Akanksha Ray (PPS’20): Shaping a More Inclusive Future for Technology

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When Akanksha Ray (PPS’20) thinks about the future, she sees both extraordinary possibility and deep responsibility. As Director of Global Policy at Credo AI, she helps organizations around the world use artificial intelligence in ways that are ethical, transparent, and inclusive. Her work focuses on ensuring that technological progress benefits people and communities, not just institutions.

Akanksha’s interest in technology and policy first took shape at Duke, where she studied public policy and economics and immersed herself in the Program in American Grand Strategy and Sanford’s Cyber Policy initiative. Those experiences sparked her curiosity about how public policy can guide innovation while protecting human rights and equity.

Before joining Credo AI, Akanksha spent several years at Intel, where she led global programs focused on artificial intelligence and digital trust. She helped governments, educators, and communities build skills for an increasingly digital world, and worked to make responsible technology governance a shared goal across sectors. Her approach has always centered on access and inclusion, bringing diverse voices into global technology conversations.

Akanksha’s work has taken her around the world, including a collaboration with the U.S. State Department’s TechCamp program in Kazakhstan, where she worked with journalists and activists confronting the challenges of AI in restricted information environments. She has also been recognized as an Aspen Strategy Group Rising Leader, joining peers who explore policy solutions to some of today’s most complex global issues.

Even as her career expands internationally, Akanksha remains closely connected to the Sanford community. She continues to mentor students interested in technology and AI policy, including through Duke’s Cyber Cup competition, which challenges students to apply policy thinking to real-world cybersecurity scenarios. For Akanksha, returning to Sanford to guide future leaders is both a way to give back and a continuation of the mission that has shaped her work since graduation.

She recently shared reflections on the impact Sanford has had on her journey, her perspective on the role of public policy today, and what it means to stand for something in an era of rapid technological change.

What impact has Sanford had on your professional and/or personal journey?

At Sanford, I was able to develop meaningful relationships with both faculty and peers via programs like the Duke Cyber Policy program that exposed me to areas of public policy I didn't know existed -- namely "technology and AI policy." Beyond my years at Duke, those relationships have continued to sustain my curiosity, exposure to different ways of thinking about and affecting policy change, and general motivation and support through personal and professional transitions that I will value for the rest of my life.

Why does public policy matter in 2025 and beyond?  

We are living in a moment of many shifting waves influencing tangible elements of day to day life - such as education, employability, security, and our livelihoods -- whether it is technology disruption, new friction on fiscal discipline vs. social spending, the questions of security vs. openness and impact to the safety of civilians -- public policy continues to be the main lever through which we address distribution effects and improve livelihood outcomes for people. In a time where the corporate industry wields a lot of influence, I see public policy as a key balancing mechanism to address the very credible concerns of communities and civil society.

I also believe that honest public policy debate moves past political heuristics, theoreticals and divisive messaging -- instead forcing honest conversation about where people can come to the table together and agree on real initiatives to drive growth or other shared goals and bridge differences with a more realistic mindset, instead of a hypothetical, purely aspirational one. 

What is the most interesting highlight so far in your career?

A major highlight has been working with a team at the US State Department that ran a program called TechCamp -- which was truly  democratizing technology education and civic engagement in areas with lower technology access. Getting to travel to Kazakhstan, where this program convened journalists and activists from around Central Asia was particularly enlightening for me as I learned about the many specific issues of AI trust that these advocates were facing in a political environment where speech was largely suppressed and information dissemination was both vital for spreading democracy but blurred by challenges posed by AI deepfakes. While I got to share insights on AI trust and governance, I learned even more from participants and got to engage in the issues in a region of the world I had not been exposed to previously.

Terry Sanford implored students to 'stand for something.'  What do you stand for?

I stand for a world where technological progress doesn't leave communities behind. In AI policy, we frequently are faced with a false choice: race ahead competitively or slow down cautiously. I believe in the US leading AI development, but by building bridges—between innovation and equity, between the Global North and South, between those developing algorithms and those living with its consequences. That means creating programming that brings new types of participants and thinkers into this space, pushing for capacity-building in emerging economies, and ultimately changing hearts and minds to view cooperation as a strength rather than a weakness.

What seeds of change are you planting in your community?

I hope that I am making a positive impact and planting seeds of change in my community by speaking to students hoping to enter the space of technology/AI policy about the realities of the field and navigating a professional career that bridges the private and public sector. By informing more people of what AI governance and policy really entail -- I hope to get more folks from various backgrounds/disciplines engaged and excited about shaping its future. Working with university students -- and sometimes just with friends in other professional circles -- I hope to make this conversation about the future of AI a less scary, more exciting one.