Fan Jiang has called for greater early education in data and AI to encourage more women into technology, following her Data Science award win at the 2026 Women Leading Tech Awards.
The Atlassian Data Science Manager was recognised for her work shaping how the company evaluates and launches AI-powered products, including the development of a pioneering “LLM-as-a-judge” metric used to assess AI-generated code quality against human standards.
The approach has since become a cornerstone of Atlassian’s AI experimentation process, helping engineering teams more rapidly iterate on developer tools, and was later published at the International Conference on Software Engineering.
Speaking after her win at the Women Leading Tech Awards, Jiang said she felt “honoured” to represent women in data science at a time when the field is rapidly evolving with AI.
“I feel like there’s not a lot of women in the data space in tech, and I definitely feel like we should start the generation young,” she told B&T.
“Definitely get them to know more about what data means, what the data science profession entails, especially in this evolving, changing world of AI. It’s even more important to know what the data profession really entails from a young age.”
Jiang, who originally began her career as an actuary before transitioning into data science, said the growing accessibility of AI tools means the barrier to entry is lower than ever.
“Anyone can start playing around with data. There’s so much data that’s available in the industry,” she said. “People of any age can go on AI tools, try to use data, analyse data… the world is your oyster.”
Beyond her technical work, Jiang has also played a key role in supporting women across Atlassian through the creation of an internal Women in Data Science community. The initiative provides a space for mentoring, career support and shared learning, helping more than 15 women navigate key career transitions.
She said the recognition of women supporting other women in tech was particularly meaningful.
“It feels amazing to have an event that’s tailored towards women,” she said. “In this tech industry, it is traditionally dominated by men, so it is always amazing to see there are so many women in this industry, and it’s amazing to work alongside all of these other women in this profession.”
