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Equinox wins Best Use of AI to Support Women in Tech

Women in Tech Employer Awards 2026

On 29 September, Equinox Consulting was named winner of Best Use of AI to Support Women in Tech at the Women in Tech Employer Awards 2026. The other category winners included Allianz UK, HMRC, Experian and Heathrow. We were the small, female-led business in the room, and we're proud of that.

What the award recognised

It wasn't for using AI to go faster. It was for using AI to remove barriers that hold women back in business and in tech. The judges highlighted three things:

  • Practical Mastery of AI. This is our four-week programme that teaches founders and CEOs how to use AI practically and with confidence. In the first cohort, 70% of participants were women running small businesses. Many of them had felt left behind by how fast AI was moving and put off by the noise around it.
  • Fairer hiring. We use AI in our own recruitment to benchmark CVs and review interviews consistently. This reduces the unconscious bias that can disadvantage women at every stage of hiring.
  • PULSE Pro™. This is the AI-powered business intelligence tool we're building for SMEs. It's designed with female founders in mind, because women are more likely to bootstrap and less likely to have the safety net that better-funded competitors rely on.

What it means to us

“Winning Best Use of AI to Support Women in Tech means an enormous amount to our entire team. We are a small female led business operating in a very competitive space, so to be recognised for using AI in a practical, genuine way, making real people's working lives easier, was a proud moment for us.
What makes is especially meaningful is what this work has led to. The way we have adopted AI and automation within Equinox taught us some crucial lessons. The main one being that AI only transforms a business that has the foundation in place first. So every lesson we have learnt, the processes, the standards, the systems, and the AI supporting that, we have built into our offering that guides other SMBs to get their business genuinely fit before they adopt AI, so the transformation is real rather than just causing additional chaos.
The award is proof that you don't need enterprise budget to build something meaningful with AI, and given us real momentum as we bring that to businesses who need it. Thank you to the Women in Tech Employer awards for championing what we do.”

Dawn Coupe, CEO, Equinox Consulting

Why it matters for your business

Dawn's point is the one we make to every client. AI on a messy business just speeds up the mess. The businesses that get real value from AI are the ones that sort out their processes, standards and people first, and then bring in the systems and AI to support them.

That's how the PULSE™ Framework works, and it's what the award recognised.

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Dawn Coupe
CEO

What our clients say

“Dawn and her team provided an exemplary service at a time when we had lost critical resource during a Systems implementation. I was particularly impressed at how Dawn listened carefully to our needs, she did not assume anything and tailored her response accordingly. From the outset Dawn communicated well and as a result we very quickly developed a strong relationship built on trust and mutual understanding. The team behind Dawn at Equinox shared her passion and enthusiasm which was very helpful as with all implementations it is difficult to maintain momentum thankfully we did."
Sue Graham
“The team at Equinox have been nothing short of amazing. We were experiencing a lot of issues implementing Unit 4 and Equinox came in to support. They quickly got to grips with the situation and have supported and mentored the team through to the point of go live and beyond. I’m very grateful for their support. Every person I have dealt with has been incredibly supportive and determined to get us the right outcome!”
Gary Harvey
“Great customer service, professional and very helpful. I highly recommend Equinox. They provide excellent service, using experienced and knowledgeable consultants.”
Ania Bordon

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