From Side Project to Scalable Impact: Jiazhao Shi Shares the Story Behind TechHerAI

We’re the team behind TechHerAI, a nonprofit platform dedicated to supporting women—especially recent graduates—entering the tech industry. Our core mission is to level the playing field using AI-powered tools that provide accessible, high-quality career support.

We come from diverse technical backgrounds across AI, software development, and product design, and we share a common passion for using technology to drive social impact. The idea for TechHerAI emerged as we observed how industry layoffs and competitive hiring practices disproportionately affected underrepresented groups in tech. We realized that while AI was transforming industries, it could also be used to empower those who needed it most.

What started as a side project quickly evolved into a scalable platform combining NLP, FastAPI, and deep learning models fine-tuned with human feedback. Winning a Vega Digital Awards affirms the impact of our mission, and we’re excited to continue innovating at the intersection of AI and social good.

We were inspired to submit TechHerAI to the Vega Digital Awards because it represents more than just a technical achievement—it’s a mission-driven effort to address real barriers faced by women in tech. As a team, we believe design and technology should serve a purpose beyond profit, and Vega’s focus on creativity and social impact resonated deeply with our values.

Winning this award is both humbling and motivating. Personally, it validates the long nights and hard decisions we made to build something meaningful from the ground up. Professionally, it gives our platform visibility and credibility, helping us reach more users, attract collaborators, and amplify our message that AI can—and should—be used for good.

The success of TechHerAI stems from a simple yet urgent realization: breaking into tech has become increasingly difficult—especially for women and recent graduates. As layoffs and hiring freezes swept through the industry, we saw firsthand how talented individuals were being left behind due to lack of access, confidence, or support. That’s what inspired us to act.

We created TechHerAI to bridge that gap. Instead of relying on expensive coaching or scattered online resources, we wanted to offer intelligent, free tools that simulate real interviews, generate personalized cover letters, and surface relevant job opportunities—all powered by AI. But beyond the technology, we wanted to create a community where women feel seen, supported, and empowered.

In today’s industry, TechHerAI represents more than just innovation—it represents inclusion. It shows that AI can be used not only for automation or productivity, but also for equity and impact. Our journey proves that with the right tools and values, tech can serve as a catalyst for meaningful change.

What set TechHerAI apart was our clear focus on social impact, paired with strong technical execution. While many platforms offer career support, few are built from the ground up to serve underrepresented communities using cutting-edge AI in a nonprofit model. We weren’t just solving a generic problem—we were addressing a specific, urgent need: helping women break into tech during one of the toughest job markets in recent years.

Several key elements made our project stand out:

1. Mission-driven design: Every feature—whether mock interviews, cover letter generation, or job board—was built to solve a real pain point for women navigating tech careers.

2. Advanced AI integration: We fine-tuned large language models using supervised learning and RLHF to ensure responses were personalized, fluent, and aligned with real hiring standards.

3. Scalability and accessibility: Our use of FastAPI and Hugging Face allowed us to build a robust, performant platform that is free to use and easy to access globally.

Ultimately, we believe it’s this fusion of purpose and precision—social mission backed by solid engineering—that made TechHerAI shine.

One of the biggest challenges we faced was the lack of real-world interview data for fine-tuning our model. High-quality, domain-specific data is critical to building effective NLP systems, but real interview transcripts and feedback are rarely public due to privacy and confidentiality concerns.

To overcome this, we took a twofold approach.

First, we gathered publicly available interview experiences and feedback shared by job seekers on forums and professional platforms.

Second, we used AI models to generate synthetic but realistic interview scenarios across different roles and seniority levels.

These datasets were then used to fine-tuning existing models through supervised learning and reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF).

This combination allowed us to significantly improve the semantic relevance and fluency of our AI-generated responses—resulting in a more authentic and helpful user experience for our mock interviews.

Winning the Vega Digital Awards is both an honor and a catalyst. For our team at TechHerAI, this recognition validates our belief that technology can—and should—be used to drive equity and empowerment. In the long run, we hope this achievement brings greater visibility to our mission, helps us reach more women navigating the tech industry, and attracts collaborators, mentors, and supporters who share our values.

Since the announcement, the award has helped lay a solid foundation for our next stage of growth. It has strengthened our credibility and opened the door to new conversations with potential collaborators and partners. We believe this recognition will continue to support our efforts as we expand and refine our impact.

