An ‘AI-ready’ person is someone who knows enough to decide how, when and if they want to engage with AI. Critical AI literacy is the pathway to such agency. Consequently, governments should drive the equitable development of AI-related skills to everyone from the earliest years via formal, informal, and extracurricular education programs covering technical and soft skills, along with awareness of digital safety and privacy issues. Governments and civil society organisations should create, and fund grant schemes aimed at enhancing the enrolment of women in AI education. Organizations also can play a critical role via paid internships and promoting community visits, talks, workshops, and engagement with AI practitioners. To harness the potential of increasing diversity and inclusion in the global AI ecosystem, such opportunities should prioritise participation (as facilitators and participants) of people with diverse attributes (including cultural, ethnic, age, gender identification, cognitive, professional, etcetera).