Digital Drive Empowers Women Entrepreneurs with AI Skills

A day-long workshop on “Digital Skills Development” was held at the headquarters of BRAC Bank in Dhaka, bringing together 120 women entrepreneurs under the bank’s financial inclusion and empowerment initiative, “TARA.” The training was conducted by Bangladesh Open Source Network (BdOSN).

Held on Monday, July 28, the workshop aimed to equip participants with hands-on knowledge about integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into their businesses. The sessions covered a range of practical applications, including market research, product design, competitor analysis, graphic and video content creation for advertisements, marketing automation strategies, and social media content planning and branding using AI tools.

Led by BdOSN President Munir Hasan, the workshop explored topics such as "What AI is, why it matters, and how it can benefit entrepreneurs." The training featured real-life demonstrations showing how AI can be used for productivity enhancement and business expansion.

The workshop was facilitated by Shah Poran, Co-founder of Opzo Technology; Asad Iqbal, Founder of Virtualnic Solutions; Mrajina Islam, Founder of Kaj360; Tasbin Tasfia, Co-founder of MarcoPolo AI; and Mosharaf Hossain Tipu, Program Officer at BdOSN.

Workshop coordinator Promi Nahid remarked, “Artificial intelligence is becoming like Aladdin’s genie for many entrepreneurs—boosting productivity and expanding businesses. But not everyone knows how to use that genie. This workshop addressed that gap by teaching how to leverage free AI tools to accelerate business growth.”

She added that many participants were concerned about the costs of paid AI tools. “We introduced them to numerous free tools that are sufficient for small-scale operations. The training also demonstrated how to use AI-generated visuals and videos in an authentic manner.”