Sorrel Kesby has a vision where technology doesn’t just make things faster or smarter — it contributes to a more equitable future. That vision is what guides her everyday decisions and the company she founded, EvenBetter.ai.
Kesby is no stranger to the world of technology, having helmed the APAC operations of adtech business GumGum before departing to co-found EvenBetter.ai, a business that takes a tech-first approach to helping others identify and solve their gender pay gap issues.
B&T sat down with Kesby to reflect on her Adtech win at last year’s B&T Women Leading Tech Awards, presented by Atlassian.
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B&T: What did it mean to win the Women Leading Tech Awards for Adtech?
Sorrel Kesby: Receiving that kind of recognition was deeply validating — not just personally, but for the mission of the new business I was, at the time, building in parallel. It signalled that what we’re doing in tech and equality matters. It also helps amplify the message: that women leading in tech, women founders, are charting new paths, not just in traditional roles but at the intersection of purpose and technology.
For me, it reinforced that leadership is not only about delivering business growth, but about creating workplaces that embody the values you espouse. It gave me extra impetus to continue pushing — both for the company and for all the women who might follow similar trajectories. It also challenged me to beg the question: when recognition happens, how do we convert it into sustained action?
How do we ensure it doesn’t become a “one-off award” moment, but a step in a longer journey of impact? That’s a challenge and a goal I’ve taken incredibly seriously over the last year.
B&T: How did you find your way to tech? Was there an early experience or moment that shaped your trajectory?
SK: Completely by accident, really. I’m a failed journalist and a failed lawyer who grew up wanting to be a foreign correspondent. Through university, I worked as a rugby and sports journalist, and after graduating — and spending some time in Argentina — I joined a fantastic digital publishing company as an account executive. Five years later, after the company was acquired, I was COO, overseeing three websites and the sales, ad ops, and business operations teams behind them.
When I helped set up our programmatic capabilities more than a decade ago — back when it was truly the wild west — I was hooked. It was this perfect blend of data, analytics, and innovation, and I loved seeing how technology could completely reshape a business. That experience changed the trajectory of my career.
After that, I found myself gravitating toward startups — businesses solving big, interesting problems. I’d call in every favour I could to get a foot in the door, usually in commercial, operations, or finance/legal roles. I loved working with founding teams and helping to build the frameworks that supported their growth.
Twelve years later, I was honoured to be named Adtech Leader of the Year at the B&T Women Leading Tech Awards, surrounded by some of the most impressive women and colleagues I’ve ever worked with.
B&T: What is the number one thing the tech and advertising industry should be better at to contribute to a more equitable future for women?
SK: We need to move beyond just representation and focus on redesigning the systems themselves. It’s not enough to have women in the room if the structures of decision-making, measurement, and reward weren’t designed with them in mind.
Equality has to be built in from the start — from how we gather data, to how we define success, to who has the power to say “yes”. We have to challenge the hidden defaults that favour certain voices over others. The goal isn’t just diversity; it’s belonging, agency, and influence.
If I had to pick just one thing, it’s data-driven accountability. It’s not enough to recognise inequality or pay lip service to diversity. The industry must be better at measuring how roles are defined, pay decisions made, how promotions are granted — and then holding themselves to account.
In media, for example, we still see how classification of roles, contract types (full-time vs part-time), and flexibility options disproportionately impact women’s progression. If we don’t gather the right data, we can’t see the patterns. And if we can’t see them, we can’t change them.
So, I’d ask: Are we capturing the data that matters? Are leaders asking tough questions about how pay and progression work in their organisation? Without that, aspiration for equality remains theoretical and we lose the best and brightest women to other industries/better options for them and their personal situations.
B&T: How can technology help to create lasting social change?
SK: Technology can be an incredible force for empathy and empowerment when it’s built intentionally. It has the potential to democratise opportunity — to give more people access to education, resources, and visibility.
