Events & Speaking

Washington, DC

Briefing: Community Forums, AI Governance, and African Contexts

Georgetown Law School, Washington, DC

Hosted by Georgetown's Institute for Technology Law & Policy and Student Intellectual Property Law Association. I discuss AI risks in Africa, surveillance challenges from Chinese tech expansion, digital rights solutions, cyberlaw developments, and key publications on digital sovereignty and postcolonial tech governance.

Wesleyan University, CT

Cables, Clouds, and Control: Digital Infrastructure and Sovereignty in the Global South is a lecture exploring how undersea cables, cloud systems, and digital platforms shape power dynamics and sovereignty for nations in Africa and Asia. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in Kenya's ICT sector, it critiques risk discourses that deter Western investment while analyzing China's Digital Silk Road as a reconfiguration of dependency—visible infrastructure like fiber networks masking upstream control in software and standards. The talk highlights "stacked dependency," agency amid great-power rivalry, and calls for recognizing African states' negotiated roles in global digital accumulation.

Athens, Greece

Engaged in a Microsoft conference offsite in Athens (March 3–4), coordinating with senior leaders, including the President of Microsoft Global Affairs (national security, cybersecurity, and international government affairs).

Virtual, Meeting

I attended a follow-up consultation event with Pall Mall Process, which focused on good practices for industry to address the threats posed by the proliferation and irresponsible use of commercial cyber intrusion abilities.

Presentation at Annual Africa-Americas Forum on China,John Hopkins Bloomberg Center, Washington, D.C.

This panel will examine how Africa and the Americas can exercise greater norm-setting power in global AI and emerging technology governance—across areas such as data governance, digital public infrastructure, algorithmic accountability, cybersecurity, and cross-border digital trade. The discussion will focus on how policymakers can leverage procurement, regulation, and regional coordination to shape global rules, ensure technology supports inclusive development, and avoid new forms of technological dependency in an increasingly fragmented digital order.

Stanford University and Pepperdine University, Washington, DC

On December 9th, Stanford University and Pepperdine University will be hosting a reception from 3:00-4:30pm at the Hoover Institute offices in DC. This event will follow an earlier small group symposium ​titled "From People to Policy Makers: Perspectives on AI" with a small number of industry partners and policy leaders. The participants in the reception will include representatives from Meta, Microsoft, Cohere, DoorDash, PayPal, Anthropic, and others. It will also include Congressmember staffers, civil society (Center for Democracy and Technology; American Enterprise Institute; others) and researchers in the area of participatory AI. Because the summit has extremely limited space, the organizers wanted to make sure that stakeholders like you are invited into the reception.

French-American Foundation Cyber Conference, Washington, DC

The 12th edition of the French-American Cyber Security Conference is scheduled for Thursday, December 4th and Friday, December 5th, 2025 and will focus on the theme “Cybersecurity in the Global Digital Economy.”

G20, Johannesburg, South Africa

Jili, Bulelani. Showcasing Africa’s AI Leadership. Discussant at Africa AI Village, South Africa G20 Summit, Johannesburg, November 2025.

American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA

A two-day conference examining agency, dependency, and the China question in African digital trade relationships.

Atlantic Council and World Bank, Washington, DC

Panel Discussion at Work Bank with Atlantic Council and UK government, Washington, DC, October 2025.