299: Building a Positive Workplace Culture as a Woman CEO: Ownership, AI and Leading with Joy — with Anusha Iyer

About this episode

Anusha Iyer discusses building a positive workplace culture and the challenges of being a woman CEO in the tech industry.

Let's talk about building a positive workplace culture. What does it take to build a workplace where people truly own their work — not just show up for it? Anusha Iyer, Founder and CEO of Corsha, joins Toni to share the unfiltered journey from software engineer to CTO to CEO — and the leadership philosophy that underpins everything she's built along the way. Corsha secures machine-to-machine communications for the operational systems that run our world, from AI agents to robotic controllers in critical infrastructure. It's deep tech solving some of the most important and underprotected problems in cybersecurity today. But this conversation isn't just about technology. It's about ownership culture, the realities of founding a company as a woman, how to pivot without destroying your team, and why joy at work isn't a soft concept — it's a strategic one. Anusha also gets into the AI thread that's running through every organisation right now: why diverse voices need to be shaping these tools while the models are still being trained, and why using AI as an assistant rather than a replacement is a leadership decision, not just a preference. What we cover: The real financial and personal…

People in this episode

Host: Toni Collis

Guest: Anusha Iyer

Topics covered

• workplace culture
• leadership
• women in tech
• AI in business
• startup challenges
• ownership culture
• joy at work

Keywords

• positive workplace culture
• leadership philosophy
• AI
• startup
• joy at work
• ownership
• women in leadership

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Corsha, AI, cybersecurity

More episodes of Leading Women in Tech Podcast

• 298: How to Communicate With Clarity Under Pressure: Leadership Skills for Women in Tech · April 28, 2026 · 36 min
• 297: AI Leadership Strategy: Your 90-Day Blueprint for Winning with AI — with Charlene Li · April 21, 2026 · 41 min
• 296: Office Politics for Women Who Hate Office Politics · April 14, 2026 · 42 min
• 295: Authentic Leadership in the Age of AI: Diversity, Change & the Future of Product with Catherine Wong · April 7, 2026 · 39 min
• 294: Burnout-Proof Leadership · March 31, 2026 · 28 min
• 293: Women in Tech Leadership: Why You Don't Need a Perfect Career Plan to Reach the Top (With Sarah Walker, Cisco UKI CEO) · March 24, 2026 · 36 min