I've always admired powerful and accomplished women. So I
was excited to go along to see Dame Minoche Shafik, Director of the LSE (who herself is the highest-paid University head in the UK) talk to Google's CFO, Ruth Porat, about the future of the school at LSE 2030. Ruth Porat is the
highest-paid executive at Google, making $47 Million (£38 Million) a year.
Ruth and her husband, Anthony Paduano (who now runs a law firm), who met as students at
LSE, have established
a new endowment scholarship fund for women students from disadvantaged
backgrounds.
Dame Minoche said that her ambition for the LSE is to be the leading social science
institution, with the most significant global impact. It is already ranked 2nd in the world just behind Harvard University.
Ruth began her discussion talking about the importance of AI. She said that they were using it at Google to reduce their energy costs by 30%. AI is also at the heart of its algorithmic search engine technology.
The future of AI impacts every industry. It takes a combination of
Social scientists and engineers to build AI systems. Later in her discussion, Ruth talked about the importance of education. She said that much of business life is jargon, but you need to be educated to cut through that. I learned this when I took my degree at the LSE.
Ruth added that AI is a simple concept and not hard to understand if you break it down right. But that on the face of it, the terminology makes it sound highly complex. The key to understanding AI, as with most topics, is education.
She went on to talk about her father, who instilled the importance of education in her. Her father got a PhD in physics and then went on to become a professor at Stanford, where Ruth studied as well (Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, LSE).
She went on to talk about her father, who instilled the importance of education in her. Her father got a PhD in physics and then went on to become a professor at Stanford, where Ruth studied as well (Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, LSE).
Ruth talked about how to change culture. She said that this always starts at the top. She gave one of the best examples of how she changed the culture at Morgan Stanley and Google when talking about this subject that has become increasingly 'woke' and out of touch to the majority of ordinary people.
She asked the room how many women had experienced men talking over them in business meetings. Everyone laughed in acknowledgement.
She asked the room how many women had experienced men talking over them in business meetings. Everyone laughed in acknowledgement.
Ruth then said that when this happens, she always points it out, since, as she put it 'if you don’t want my voice now, then do you even want me here in the room?'.
The most important part of Ruth's talk for me was about how She had transformed her career with the help of great sponsors. Initially, She had worked at Morgan Stanley for an egotistical boss who had taken credit for all her work.
She realised that despite her best efforts, she would get nowhere with this individual. So Ruth began to search around for someone who wanted to take a risk on her.
She realised that despite her best efforts, she would get nowhere with this individual. So Ruth began to search around for someone who wanted to take a risk on her.
She did say that often employees think that this person will just appear as if by magic. However, Ruth said that She had to 'earn the right' to have a great sponsor who could provide her with judgment, insight and help open doors for her.
Ruth explained how one sponsor persuaded her to take a job on the trading floor, a notoriously male-dominated environment. It served her in her career, though. Later a sponsor helped her secure a role in Financial Institutions Risk at Morgan Stanley in 2006, which really catapulted her forward in her career.
One sponsor said to her: ‘I will be your senior air cover. I think you’ll soar, but I
will have your back if you run into difficulties.’ Ruth said this is what she now says to those in business that she sponsors.
Dinner with a fellow LSE alum at The Delaunay, after the talk.