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Co-Founder and Director of The Digital Statecraft Academy

Dr Zeynep Engin is Co-Founder and Director of the Digital Statecraft Academy and a leading voice shaping the emerging field of digital statecraft. She brings over 20 years’ experience working across artificial intelligence, from theoretical machine learning and computational neuroscience to the design of proactive, responsible, and citizen-focused governance systems.

She is the founder of several globally recognised initiatives, including Data for Policy CIC (Founding Director and Chair) and the Data & Policy journal (Founding Editor-in-Chief, Cambridge University Press). Through these, she has built an international community advancing the strategic use of data, AI, and technology in public decision-making since 2015.

Recognised as one of the UK’s top academic influencers in AI, Dr Engin advises national governments, international organisations, and multilateral institutions on the governance of—and with—emerging technologies. Her work, supported by organisations including UKRI, The Alan Turing Institute, the European Commission, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, focuses on shaping legitimate, trustworthy, and inclusive approaches to AI-enabled governance worldwide.

Dr Engin holds a PhD from Imperial College London in biologically inspired statistical pattern detection and has held fellowships and research posts at the University of Cambridge, University College London, and Tokyo Institute of Technology.