Six persons of Indian descent feature in The Tech Diplomacy Global 50 list for 2026 recognizing the world’s most influential leaders advancing responsible technology policy, digital governance, and international cooperation in the age of AI, cybersecurity, and digital transformation.
“From ministers and ambassadors to civil society pioneers and UN officials, these 50 individuals represent 25 women and 25 men from five continents, bringing diverse perspectives to the most pressing tech policy challenges of our time,” says the Tech Diplomacy Global Institute established in collaboration with UNESCO.
North America list features Vilas Dhar, President, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, USA, a leading global expert on the future of artificial intelligence and its role in shaping society.
Under Dhar’s leadership, the Foundation is one of the largest global funders of AI for public purpose, stewarding a $1.5 billion endowment and directing more than $500 million in commitments to organizations advancing climate action, public health, education, and democratic governance.
The Foundation has built pioneering AI tools, convened cross-sector coalitions, and partnered with governments, companies, and communities to show how emerging technologies can be designed and deployed for human benefit.
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Prof. Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Director, Center for Technological Responsibility, Brown University, USA, is a Professor of Computer Science and Data Science.
Venkatasubramanian did a stint in the Biden-Harris administration, where he served as Assistant Director for Science and Justice in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In that capacity, he helped co-author the Blueprint for an AI BIll of Rights.
He has received a CAREER award from the NSF for his work in the geometry of probability, a test-of-time award at ICDE 2017 for his work in privacy, and a KAIS Journal award for his work on auditing black-box models. He was recently named by Fast Company to their AI20 list of thinkers shaping the world of generative AI.
Prof. Ajay Agrawal is an economist and professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. He is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, MA; an academic advisory council member at the Center on Regulation and Markets at Brookings in Washington, DC; a member of the McKinsey Technology Council; an advisory board member for Carnegie Mellon University’s Block Center for Technology and Society in Pittsburgh.
Agrawal is the founder of the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) and cofounder of NEXT Canada, both not-for-profit programs that support the commercialization of science via entrepreneurship. CDL is one of the largest programs in the world for seed-stage, science-based companies. He is cofounder of Sanctuary, creating the world’s first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots.
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Asia Pacific list features Indian diplomat Amandeep Gill, UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology. Named to the post in June 2022, Gill is the Chief Executive Officer of the International Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence Research Collaborative (I-DAIR) project, based at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.
Previously, he was the Executive Director and Co-Lead of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation (2018-2019). Gill was India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva (2016-2018).
Gill holds a PhD in Nuclear Learning in Multilateral Forums from King’s College, London, a Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Electrical Communications from Panjab University, Chandigarh and an Advanced Diploma in French History and Language from Geneva University.
A Also featured on the list are YB Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Digital, Malaysia, an alumnus of the University of Warwick and Deodat Maharaj Managing Director, UN Technology Bank for LDCs, Trinidad & Tobago.