One of TIME100’s Most Influential People in AI, Verity Harding, has worked at the cutting edge of AI for a decade. She is Founder of Formation Advisory, an AI consultancy company, and Director of the AI & Geopolitics Project at the University of Cambridge. Her debut book ‘AI Needs You: how we can change AI’s future and save our own’, was published in March 2024.

Harding's career has focussed on the intersection of technology and democracy, most recently as DeepMind's first Global Head of Public Policy, where in she co-founded the company's research and ethics unit, as well as the independent multi-stakeholder organisation the Partnership on AI. She was also a member of the OECD's Network of AI Experts, the body which developed the first intergovernmental standard on AI, adopted by the G20. Previously, Harding was Head of Security Policy for Google in Europe covering issues such as online extremism and encryption and worked in 10 Downing Street as a Special Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister Sir Nick Clegg. She has served on the Cabinet Office Digital Advisory Board, a group of independent experts recruited to provide insight on digital, data and technology to the UK government.