But tech on its own doesn’t create change — people do. If we embed ethical frameworks and diverse perspectives into the technology we build, we can use data and automation to amplify fairness, not just efficiency. The future isn’t about machines replacing humans; it’s about machines helping humans reach their potential.
Technology — and specifically data + AI — has a unique role in translating aspiration into action. With my company, EvenBetter.ai, we built a platform that moves beyond the single headline of a pay gap to uncover the drivers of inequality: talent availability by gender, representation in career progression, market benchmarks, pay differences within similar roles and where systemic and organisational structures are blocking progress.
But technology isn’t a silver bullet. It will only drive lasting change when it is deployed with intent, overseen by governance, and used as part of a broader cultural shift. In other words: tech reveals the truth, but people act on it. So, the question for any leader is: Are you using technology to uncover root causes of business challenges, or simply gathering data to tick a box?
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SK: Can you tell me a bit about how you founded EvenBetter.ai and its journey?
SK: EvenBetter.ai was born from that exact insight: lots of companies were publishing pay-gap numbers, but few were moving to action. My co-founder Ayal Steiner and I came together because we believed the gap between awareness and meaningful progress could be closed with tech.
In early 2024, we began designing the platform: aligning raw payroll and HR data, benchmarking against market-specific talent availability, modelling promotion pipelines and pay differentials. We launched publicly in 2025, coinciding with the second, public publication of over 7,800 Australian businesses gender pay gap by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).
We’ve had early adopters like Knight Frank and FujiFilm Australia come on board and quickly recognise that actionable recommendations and tracking the impact and pay action, is what is ultimately needed to close the 21 per cent national gender pay gap.
B&T: What is your advice for up-and-coming young women in our industry?
SK: Don’t wait for permission. Tech and advertising are evolving so rapidly that the traditional paths no longer apply. The best thing you can do is follow your curiosity, stay adaptable, and never apologise for taking up space. Your perspective is invaluable — it’s what will make the next wave of innovation more human. Build your community, find allies who lift you higher, and remember that confidence isn’t the absence of doubt; it’s the decision to move forward anyway.
Here’s my suggested roadmap for a fast-moving and interesting career: Own the data, own the story. Be curious about how pay, progression, roles and classifications work. Don’t wait for someone else to question them. Seek roles that stretch beyond just execution. If you can get exposure to strategy, to data/analytics, to cross-functional operations, you’ll build a broader toolkit.
Find mentors and allies — and be one yourself. Surround yourself with people who will challenge you, support you, sponsor you.
Be comfortable being uncomfortable. When you step into boundary roles (tech + equity + business), things may feel ambiguous — that’s good, that means you’re evolving.
Hold leadership to account — including your own. Don’t just hope for fairness; ask questions, raise your hand, shine a light on disparities.
Finally: Don’t underestimate the power of your voice. Whether you’re early in your career or moving into leadership, you bring fresh perspectives. Use them. The industry needs you.
B&T: What are your biggest personal learning lessons that you’ve gathered from your experiences in tech?
SK: I’ve always believed that technology should make humanity more visible, not less. Every product, every algorithm, every campaign tells a story about what we value.
If we design with empathy, equality and imagination at the core, we can build a future where technology doesn’t just make things faster or smarter — it makes us better. That’s the vision that drives me, and it’s what continues to guide EvenBetter.ai today.
I often reflect on what it means to lead in a purpose-driven way. For me, technology is not just a business lever — it’s a vehicle for fairness and human optimisation. But to make that happen, we need three things aligned: accuracy (of data), oversight (of systems/processes) and accountability (of leadership).
I want to emphasise the importance of governance. Data is seductive, but without discipline behind it you risk mis-interpretation, bias or worse: inaction. I want organisations to view pay-equality, AI and data (wherever they find it!) not as a “nice to have” but as a fundamental business risk and opportunity. When that mindset shifts, transparency becomes a strength, not a liability.
I’m hopeful. I see more companies willing to peer into their data, more investors asking equality questions, and more women stepping into tech, business and innovation leadership. The question now is: will we move from great intentions and green shoots, to sustained impact?
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