Var Shankar

Var Shankar is Chair of the Council on AI Governance, an organization dedicated to advancing the state of the art in AI governance. Previously the Executive Director at the Responsible AI Institute, he specialized in building robust AI compliance frameworks and advised clients on data privacy issues. An attorney by training, Var practiced at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and is a graduate of Harvard Law School.

Var has partnered with corporate and public-sector clients to design pioneering AI governance programs. A frequent speaker on policy and compliance, he has headlined events ranging from The Economist’s “Crafting AI Policy” to the MIT Sloan AI & ML Conference. He serves on the OECD’s Network of Experts on AI, the World Economic Forum’s AI Governance Alliance, and the Brookings Forum for Cooperation on AI, and co-developed Kaggle’s Intro to AI Ethics course.