Var Shankar is a Senior Director - Analyst at Gartner. He advises CIOs and AI Leaders on their AI governance priorities, including carrying out C-suite and board responsibilities, adopting principles and policies, organizing committees, redesigning processes, evaluating tools and navigating workforce considerations. His research covers AI compliance and liability, AI safety, using AI governance to enable and measure business value and AI agent governance.
An attorney by background, Var is a graduate of Harvard Law School. He is an expert on AI laws, regulations and frameworks, including the EU AI Act, US federal and state requirements and the NIST AI Risk Management Framework. He does not offer legal advice. Var is a member of the OECD Network of Experts on AI, the World Economic Forum's AI Global Alliance and the Brookings Forum for Cooperation on AI.
Led Council on AI Governance. Helped industry-leading organizations set up their AI governance programs. Co-developed Google / Kaggle AI Ethics course.
Council on AI Governance, Executive Director, 1 years
Responsible AI Institute, Executive Director / Director, 2 years
Google / Kaggle, Co-Instructor, AI Ethics, 1 years
AI Governance and Risk Management
AI Governance and Organizational Change
Cybersecurity, Risk and Resilience
J.D., Harvard Law School
B.A., Political Science, Duke University
AI and agent governance
AI laws, standards and frameworks
AI maturity models
Driving and measuring AI value
Responsible AI