This public conversation brings together The Hon. Dr. Kevin Rudd, President and CEO of Asia Society, and Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence, technology policy, cybersecurity, and geopolitics in an increasingly complex global environment. The discussion will examine how governments, institutions, and technology leaders can foster innovation, strengthen resilience against cyber threats, and advance international approaches to responsible AI development and governance.
Speakers
As Microsoft’s vice chair and president, Brad Smith is responsible for spearheading the company’s work and representing it publicly on a wide variety of critical issues involving the intersection of technology and society, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, privacy, environmental sustainability, human rights, digital safety, immigration, philanthropy, and products and business for non-profit customers. He leads a team of roughly 2,000 business, legal and corporate affairs professionals located in 54 countries and operating in more than 120 nations.
In Smith’s bestselling book, coauthored with Microsoft’s Carol Ann Browne, Tools and Weapons: The Promise and the Peril of the Digital Age, he urges the tech sector to assume more responsibility and calls for governments to move faster to address the challenges that new technologies are creating. In his podcast by the same name, Smith and his guests expand on the themes in the book, exploring potential solutions to the digital issues shaping the world today. The New York Times has called Smith “a de facto ambassador for the technology industry at large” and The Australian Financial Review has described him as “one of the technology industry’s most respected figures.” He has testified numerous times before the U.S. Congress and other governments on these key policy issues.
His podcast, Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith, is available on all podcast platforms.
The Honorable Dr. Kevin Rudd AC served as Australia’s 26th Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010, then as Minister for Foreign Affairs, before a second term as Prime Minister in 2013. In March 2023, Dr. Rudd assumed his role as Australia’s Ambassador to the United States in Washington, D.C. He is recognized as a preeminent Sinologist and, prior to his ambassadorship, served as the inaugural President of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York from 2015 to 2023. In 2020, he was also appointed President & CEO of the Asia Society globally and, in 2022, founded the Center for China Analysis. He has just returned to Asia Society as its 10th President & CEO.
Brad Smith, Microsoft Vice Chair and President
Host
Mon, Sep 21, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (EDT)
To be shared on approval (New York)
40 attendees
This public conversation brings together The Hon. Dr. Kevin Rudd, President and CEO of Asia Society, and Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence, technology policy, cybersecurity, and geopolitics in an increasingly complex global environment. The discussion will examine how governments, institutions, and technology leaders can foster innovation, strengthen resilience against cyber threats, and advance international approaches to responsible AI development and governance.
Speakers
As Microsoft’s vice chair and president, Brad Smith is responsible for spearheading the company’s work and representing it publicly on a wide variety of critical issues involving the intersection of technology and society, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, privacy, environmental sustainability, human rights, digital safety, immigration, philanthropy, and products and business for non-profit customers. He leads a team of roughly 2,000 business, legal and corporate affairs professionals located in 54 countries and operating in more than 120 nations.
In Smith’s bestselling book, coauthored with Microsoft’s Carol Ann Browne, Tools and Weapons: The Promise and the Peril of the Digital Age, he urges the tech sector to assume more responsibility and calls for governments to move faster to address the challenges that new technologies are creating. In his podcast by the same name, Smith and his guests expand on the themes in the book, exploring potential solutions to the digital issues shaping the world today. The New York Times has called Smith “a de facto ambassador for the technology industry at large” and The Australian Financial Review has described him as “one of the technology industry’s most respected figures.” He has testified numerous times before the U.S. Congress and other governments on these key policy issues.
His podcast, Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith, is available on all podcast platforms.
The Honorable Dr. Kevin Rudd AC served as Australia’s 26th Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010, then as Minister for Foreign Affairs, before a second term as Prime Minister in 2013. In March 2023, Dr. Rudd assumed his role as Australia’s Ambassador to the United States in Washington, D.C. He is recognized as a preeminent Sinologist and, prior to his ambassadorship, served as the inaugural President of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York from 2015 to 2023. In 2020, he was also appointed President & CEO of the Asia Society globally and, in 2022, founded the Center for China Analysis. He has just returned to Asia Society as its 10th President & CEO.