As we rapidly integrate tech into every parts of our lives from precision agriculture to AI agents in our SOC the layers that underpin it are increasingly vulnerable to shocks and new great power competition. The convergence of technologies accelerates and amplifies these risks with the ripple effects often emerging unexpectedly, sometimes far from the initial risk and leaping between our cyber and cyber-physical infrastructure. With adversaries finding new avenues for collaboration as Western diplomacy and reach fragments, the quest for supremacy over the tech and its supply chain is driving new alliances and geopolitical actors. Understanding these dynamics (and maybe why you might need geopolitics expertise in your boardroom) is key to seeing beyond the line of sight and ensuring that your businesses can build towards holistic cyber resilience.

Wed Oct 15 / 16:00 - 16:30 BST

The Fast and The Furious: Understanding Geopolitics in the Age of AI
11. Melanie Garson - Associate Professor (Teaching) in International Security & Conflict Resolution, UCL

Melanie Garson

Associate Professor (Teaching) in International Security & Conflict Resolution, UCL

Melanie is an Associate Professor in International Security in the Department of Political Science at University College London where she teaches her flagship course “From Cyberwarfare to Robots: The Future of Conflict in the Digital Age” that examines the nexus of disruptive tech and building defence and resilience. She also teaches courses on international negotiation and tech diplomacy, as well as problem-solving for policymaking at HM Treasury.

She provides practical insights and thought leadership for policymakers across the full spectrum of cyber policy, tech geopolitics, and defence innovation challenges. Having spent four years at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, where she set up the cyber policy function, she has advised leaders globally on cyber resilience policy, the geopolitics of the internet, space, AI, and compute, the rise of tech companies as geopolitical actors, data governance as well as the future of defence.

Melanie is an accredited mediator and prior to joining UCL worked as a solicitor in the International Disputes department of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, covering Public International Law, International Arbitration, and International Corporate Investigations, as well as teaching mediation and negotiation techniques.


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