Cover The new Porsche Cayenne was unveiled at The Warehouse Hotel in Singapore
The new Porsche Cayenne was unveiled at The Warehouse Hotel in Singapore
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In celebration of the new Cayenne, Porsche and Gen.T held a private lunch and conversation with tech and non-profit founder Ayesha Khanna on adventuring ahead
It was before noon on a Friday when guests descended on The Warehouse Hotel with anticipation—it was the launch day of the newest Porsche Cayenne.
Upon entering the hotel, they were greeted by the veiled silhouette of the car, which sat hidden underneath a black drape that glowed purple under the spotlight. But before the unveiling took place, guests were ushered into Pó for a three-course modern Singaporean meal and a quick popiah-making class.
Over lunch, guests also listened intently to AI entrepreneur Dr Ayesha Khanna and Tatler’s Front and Female content lead, Rachel Duffell, engage in a discussion on the idea of going further together—the idea behind the Cayenne—as a society.
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Above Rachel Duffell, Ayesha Khanna
Rachel Duffell, Ayesha Khanna
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Aside from running her own artificial intelligence solutions firm Addo, Ayesha started the charity 21st Century Girls (21C Girls) to address the gender gap in the technology sector. 21C Girls teaches girls the basics of coding, robotics, AI, Web3 and virtual worlds.
“When I came to Singapore after spending almost 20 years in the US, I saw a big gap in how people were looking, appreciating and using data to be more customer-centric,” shared Ayesha. “That’s why I started Addo, and very soon after, [21C Girls] as well to make sure we had more girls coming [into the tech sector].”
On 21C Girls’ approach to learning, she said, “You can’t help someone to succeed, but you can empower them with skills. This is why at 21C Girls, we believe you should go through the hard work as you go through the hard work at the gym to build your muscles. And no one can take that away from you.”
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Sam Chua, Sharon Wong, Li Jingmei, Nejla Matam-Finn
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She also shared her perspective on mentors: “A mentor is often seen as some magic bullet”, but over the years, she said that she realised that she’s had many “micro-mentoring moments” with different people.
“I would have conversations with people—colleagues, bosses, acquaintances—who would each share something with me, and it was all worth it,” she said. “I think women need to feel that they don’t need just one mentor, but a network of micro-mentors, who are actually everywhere around them and in different fields.”
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Her goal for 21C Girls is ultimately to teach girls creativity and an understanding of risk and failure through computer science. “[In computer science], you’re given a problem to solve and you’ll fail repeatedly. It’s called debugging. And it’s fundamentally a creative process.
“What happens is if you keep doing and doing, failure becomes not a big deal. And that’s what I’m trying to teach girls. It’s an attitude to work. It’s not about AI or technology. It’s about seeing that taking risks and failing are part of the course.”
Energised by the conversation and lunch, guests headed to the hotel lobby, where the new Cayenne was unveiled. Known as the sports car for five, the Cayenne boasts performance combined with the everyday practicality of an SUV. After which, they proceeded to explore the various activities taking place onsite, which included a floral design workshop, tea blending and test drives of the car.
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Credits
Photography: Max Chan
Chong Seow Wei is a regional senior editor covering business, innovation, impact and people. Based in Singapore, she oversees content for Gen.T, Tatler’s platform for promising entrepreneurs and new-generation leaders, and its Power & Purpose vertical.
