Dr. Bulelani Jili

Dr. Bulelani Jili is a scholar and adviser known for making the politics of technology clear, practical and urgent. As an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and Faculty Associate at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, he brings academic depth with real policy experience. One of his standout achievements is becoming a trusted voice on AI governance, surveillance and digital power across Africa and the Global South, advising institutions shaping global technology choices.

Bulelani’s journey began with a strong grounding in ethics, political economy and public reasoning, earning an honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Wesleyan University as a Pfeiffer Scholar. He then won a Yenching Scholarship to study at Peking University, where he completed an MA in Economics and built first-hand understanding of Chinese policy debates, institutions and incentives. Further study at the University of Cambridge as a Standard Bank Africa Chairman’s Scholar sharpened his focus on African political economy and the global networks that shape development, governance and inequality, a foundation that now runs through his talks.

His career combines research leadership with high-stakes advisory work. He completed a PhD at Harvard University, with his doctorate awarded with no corrections, and his scholarship has been backed by major competitive awards including the Meta Research PhD Fellowship, the Wenner Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Fellowship, and the Google Public Policy Fellowship. Alongside academia, Bulelani has held influential roles and affiliations, including Visiting Fellow at Yale Law School, Cybersecurity Fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center, Fellow at the Atlantic Council, and Committee Member on the IEEE Standards Association’s Global Initiative on AI Systems Ethics. His insights reach wide audiences through prominent outlets, and he is frequently invited to international forums across multiple continents, where he explains how digital infrastructure quietly restructures power and accountability.

Organisations hire Bulelani because he connects the dots between technology, geopolitics and everyday decision-making, giving leaders a grounded view of what is changing, why it matters, and what to do next. His keynote themes include ai governance and global power, China’s growing digital footprint, digital sovereignty, surveillance technologies and human rights, topics that sit at the heart of risk, regulation and long-term competitiveness. If you want a speaker who brings intellectual rigour, global context and clear takeaways, Bulelani delivers an authoritative keynote that stays with audiences long after the final slide.