Shyam Krishna is a research leader at RAND Europe. Specialising in AI governance, risk and emerging technologies, his multidisciplinary work draws on experience across technology policy, mixed-methods research, business analytics and engineering, with a particular focus on how governments and organisations can anticipate, assess and govern risks arising from rapidly evolving AI systems.
His recent research focuses on AI risk and governance, including the implications of frontier and agentic AI for critical national infrastructure, resilience and security. His work examines challenges around AI oversight, monitoring, incident management and escalation, accountability, interoperability and human control, as well as the governance implications of increasingly autonomous and interconnected AI systems.
Krishna has extensive experience designing and delivering policy research for governments and international organisations. He has engaged with governments across the UK, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America through his roles at RAND Europe, UNESCO and the Alan Turing Institute. His work has included national AI governance assessments, AI risk and regulatory frameworks, policy pathways, capacity building and research on the governance of emerging technologies.
Alongside this risk and governance focus, Krishna maintains an interest in the societal and normative dimensions of AI, particularly where questions of responsibility, participation and public value intersect with practical governance challenges. He has extensive experience convening policymakers, industry, researchers and civil society through workshops, expert consultations and other research exercises.
Krishna received his Ph.D. in critical data studies and information systems from Royal Holloway, University of London.
Education
Ph.D. in critical data studies and information systems, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK; M.Sc. in information and communication technologies for development, University of Manchester, UK; M.B.A. in business management (technology specilisation), Indian Institute of Management, Shillong, India; B.S. in electronics and communications engineering, Anna University, India
Selected Work
- Andrés Domínguez Hernández, Shyam Krishna, Antonella Maia Perini, Michael Katell, SJ Bennett, Ann Borda, Youmna Hashem, Semeli Hadjiloizou, Sabeehah Mahomed, Smera Jayadeva, Mhairi Aitken, David Leslie, "Mapping the individual, social and biospheric impacts of Foundation Models," Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency, 2024
- David Leslie, Carolyn Ashurst, Natalia Menéndez González, Frances Griffiths, Smera Jayadeva, Mackenzie Jorgensen, Michael Katell, Shyam Krishna, Doschmund Kwiatkowski, Carolina Iglésias Martins, Sabeehah Mahomed, Carlos Mougan, Shachi Pandit, Mark Richey,, "‘Frontier AI,’Power, and the Public Interest: Who benefits, who decides?" Harvard Data Science Review, 2024
- Pica Johansson, Jonathan Bright, Shyam Krishna, Claudia Fischer, David Leslie, Exploring responsible applications of Synthetic Data to advance Online Safety Research and Development, , 2024
- [Lead Programme Specialist], UNESCO Model AI Governance Framework (forthcoming)