Quick Summary: Women are using AI at a rate 25% lower than men – but not because of a skills gap. Tara Iwamoto ran a women-only vibe coding hackathon to challenge that statistic, and speaks to White Rabbit Social about vibe coding for beginners, regardless of prior skill or industry.
What started as a personal project – a couples’ connection app she and her husband had been kicking around for a while – sent her down a year-long vibe coding rabbit hole that ended with a working prototype, a LinkedIn-announced consultancy, and an International Women’s Day event that drew complete strangers from TikTok.
We sat down with Tara to talk about why women are lagging behind in AI adoption, and what actually happens when you put a room full of non-technical women in front of a vibe coding platform.
Yes, The Numbers Are Still Bad
Before we get to the story, let’s work through the data. Often tossed around is the statistic that women are using generative AI at a rate 25% lower than men on average.
More women than men – 43% versus 32% – say they don’t use it because they don’t know what it is.
Women are also less likely to report positive sentiment toward AI (14% versus 25% of men), and more likely to feel strongly negative about it (25% versus 17%).
None of that exists in a vacuum. The jobs women disproportionately hold are three times more likely to be automated by AI, and researchers warn that AI systems trained on male-skewed data could widen the adoption gap further still.
Tara had been turning these numbers over in her head before she organised the event. “I really started to try to think about what is the source of that,” she says. “Why? Because we’re not less intelligent.”
It’s a Time Problem, Not a Skills Problem
Her answer won’t surprise anyone who has ever been the person schools call in an emergency.
“I think the only thing I could really think of is that we didn’t have the time that maybe our male counterparts have,” she says. “Whether that be at work, whether that be at home.”
She’s careful to acknowledge this isn’t true of every household or every family setup – but she doesn’t shy away from the pattern.
The mental load of planning, logistics, unpaid domestic labour. “Just meal planning, to the grocery store, picking up all the ingredients. If you just think about it that way, it’s a lot.”
Her solution for the International Women’s Day event was practical.
She chose a platform – Lovable, who supported the event and offered free access for the day – and encouraged attendees to set time aside.
“Not only is it important that women understand these programs and have experience with them,” she says. “But these programs are directly feeding the big AI that we’ve got. And we need women to feed into that.”
How She Filled the Room in Four Days
The event came together in a week. Since her public announcement four days before the door opened, two attendees came from LinkedIn, a few more from a TikTok video posted to 35 followers, and the rest from word of mouth.
“It goes to show how much interest there is out there,” I told her, and she agreed. But she was also clear about something: the interest alone isn’t enough if the environment doesn’t meet women where they are.
What Actually Happened in the Room
Tara had been burned by technical overload before. Her own vibe coding journey involved three separate attempts – one cursor error loop she couldn’t escape, one workshop that had her signing up for GitHub, Supabase, and three other platforms before she’d built a thing, and finally a V0 session at Fishburners where she made a working prototype in 90 minutes for $10 of credits.
That last experience is what shaped how she designed the day.
“We didn’t do a workshop on how to use the program,” she says. “What we found from our group of specific participants is that these were highly intelligent, educated women who were very high up in their organisations. And we didn’t have to explain it to them.”
Instead, the day opened with an intention-setting exercise – everyone wrote something on a card and exchanged it with a stranger.
Then a creative brainstorm: what would you build? What problem from your own life is still unsolved? The goal was partly community, partly data. “I personally wanted to see what was important to women. What were we missing in the market that didn’t solve a problem from a woman’s perspective?”
Then they built without any hand-holding, though everyone was encouraged to raise their hand if needed, or to ask their neighbour.
Around five products came out of that session.
“I really found that to be moving,” Tara says. “We underestimate women. We think they need to be taught or walked through.”
The Fear Factor – and What to Do With It
Security concerns are a real barrier for women specifically. The data backs this up: only 18% of women experimenting with generative AI report high trust that providers will keep their data secure, compared to 31% of men.
