Speakers

One of TIME100’s Most Influential People in AI, Verity Harding, is a globally recognised expert in AI, technology and public policy. She is Founder of Formation Advisory Ltd, a technology consultancy firm, and Director of the AI & Geopolitics Project at Cambridge University's Bennett Institute for Public Policy. Her debut book ‘AI Needs You: how we can change AI’s future and save our own’, will be published by Princeton University Press in March 2024. Harding’s career has been focussed on the intersection of technology and democracy. She spent a decade at Alphabet, latterly as DeepMind's first Global Head of Public Policy, where in 2017 she co-founded the company's research and ethics unit as well as the independent multi-stakeholder organisation the Partnership on AI. She was also a member of the OECD's Network of AI Experts in 2018-19, the body which developed the first intergovernmental standard on AI, adopted by the G20 and beyond. Prior to this, Harding was Head of Security Policy for Google in Europe covering issues such as online extremism and encryption and, before moving to the tech industry, served the British Government as a Special Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister the Rt Hon Sir Nick Clegg. In her spare time Harding serves on the Cabinet Office Digital Advisory Board, a group of independent experts recruited to provide insight on digital, data and technology to the UK government.