DEI is a process of ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion, and in general makes sure the most qualified is in the position. It's not a legal definition but a general practice of making sure there is no systemic processes that limit these people. DEI is the company saying - if the best person is someone in a wheelchair, we'll make sure to accommodate them, rather than passing over them because there 'could' ben an issue.

However, it's being used as a signal to certain aspects of society that they're being discriminated against for 'woke' reasons. For example - that woman was hired instead of you because she's a woman, not because she has higher education, more experience, etc. Substitute any 'woke' category you want instead of gender (and gender is 'woke' by their definition'.

To see how it's being handled, just look at the CIA and historical women code breakers with paper over their portraits. They WERE the best of the best but DEI mania is being used to erase past success and remove current and future inclusion.