But the valid concerns shouldn’t be what stops women engaging, and Tara stresses that you can ethically and safely engage with AI.
“Do your own research,” she says. “These platforms have layers of security baked into them. And if you’re going to play around and make an astrology matching app, you’re not collecting any data of any consequence.”
She is not dismissive of the concern – she just wants it to be proportional. The goal isn’t to build the next Meta.
There’s also the question of cost. Free tiers run out and credits are finite. Her advice: go to sponsored workshops!
Lovable, V0, and similar platforms regularly run events where attendees get free credits to experiment. “That’s the most cost-effective way to do any of this. Keep your eyes out.”
On AI, Creativity, and Where She Draws the Line
Tara’s background is in creative operations and video production – and her husband is a creative director. So the question of what AI means for creative work is, she notes, “a hot topic in our household.”
She draws a clear line. Using AI to strip administrative and logistical work away from creatives so they can focus on their actual craft? Absolutely.
AI replicating the creative work itself – the thinking, the taste, the story, the soul of it? That is a painful loss of the creativity process.
“I still believe that true art, that has soul, that has taste, that has a story to tell, comes from humans,” she says. “And I think you can kind of do both.”
It’s a nuanced position in a space that tends toward extremes.
For anyone in the beauty and creative industries currently treating AI as the enemy, the next wave is encouraging a far more urgent question: are we equipped to work alongside it?
Why “Build Anything” Is the Real Advice
The most transferable thing Tara took from her vibe coding journey – and what she wants every woman to take from hers – isn’t technical skill. The ability to think in systems and know how to get what you want out is far, far more important.
“If you can input something and get exactly what you wanted out of the backend, you have learned an invaluable workflow,” she says. “Anything. Build anything.”
Because when someone says you do data entry and you can say yes, but I can build you an agent that does that – and explain how it works, because you’ve built one – that’s not a small thing, and the knock on effects can mean more time and freedom, and potentially a job saved.
Tara shared a story she had heard attending another workshop – that one woman had brought a vibe-coded prototype to her board, and as a result was promoted to AI lead.
“It’s not going to happen for everyone,” Tara says. “But just think if you are [faced with change] and you can do that.”
What’s Coming Next
Tara has plans for a larger event – and her mood board has chrome finishes, a mirrored martini bar, and a professional headshots station so attendees can leave with a photo they’re actually proud to post.
“This could be the start of your new income stream, your new business, your new side hustle,” she says. “Let’s give you a really kick-ass picture that you feel great in so that you can post about this.”
She’s also working on a guide – built with Claude, she mentions cheerfully – of 20 projects you can make with approximately five Lovable credits, so first-timers actually see something come out of the back end.
Tara Started Vibe Coding Lab
Asking Tara about Vibe Coding Lab, and how people can get involved, she shared: “We started Vibe Coding Lab because we wanted to create a space where everybody is welcome, a place to come together, learn alongside each other, and have fun doing it.
We believe the best ideas happen when people feel safe enough to try something completely new. To ask the question they think is obvious. To show something half-finished. To be a beginner without apology.
We gather monthly to build, explore, and connect. We use AI tools, no-code platforms, and a lot of curiosity. You don’t need experience. You just need to show up.”
If you want to follow what she’s doing or Vibe Coding Lab, join Tara on LinkedIn.
Where to Start If You’re Curious
Tara’s practical shortlist for women who want to get started with vibe coding and AI tools:
- Lovable – lovable.dev – AI-powered app builder; watch for sponsored free-access days
- V0 by Vercel – v0.dev – Another beginner-accessible build tool; Vercel runs regular workshops
- Georgie Healey on Substack – Recommended by Tara as a good source for local Sydney tech events and free-credit opportunities
- Fishburners – Sydney tech hub that hosts community events; worth following for upcoming workshops and events, held regularly, like their female founder pitch night
Leave a Reply