionably. “Like, come on. This is what you’ve got to offer?” she remarked humorously but critically.
OpenAI acknowledged the ongoing challenges with AI bias, emphasizing their continuous efforts to improve model fairness and reduce harmful outputs. When Fortune requested ChatGPT to generate a similar image, it produced a team with five women and three men, mostly white, revealing the nuance and complexity still missing in AI portrayals.
The issue of bias in AI extends beyond gender representation. Studies have found language models like ChatGPT often perpetuate stereotypes in professional settings, describing male candidates with words like “expert” and “integrity,” while referencing female candidates with terms linked to appearance or charm. Additionally, biases have been noted in AI’s handling of dialects and non-standard English variants.
Nair, committed to integrating AI into Chanel’s future, stresses the importance of maintaining ethics and human-centric values amid technology adoption. She regularly dialogues with tech leaders to insist on incorporating humanistic thinking into AI development.
Her leadership at Chanel extends beyond tech, continuing a legacy of addressing gender disparities. Since taking charge in 2021, after a distinguished tenure at Unilever, Nair has boosted the number of female managers at Chanel from 38% to over 60%. She is not only the company’s second female global CEO but also the first Indian to hold the position—breaking barriers in a legacy historically dominated by men.
Emphasizing inclusivity and ethical AI use, Nair symbolizes a modern approach to leadership—one that bridges tradition with innovation and champions diversity, both within the luxury brand and across emerging technologies.
