WIRED Surveys 634 Women in Tech: AI, Bro Culture, and Burnout
Original: We Surveyed 634 Women Who Work in Tech. They Let Loose
Why This Matters
First-person data from 634 women gives the industry a rare unfiltered read on gender dynamics in the AI era.
WIRED surveyed 634 women working in tech, capturing candid views on AI adoption, workplace culture, and gender dynamics. Respondents ranged from executives automating their workflows with AI tools to new hires navigating male-dominated environments. The survey forms the basis of WIRED's dedicated women-in-tech issue published September 21, 2026.
WIRED's survey of 634 women in tech paints a wide-angle picture of where the industry stands in 2026. At one end are executives who describe using AI to automate significant portions of their daily work. At the other are early-career women still colliding with the kind of 'bro culture' that Silicon Valley has long struggled to shed. The survey anchors a full WIRED issue dedicated to women in tech—a framing the publication acknowledges may read as either overdue or unnecessary, but defends as essential given ongoing structural inequities. Accompanying pieces cover the 'Hot Girl Renaissance' trend emerging in San Francisco tech circles, debates over Silicon Valley's persistent gender gap, and the political fallout of post-pandemic tech layoffs that pushed many workers toward Donald Trump. The survey itself, edited by Sandra Upson, is presented as a direct, unfiltered account of women's experiences—covering pay, leadership access, AI's impact on their roles, and the daily friction of working in a sector still shaped largely by men.