Uplevyl newsroom

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• FORBESAugust 2026

  Shubhi Rao Named in Forbes 50 Over 50: Innovation (2026)

  Uplevyl Founder and CEO Shubhi Rao has been named to the Forbes 2026 50 Over 50: Innovation list, joining a cohort that includes a Nobel laureate, NASA's Science Mission Director, the Dean of MIT's School of Engineering, and CEOs of Dow, Cummins, HubSpot, and BNSF Railway. The recognition speaks to a founder story built not on inexperience with the status quo, but on decades inside complex global organizations that produced the pattern recognition to see what others had learned to accept as normal: that the intelligence layer connecting fragmented knowledge affecting women's lives and workplaces simply did not exist.

  • Read Article -> — Shubhi Rao Named in Forbes 50 Over 50: Innovation (2026) (opens in a new tab)

• SHE BUILDS WITH AIJuly 2026

  Gender Data and the Future of Women-Centered AI

  Shubhi Rao joins host Julia Lach on She Builds with AI: Women Shaping the Future to unpack what gender data actually means in practice and why AI systems fail women not because of technical shortcomings, but because women's lived experiences were never in the data to begin with. The conversation moves from the structural complexity of widowhood and wealth transfer to Uplevyl's survivor workplace rights platform, and makes a direct argument: women need to be in the rooms where AI is designed, tested, and governed.

  • Watch Now -> — Gender Data and the Future of Women-Centered AI (opens in a new tab)

• CNBCJune 2026

  Uplevyl CEO Shubhi Rao on CNBC On AI Bias

  Shubhi Rao joined Karen Tso and Steve Sedgwick on CNBC's Squawk Box Europe to discuss the AI gender data gap as a business risk, not a brand risk. The segment covers why the AI gender data gap is a financial blind spot, what it takes to build fairer AI systems, and why closing it is a leadership priority now.

  • Watch Now -> — Uplevyl CEO Shubhi Rao on CNBC On AI Bias (opens in a new tab)

• WEALTH MANAGEMENTJune 2026

  The Great Wealth Transfer Is About More Than Money

  Uplevyl Founder/CEO Shubhi Rao unpacks why the financial advisory industry is unprepared for the $124 trillion moving from baby boomers to younger generations, spouses, and heirs. Rao argues this is not simply an asset transfer but a transfer of economic influence.

  • Read Article -> — The Great Wealth Transfer Is About More Than Money (opens in a new tab)

• WOMEN OF WEARABLESJune 2026

  WoW Woman in AI: Shubhi Rao, Founder and CEO of Uplevyl

  In a chat with Women of Wearables, Shubhi Rao traces her path from corporate finance leadership at Ford, PwC, Tesco, and Alphabet/Google to building Uplevyl after recognizing a structural gap: AI systems trained on data that excludes women's lived, financial, and health experience.

  • Read Article -> — WoW Woman in AI: Shubhi Rao, Founder and CEO of Uplevyl (opens in a new tab)

• EIN PRESSWIREMay 2026

  Uplevyl Expands Platform to Deliver the First AI Knowledge Layer Built for Survivors & the Organizations That Serve Them

  Uplevyl announces the launch of its first AI knowledge layer focused on survivor rights, built in partnership with Futures Without Violence. The platform transforms fragmented legal and support resources into personalized, jurisdiction-specific guidance covering all 50 U.S. states. Attorney-supervised and continuously updated, the system is free to survivors through nonprofit channels.

  • Read Article -> — Uplevyl Expands Platform to Deliver the First AI Knowledge Layer Built for Survivors & the Organizations That Serve Them (opens in a new tab)

• FAST COMPANYJune 2026

  Women Over 50 Outperform in Business. Why Are They Still Overlooked?

  Fast Company's Josie Cox examines the compounding effect of age and gender bias on female founders, featuring Uplevyl Founder and CEO Shubhi Rao. Rao explains how familiarity bias drives capital allocation decisions and argues that when historical records are thin, qualified founders are penalized not for lack of capability, but for lack of precedent. Research cited from MIT and Boston Consulting Group shows older, women-founded ventures consistently outperform on capital efficiency.

  • Read Article -> — Women Over 50 Outperform in Business. Why Are They Still Overlooked? (opens in a new tab)

• WOMEN MONEY POWERSeptember 2025

  The Chorus of Doom Is Loud

  Shubhi Rao contributes to Jacki Zehner's flagship newsletter, examining the structural dynamics behind pessimism in women's economic discourse and the argument for why capital coordination, not despair, is the appropriate response.

  • Read More -> — The Chorus of Doom Is Loud (opens in a new tab)

• THE TIMES (UK)June 2026

  The Most Radical Act of Feminism? Using AI

  Shubhi Rao speaks to The Times about the gendered AI adoption gap and why closing it requires more than awareness. Women who use AI strategically are not catching up; they are reshaping the terms of participation in an economy being rebuilt around generative intelligence.

  • Read Article -> — The Most Radical Act of Feminism? Using AI (opens in a new tab)

• FAST COMPANYApril 2025

  Jacki Zehner Joins Uplevyl to Champion Women's Voices in AI and Tech

  Announcement of Jacki Zehner's formal role at Uplevyl as Lead Investor and Chief Engagement Officer, formalizing a partnership between two of the most prominent voices in women's capital allocation and gender-focused technology.

