- 06/05/2026
- Article
- Insights
Why women are indispensable in Process Industry 4.0
Transformation is most successful when diverse teams are involved. In the transition to Industry 4.0, employees from process engineering, automation, data science, production and IT ideally contribute their expertise. Furthermore, several studies show that gender diversity leads to greater innovation. Three strong women will therefore be speaking on the topic of digitalisation and AI in the Virtual Talk series at POWTECH TECHNOPHARM.
The verdict is clear: artificial intelligence (AI), digitalisation and their applications in the production environment are the technological topics in which the members of the Women4Processing network are most interested. The network is a new initiative founded in autumn 2025 by NürnbergMesse’s trade fairs, alongside the Women4Packaging and Women4Cyber formats. The first live networking event for Women4Processing at POWTECH TECHNOPHARM 2025 is now to be followed by a virtual exchange with a technological focus. “AI and digitalisation in the process industry – and women’s contribution to a successful transformation” will be the topic of discussion on 7 July from 10:00 am as part of the Virtual Talks webinar series.
It should come as no surprise that AI and digitalisation are currently attracting a great deal of interest, whether among men or women in the processing community. However, as in many technical disciplines and industries, women must take particular care to ensure their expertise is recognised and that they are able to contribute. It helps to take a look at their particular strengths.
Female founders, managers and trailblazers are driving the digital transformation
Women play a vital role in the development of AI and digitalisation in industry, as researchers, engineers, production managers and entrepreneurs. Among the latter are Moojan Asghari, one of the founders of Women in AI, and Poppy Gustafsson, an expert in AI-powered cybersecurity. They are harder to find in the process industry. For as important as AI and digitalisation are there, implementation does not depend on individual stars but is a team effort.
Yet women are often among the driving forces. Take Saskia Bingemann, for example, Senior Product Manager at BASF Digital Solutions. She describes herself as curious and open to change, as a leader who “thrives in environments where change … is necessary.” Over the course of her career, she has built up expertise at the interface between digital platforms, low-code solutions, analytics and business transformation. Her speciality is leading teams through complex transitions, such as replacing outdated tools and introducing new ways of working.
One of the best-known digitalisation managers in the German chemical industry is Jutta von Mikusch-Buchberg, Head of Digital Transformation at Covestro. She brings a wealth of experience as a CIO at various large corporations. Sabine Pegel, who acts as Head of AI Transformation in plant management at Coatings Specialities, provides operational expertise for Covestro’s digital transformation.
In the food industry, the possibilities offered by digital technologies are extremely diverse. Débora Campos founded AgrGrIN Tech to use data-driven processes to convert by-products from fruit and vegetable processing into high-quality food ingredients. The company Nuritas, founded by biotechnology entrepreneur Nora Khaldi, in turn uses AI to identify new bioactive peptides in plants and food. Lynette Kucsma is also one of the pioneers of digital food technologies. The co-founder of Natural Machines is driving forward the development of commercial 3D food printers.
Closely linked to production issues are female scientists working on digital twins of technical systems. This includes Olga Fink, a professor at EPFL in Lausanne. The AI researcher has produced groundbreaking work on digital twins in Industry 4.0 and on intelligent maintenance. The latest publications by Ann-Kathrin Splettstößer from the University of Stuttgart provide fresh insights into this field. In “The Quality-Conscious Digital Twin”, among other works, she describes a model-driven reference architecture for improved process quality.
Virtual Talk in July: Three female experts map out the AI process landscape
Among the driving forces behind digitalisation and AI in the process industry are the three speakers who will enrich the aforementioned Virtual Talk with keynote presentations. First up is Jessica Fritz, a computer science engineer responsible for Twin Transformation within the VDMA AI team. She will introduce the key developments surrounding AI and digitalisation in process engineering. In doing so, she will highlight the opportunities arising for efficiency, quality, sustainability and competitiveness, and the role played by mechanical and plant engineering in this context. She will also draw attention to the role of women in the transition to Industry 4.0 and emphasise the importance of the female perspective.
Anna Menschner, co-founder and managing director of Semodia and a role model entrepreneur for the BMWE’s “Frauen unternehmen” initiative, will go back to basics in her presentation: namely, a shared understanding as the foundation for any AI project. After all, data alone is not enough if machines, systems and algorithms do not know what this data actually means and if different answers to the same question arise depending on the plant. Her talk demonstrates in an accessible and practical way why order, clear terminology and shared knowledge are the invisible prerequisites for AI to become truly useful in industry.
The organisers of Women4Processing and Virtual Talks were able to secure Christine Oro-Saavedra as the third speaker. As Managing Director of Namur, she is one of the key architects of the digital infrastructure in the process industry upon which future AI applications will be built. Namur is regarded as the most important user organisation for automation and digitalisation in Europe’s chemical, pharmaceutical and process industries. It addresses numerous digitalisation topics and establishes quasi-standards such as NOA (Namur Open Architecture), Process X and MTP. In her previous role at the Bayer site in Bergkamen, Oro-Saavedra was already a strong advocate for concepts such as augmented reality, IoT and condition monitoring in maintenance. She supports the implementation of data rooms and collaborative platforms that enable companies to exchange data for use cases such as data mining, process optimisation or supply chain management. In addition to providing insights and outlooks on the status quo and the future of digitalisation and AI in the process industry, she – like the other speakers – will be available for a lively discussion with all participants.
Women4Processing comprises numerous female engineers and scientists who are employed directly in the process industry or by one of the plant manufacturers or equipment suppliers. Either they are already in the thick of a digitalisation or AI project, or they know that this is on the horizon for them. It’s time for an exchange, to which interested men are also invited. The three speakers, as well as the participants from Women4Processing, are ready to open up new perspectives on digitalisation for them. To participate free of charge in the live stream on 7 July 2026 via Microsoft Teams, please register here (available shortly).
Interested in this topic? Then come to POWTECH TECHNOPHARM and experience this and many other topics live at the trade fair. Secure your ticket here using the following code: PTTP26Insights