Some members of our community have expressed pride in seeing a women-focused tech platform gain international recognition. For us, that quiet encouragement means a lot. It reminds us that even behind-the-scenes impact can be deeply meaningful.

We're looking forward to sharing the news more broadly and using this milestone to inspire more users and partners to join us in empowering women in tech.

Start with a clear purpose. Whether you’re building a product, launching a campaign, or writing an award entry, grounding your work in a meaningful mission makes it both impactful and memorable. For us, every feature in TechHerAI was driven by the goal of empowering women in tech—not just creating another tool.

When it comes to crafting an award-worthy entry:

Tell a story—not just what you built, but why it matters and who it helps. Highlight measurable impact—back your narrative with real results, user growth, or community engagement. Keep it human—technology is powerful, but the heart of every great project is the people it serves.

Finally, be persistent. Great ideas don’t become successful overnight. Stay focused, keep iterating, and don’t be afraid to apply—sometimes, the biggest hurdle is simply believing your work is worth recognizing.

We view the evolution of the creative industry—especially the rise of AI and human-centered design—not as a disruption, but as a powerful catalyst for inclusion, accessibility, and impact. Tools like generative AI, large language models, and intelligent interfaces are democratizing creativity and enabling small teams like ours to build solutions once reserved for major enterprises.

At TechHerAI, we aim to be at the forefront of this shift: not just applying AI for novelty, but using it with purpose. We believe the future belongs to platforms that combine cutting-edge technology with real social value.

That’s why we’re committed to scaling TechHerAI into a global support system for women in tech—expanding our offerings, deepening personalization through adaptive learning, and growing a thriving community around career empowerment.

As the industry evolves, we hope to position ourselves as a model for mission-driven innovation—proving that thoughtful design and ethical AI can drive both personal growth and systemic change.

It’s completely natural to feel hesitant—many of us did at first. But what we’ve learned is that awards aren’t just about winning; they’re about taking the time to reflect on your journey, articulate your impact, and recognize the value of your work. That process alone builds confidence.

For those with limited experience, we’d say: don’t underestimate the power of your ideas, especially if you’re solving real problems with purpose. Competitions like the Vega Digital Awards celebrate innovation, creativity, and intent—not just polish or scale.

Start small if needed. Share what you’ve built, why you built it, and the difference it’s making. Over time, you’ll not only gain recognition but also grow your voice, expand your network, and inspire others. That’s the real value—your story can open doors, for yourself and others.

In today’s fast-moving world, creativity is no longer just about originality—it’s about purpose, inclusion, and impact. As creatives, marketers, and technologists, we hold incredible power to shape narratives, open doors, and build platforms that reflect the world we want to see.

Our message is simple: use your creativity not only to innovate, but to uplift. When we design with empathy, market with integrity, and build with inclusion at the core, we don’t just capture attention—we create lasting change. Let’s keep pushing boundaries, amplifying underrepresented voices, and building communities where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

This achievement is dedicated to the thousands of women who inspired the creation of TechHerAI. Their resilience, ambition, and stories are what motivated us to build a platform that truly supports and empowers underrepresented talent in tech.

We also want to recognize the open-source and AI research communities whose contributions made our development possible, and the mentors and early users who gave us invaluable feedback during the platform’s formative stages. Most importantly, this award belongs to our entire team—Jiazhao, Chuanrui, Donghui, and Kuan—each of whom brought their unique strengths, late nights, and unwavering dedication to making TechHerAI a reality.

Together, we’re building more than just a product—we’re building a movement.

TechHerAI is an AI-powered career platform that democratizes access to mock interviews, cover letter generation, and job opportunities—empowering women in tech with the tools and confidence to succeed in a highly competitive job market.

This sentence captures both the essence of our mission and the practical impact of our solution, highlighting how we blend advanced technology with a clear social purpose.

We’re currently working on expanding TechHerAI with several exciting new features. One of our top priorities is launching an emotion and logic analysis module for our mock interview system. This will allow us to provide even deeper feedback on users’ responses—evaluating not just the content, but also delivery, clarity, and confidence. We're also exploring multilingual support to make our tools accessible to women in non-English-speaking regions.

In addition, we plan to partner with universities and coding bootcamps to offer TechHerAI as a free career prep solution for students and recent graduates. On the technical side, we’re continually improving our AI models, including experimenting with smaller, more efficient architectures for deployment in low-bandwidth regions.

Ultimately, our goal is to build a global, inclusive ecosystem where women in tech—no matter their background—can thrive with the help of smart, accessible AI tools.