  • Read More -> — Jacki Zehner Joins Uplevyl to Champion Women's Voices in AI and Tech (opens in a new tab)

• FOX59 / CISION PR NEWSWIREMarch 2025

  Women Are Fleeing Social Media Platforms, Citing "Hostile Environment"

  Uplevyl research, developed in partnership with SheMoney, reveals that 66% of women have strategically retreated from major social platforms and 48% have abandoned at least one entirely. The data documents a structural trust deficit that legacy platforms have failed to address.

  • Read More -> — Women Are Fleeing Social Media Platforms, Citing "Hostile Environment" (opens in a new tab)

• BUSINESSWIREJanuary 2025

  Future Forward Accelerator by Uplevyl Aims to Upskill 1,000 Female Innovators for the AI + Digital Age

  Uplevyl announces the Future Forward Accelerator, a self-paced AI and digital leadership certification program designed to build AI fluency among professional women at scale.

  • Read More -> — Future Forward Accelerator by Uplevyl Aims to Upskill 1,000 Female Innovators for the AI + Digital Age (opens in a new tab)

• BLOOMBERGNovember 2024

  Why Are Women Less Likely to Use AI?

  Bloomberg examines the persistent gender gap in generative AI adoption, noting that women are 20% less likely than men to use these tools, with Uplevyl positioned as part of a broader effort to close a gap that compounds economic disadvantage over time.

  • Read Article -> — Why Are Women Less Likely to Use AI? (opens in a new tab)

• FORBESApril 2022

  The Trailblazer Paving the Way for Modern Female Leadership

  Forbes profiles Shubhi Rao's journey from engineering to executive leadership at Alphabet, Ford, and Tesco, and her founding thesis at Uplevyl: that technology built without women will perpetuate the structural disadvantages it claims to solve.

  • Read Article -> — The Trailblazer Paving the Way for Modern Female Leadership (opens in a new tab)

• Silicon Hills NewsNovember 2021

  Uplevyl, a Women's Empowerment and Networking Platform, Launches in Austin

  Silicon Hills News covers the launch of Uplevyl in Austin, Texas, documenting Rao's initial vision for a women-first platform designed around professional advancement, digital fluency, and equitable technology.

  • Read More -> — Uplevyl, a Women's Empowerment and Networking Platform, Launches in Austin (opens in a new tab)

• PR NEWSWIRENovember 2021

  Tech Company, Uplevyl, Aims to Transform the Lives of All Professional Women

  Official launch announcement, establishing Uplevyl's founding mission: to close the gap between the pace of technological change and women's ability to lead within it.

  • Read More -> — Tech Company, Uplevyl, Aims to Transform the Lives of All Professional Women (opens in a new tab)

• THE BUSINESS JOURNALS (BIZWOMEN)July 2026

  Five Upskilling Practices for Women Facing AI Disruption

  Uplevyl Founder and CEO Shubhi Rao contributes to Bizwomen's Strategies series with a direct, practice-first framework for women navigating AI-driven job disruption. Drawing on WEF and McKinsey research showing women's disproportionate exposure to automation risk, Rao argues that fluency in AI tools alone is not enough. The piece outlines five concrete practices: auditing your own skills against automation exposure, mapping transferable strengths to where hiring is actually heading, building daily immersion through both use and reading, teaching what you learn to accelerate retention, and holding a security-first mindset from day one.

  • Read More -> — Five Upskilling Practices for Women Facing AI Disruption (opens in a new tab)

Further Coverage

• MSU ENGINEERING NEWSMarch 28, 2024

  Innovate State: Leading Women in the Age of AI

  Michigan State University's College of Engineering covers Shubhi Rao's campus appearance as part of the Innovate State Speaker Series, documenting the university's recognition that AI leadership and gender equity are inseparable strategic priorities.

  • Read Article -> — Innovate State: Leading Women in the Age of AI (opens in a new tab)

• DMEC WORK MAGAZINE2024

  Is All Well in the State of Work? by Dr. Patricia Greene Inspired by

  Uplevyl Innovation and Research Advisor Dr. Patricia Greene contributes to DMEC's Work Magazine, examining organizational readiness for AI transformation through a gender-conscious lens.

  • Read Article -> — Is All Well in the State of Work? by Dr. Patricia Greene Inspired by (opens in a new tab)

• UN GLOBAL COMPACT2024

  Uplevyl Proudly Joins the United Nations Global Compact as a Signatory

  Uplevyl formalizes its commitment to the UN Global Compact's principles, aligning its AI development and business practices with international standards on human rights, labor, and anti-corruption.

  • Read Article -> — Uplevyl Proudly Joins the United Nations Global Compact as a Signatory (opens in a new tab)

• AUTHORITY MAGAZINEDecember 2021

  Women Mentoring Women Is the Best Way to Inspire Change

  An early-stage profile of Shubhi Rao in Authority Magazine, documenting the career trajectory and founding philosophy that led to Uplevyl, with a focus on mentorship as a structural rather than individual lever for women's advancement.

  • Read Article -> — Women Mentoring Women Is the Best Way to Inspire Change (opens in a new tab)