Sarah Wynn-Williams

Sarah Wynn-Williams is a global public policy expert, New York Times bestselling author, and former Director of Global Public Policy at Facebook, now working in technology, geopolitics and AI. Her career spans law, diplomacy and senior leadership in Silicon Valley, offering her a rare insight into the ethical dilemmas, global impact and cultural complexities of the digital world. Sarah is an expert in power in the technological age. She is at the forefront of artificial intelligence, including negotiations of national and supranational policy on the integration of AI in weapons and conflict.

Driven by a desire to make a difference in the world after surviving a near-fatal shark attack, Sarah began her career as an international lawyer in her native New Zealand before serving as a diplomat, including at the Embassy in Washington DC, and the UN. Foreseeing the global impact of social media and Facebook, she convinced the nascent company to hire her as its first manager of geopolitical policy, eventually becoming Director of Global Public Policy, one of the company’s most senior external-facing roles. She built Facebook’s global public policy strategy which also saw her navigating juntas, riots and the whims of world leaders. As a key bridge between the business and governments around the world, she was at the heart of Facebook’s (later Meta's) international decision-making as politics and technology collided during a period of immense growth, controversy and transformation.

After almost a decade with the company, she published the acclaimed and controversial Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. The book, which Meta attempted to block, offers a gripping inside account of corporate dysfunction, ethical compromise, and the corrosive effects of power. It takes readers inside the boardrooms, thought processes and private jets of many of those that have shaped technology over the last decade. It reveals how lofty ideals around connection and innovation gave way to internal denial and "lethal carelessness," including troubling claims about collaboration with Chinese censors and top-level attitudes to regulation and responsibility. With emotion, honesty, and often humour, Sarah explores both her personal and professional experiences in a company that gradually prioritised profit and influence over people.

Sarah reflects with candour and insight on her own role, offering a rare perspective on what it means to lead in high-stakes, high-conflict environments. She speaks of the realities of policymaking in fast-moving tech companies, the global impact of social media platform, and what happens when ethical red flags are ignored. She explores the evolving relationship between AI and public policy and what lessons should be learned from the growth of the tech giants, as well as considering the future of digital governance, and how society, and especially younger generations, can navigate the aftershocks of the social media age. Throughout her experiences, Sarah has demonstrated a resilience born of holding clearly defined, personal values at the core of what you do, no matter how difficult or how often you're set back.

Now working with policymakers and politicians around the world on how AI's application in conflict and weaponry should be regulated, Sarah also provides an insight into the challenges of negotiating and setting the terms for agreement between rival powers. She has also testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee and continues to be a vital voice in the conversation around technology, ethics, and global leadership within public and private spheres.