Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.

Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder

Aspen Institute Announces Inaugural Class of the Technology Leaders Initiative

A first-of-its-kind program built to put philosophy into practice for the leaders shaping the future of AI and frontier technology.

Washington, DC, July 16, 2026  — The Aspen Institute today announced the inaugural cohort of the Technology Leaders Initiative (TLI), bringing together 22 senior leaders from across the technology ecosystem shaping the future of artificial intelligence and frontier technologies. Drawn from organizations such as Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta, Microsoft, JPMorganChase, and OpenAI, the Fellows represent a broad range of perspectives and expertise across industry. They will convene in September 2026 in Aspen, CO, beginning a two-year pilot program dedicated to reflection, dialogue, and leadership at a pivotal moment for technology and society.

“Seventy-five years ago, the Aspen Institute gathered world leaders to reckon with the atomic age. Today, as AI, biotechnology, and quantum computing reshape human power, we are once again convening the people closest to these technologies to have the hard, constructive arguments about the future of society that transcend national, sectoral, and disciplinary borders,” said Dar Vanderbeck, Vice President of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. “Technology stops being progress the moment it outpaces the wisdom of the people deploying it. The solution cannot be regulation alone. It must be leadership.”

Most leadership programs in technology focus on product strategy or policy alignment. The TLI is built on a different premise: the leaders closest to these technologies rarely have the protected space to examine their impact on the world with others who answer to the same scale of consequence. Across four week-long seminars over two years, Fellows will discuss the memoirs of great leaders, philosophical texts, and parables, applying each to the leadership challenges in front of them.

“Every era confronting new forms of power has turned to philosophy and the great works for guidance. This program puts Fellows into conversation with previous generations who have reasoned through the eternal questions about power, judgment, and what we owe each other,” said Chris Varelas, Co-Founder, Technology Leaders Initiative, and Aspen Institute Trustee.

“Our Fellows are defining the ethics of frontier AI systems, securing critical cyber infrastructure, pioneering genomic medicine, and reimagining what creativity means in an age of intelligent machines. The decisions shaping this era will only be as good as the judgment and values of the people making them. The TLI exists to strengthen both,” said Amy Benziger, Managing Director of the Technology Leaders Initiative.

Inaugural TLI Fellows are:
  • Alex-Handrah Aimé, Vice President, Network Investments, Meta | Los Angeles, CA, United States
  • Kai Fong Chng, Permanent Secretary, Singapore Ministry of Digital Development and Information | Singapore
  • Aseem Datar, Chief Product Officer & Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Corporation | Redmond, WA, United States
  • Iason Gabriel, AGI & Society Lead; Senior Staff Research Scientist, Google DeepMind | London, United Kingdom
  • Lisa Gevelber, Chief Marketing Officer, Americas, Google; Founder, Grow with Google | Palo Alto, CA, United States
  • Holly Herndon, Composer, Artist, Herndon Dryhurst Studio; Co-Founder, Spawning AI | Berlin, Germany
  • Emilia Javorsky, Director, Futures Program, Future of Life Institute | Watertown, MA, United States
  • Irina Kofman, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives & Operations, OpenAI | Orinda, CA, United States
  • Nina Lozinski, Co-Head of AI & Machine Learning Investment Strategy, Bridgewater Associates, LP | New York, NY, United States
  • Tom McLeod, President, Saltwater; Founder, Arkive | Santa Monica, CA, United States
  • David Meyer, Senior Vice President, Product, Databricks | San Francisco, CA, United States
  • Nick Myerberg, Partner, Head of Artificial Intelligence and Technology, Braidwell | Stamford, CT, United States
  • Jessica Orkin, Executive Chair, SYPartners; Co-Founder, Plan A | New York, NY, United States
  • Leke Osinubi, Partner & Chief Digital Risk Officer, Goldman Sachs; Chief Information Security Officer, GS Bank USA | New York, NY, United States
  • Emily Schwartz, Manager, Policy Campaigns, Anthropic | Los Angeles, CA, United States
  • Govind Shivkumar, Director, Programs & Policy, Omidyar Network | Washington, DC, United States
  • Richard Socher, Co-Founder & CEO, Recursive; Founder & CEO, You.com | San Francisco, CA, United States
  • Mahesh Sudhakaran, General Manager, Grid Software, GE Vernova | Needham, MA, United States
  • John Tass-Parker, Executive Director, Artificial Intelligence, Policy and Partnerships, JPMorganChase | New York, NY, United States
  • Giles Whiting, CEO, Decisions; Former Co-Lead, DOGE for US Department of Defense and Department of Air Force | Charleston, SC, United States
  • Luhan Yang, Co-Founder & CEO, Qihan Biotech; Co-Founder, eGenesis; CRISPR pioneer | Hangzhou, China
  • Cecelia Zhou, Former Chief Operating Officer, Precision Robotics | Shanghai, China 

The program is supported by the partnership of the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and the Institute for Ethics in AI, University of Oxford. Special thanks to the early support from Mysten Labs. The program was founded by a consortium of Aspen Fellows and Trustees: Ailish Campbell (Executive Vice President, Public Sector, Mastercard; Finance Leaders Fellowship), Jen Zhu (Co-Founder & CEO, Power Dynamics; China Fellowship), Laela Sturdy (Managing Partner, CapitalG; Finance Leaders Fellowship), Verdun Perry (Global Head, Blackstone Strategic Partners; Finance Leaders Fellowship) and Chris Varelas (Founding Partner, Riverwood Capital; Aspen Institute Trustee).

Learn more at aspeninstitute.org/tli. 

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About the Technology Leaders Initiative: The Technology Leaders Initiative (TLI) is part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and modeled after the Aspen Institute’s Henry Crown Fellowship. Each two-year cohort brings together 22 Fellows from across the global technology ecosystem for four international seminars, led by senior Aspen Institute moderators. Fellows design and pursue individual impact initiatives that apply the program’s lessons to their own work and leadership. Participation is free for Fellows and their organizations. Learn more at aspeninstitute.org/programs/tech-leaders-initiative. 

About the Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, DC and has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, as well as an international network of partners. For more information, visit aspeninstitute.org.

Contact:
Samantha Cherry
Director, Communications and Engagement
Aspen Global Leadership Network, Aspen Institute
[email protected]