Panelist Var Shankar

Var Shankar

Responsible AI Institute

United States

Var Shankar is executive director of the Responsible AI Institute, which helps organizations develop responsible AI capacity in alignment with applicable laws, frameworks, and best practices. Shankar is particularly interested in AI’s potential to address transnational challenges, including financial crime and climate change. He is a member of the OECD.AI Network of Experts, the World Economic Forum’s AI Governance Alliance, and the Brookings Forum for Cooperation on AI. He is also a co-instructor, along with Alexis Cook, of Kaggle’s AI Ethics course. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Shankar previously practiced law in the banking and capital markets divisions of Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

Voting History

Statement	Response
Organizations will be ready to meet the requirements of the EU AI Act as they phase in over the next 12 months. Neither agree nor disagree	“Leading organizations already have the foundations in place to meet the compliance requirements of the EU AI Act — such as governance, definitions, and tooling. These are generally large organizations in highly regulated industries. Other organizations will look to their industry leaders, to international standards, and to policy makers for guidance on how to comply.”
Organizations are sufficiently expanding risk management capabilities to address AI-related risks. Disagree	“Organizations need to adopt long-term approaches to AI risk while responding rapidly to new developments. They need cultural change and upskilling to help all employees think critically about AI risks. And they need to align with emerging AI risk standards and frameworks without getting lost in overlapping requirements and controls. Given the complexity of these challenges, it is not surprising that most organizations are not sufficiently expanding their risk management capabilities.”

Statement

Response

Organizations will be ready to meet the requirements of the EU AI Act as they phase in over the next 12 months. Neither agree nor disagree

“Leading organizations already have the foundations in place to meet the compliance requirements of the EU AI Act — such as governance, definitions, and tooling. These are generally large organizations in highly regulated industries. Other organizations will look to their industry leaders, to international standards, and to policy makers for guidance on how to comply.”

Organizations are sufficiently expanding risk management capabilities to address AI-related risks. Disagree

“Organizations need to adopt long-term approaches to AI risk while responding rapidly to new developments. They need cultural change and upskilling to help all employees think critically about AI risks. And they need to align with emerging AI risk standards and frameworks without getting lost in overlapping requirements and controls.

Given the complexity of these challenges, it is not surprising that most organizations are not sufficiently expanding their risk management capabilities.”