Mark Bryan Manantan, Ph.D. serves on UNESCO's AI Experts Without Borders and the advisory board of the ANU Philippines Institute, and is a research fellow at La Trobe University. Previously the inaugural Director of Cybersecurity and Critical Technologies at the Pacific Forum (Honolulu), he led the Cyber ASEAN Capacity Building Initiative (2022–2024), CONVERGE: Indo-Pacific Critical Technologies Forum (2024–2025), and the US–Japan and US–South Korea Cyber and Critical Technologies Partnerships (2020–2025). His work spans cyber diplomacy, critical technology policy, and AI governance across the Indo-Pacific, bridging research, capacity building, and multistakeholder engagement to advance responsible technology adoption in the region.

Lesley leads the design, architecture, and engineering of the Balai Data & AI Playbook. She brings 7+ years in data science, machine learning, and analytics, and 10+ years in project and program management across the technology, financial, and humanitarian sectors — building scalable ML systems, automated analytics pipelines, and data-driven decision frameworks across global teams. Her experience spans senior data and analytics roles at Amazon Web Services, Reed Elsevier / LexisNexis Risk Solutions, and the UnionBank Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Institute. She holds a Master of Data Science from the University of Sydney and is an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner and Microsoft Certified Azure AI and Data Engineer.

Dr. Majah-Leah V. Ravago is an economist and educator with a strong background in leadership and policy research. She is the Centre Director and Chief Executive of SEAMEO INNOTECH, and has served as President and CEO of the Development Academy of the Philippines and President of the Philippine Economic Society. A professor at Ateneo de Manila University, she has advised USAID, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank on energy economics, competition policy, and disaster economics. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Hawai‘i and was named an Outstanding Young Scientist in Economics by NAST in 2016.

Brian Fletcher is Director, Public Policy APJ at CrowdStrike, where he leads engagement on cybersecurity and technology policy across the Asia Pacific and Japan region. He brings experience from previous roles at the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (AmCham Singapore), and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Brian holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Australian Institute of Business, with a robust skill set spanning national security, information security, information assurance, and cyber defence. His work focuses on shaping the policy environment for secure and responsible technology adoption across the region.

Amy Chang is a renowned AI security and cybersecurity expert with almost two decades of practitioner, academic, and government experience. She leads the AI Threat Intelligence and Security Research team at Cisco, developing first-in-class AI threat intelligence and defensive capabilities to secure enterprises from AI risk, and is Adjunct Faculty in Cybersecurity & Emerging Threats at the Middlebury Institute. She has held senior roles across government, military, and industry — including Executive Director for Global Cybersecurity Operations at JPMorgan Chase, Staff Director on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, and officer in the U.S. Navy. She is a graduate of Harvard University and Brown University.

Undral Ganbaatar is Programme Specialist for Social and Human Sciences at the UNESCO Office in Jakarta. In this role she contributes to UNESCO's work on the ethics of artificial intelligence and the social dimensions of emerging technologies across Southeast Asia, supporting the implementation of global standards such as the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence at the regional and national level. Her work bridges international policy and on-the-ground practice, helping governments and institutions in the region advance inclusive, human-centred approaches to technology and social development.

Dr. Dahlia Simangan is a tenured Associate Professor of International Relations at Hiroshima University and a core member of the Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability (NERPS). Her research interests include peacebuilding, the relationship between peace and sustainability, and international relations in the Anthropocene. She is the author of International Peacebuilding and Local Involvement: A Liberal Renaissance? (Routledge, 2019) and has published in leading International Relations and Peace Studies journals. She is a founding editor of Peace and Sustainability, Associate Editor of the Review of International Studies, and a member of the Planet Politics Institute.

Dr Charles T. Hunt is Director of the RMIT Pacific Initiative and Professor of International Relations at RMIT University, Melbourne, and Senior Fellow (non-resident) with the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research. His research focuses on global and regional security governance, conflict prevention, and peacebuilding, with seven books and more than 45 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He regularly advises the UN Secretariat, civil society organisations, and foreign ministries, and writes for outlets including the Washington Post, The Conversation, and The Interpreter. His expertise has featured on the BBC, Al-Jazeera, CNN, ABC, and SBS.

Merve Hickok is the founder of AIethicist.org and a globally renowned, award-winning expert on AI policy, ethics, and governance. She serves as President and Research Director of the Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP), where she leads work on AI regulation and rights-based governance worldwide. Her expertise has been recognised across the field — including a Women in AI Lifetime Achievement Award (2023) and repeated recognition among the Top AI Leaders in Retail for Ethics and Compliance (2024 and 2025). Her work bridges policy, ethics, and practice to advance accountable and human-centred approaches to artificial intelligence.

Daisuke Kawai is a Project Assistant Professor and Director of the Economic Security and Policy Innovation Program (ESPI) at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), The University of Tokyo. His expertise spans Indo-Pacific security, economic security, and critical and emerging technologies. His work contributed to Japan's Economic Security Promotion Act, commissioned by the Japanese government, and he leads Critical and Emerging Technology cooperation within the Quad as Senior Advisor to the Quad Investors Network. He has held senior fellowships at CNAS, NBR, CIPE, and JIIA, and participated in the Shangri-La Dialogue and Munich Security Conference as a Young Leader.