Post by GLOBSEC

At #GLOBSEC2026 Forum in Prague, we launched our latest CEE Her report, From Access to Impact: Bridging the Gender Gap in AI and Digital Transformation across Central and Eastern European SMEs, at a breakfast roundtable on the conversion gap and where women fit into the digital transition. The conversion gap is the systemic struggle of SMEs to turn digital tools into actual strategic growth - and gender shapes who gets stuck in it. Huge thanks to our speakers and our moderator for making the conversation as substantive as it was. A few things that stayed with us: Monika Kočiová, the report's main author, pointed out that SMEs across the region have the digital tools but cannot translate them into measurable productivity, and that women remain frequently excluded from the decision-making tables where AI strategy is set. Katarina Kakalikova (Mastercard) argued that the biggest hurdles for small businesses are time and access to resources, and called for a more integrated ecosystem. She noted that many women become solo entrepreneurs later in life precisely because that structure lets them balance family responsibilities. Sana Afouaiz, Dr. h.c. (Womenpreneur) reminded the room that technology is often designed by men for men, from phone sizes to pocket depth, and that this produces real economic discrimination. Her point: women have to be creators of technology, not only consumers of it. Anett Mádi-Nátor (Women4Cyber Foundation) framed digital transformation as a societal question rather than a purely technical one, and made the case for systemic European financial support to bring women into the tech leadership of the next decade. Ronald Blasko (VAIA) brought the conversation back to where it begins — at home — and challenged us to rethink how we predetermine children's futures through gendered toys and upbringing. The discussion was led by Lucia Kobzova (Women4Cyber Foundation). Some of the report's headline findings: 🔶 Closing the gender gap in digital adoption across CEE could add up to €146 billion to regional GDP by 2030. 🔶 AI is opening a narrow window to rebalance who shapes innovation, by raising the value of creative and strategic skills alongside technical ones. 🔶 Diversity is not only a social goal: more inclusive SMEs are more resilient and more innovative. Full report: https://lnkd.in/dmsiFkdN