President of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
Young Global Leader – WEF, 2022.
Served on the UN High-level Advisory Body on AI, 2023.
As President of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Vilas’ work focuses on advancing AI for public purpose. His articles and talks have shaped international debates on AI governance, responsible innovation, and the social impact of technology, introducing frameworks including attention as the defining constraint in digital markets, the imperative to build institutions as quickly as models, and the concept of AI as civic infrastructure. Vilas argues that leadership in the age of AI requires a new theory of legitimacy, synthesizing law, moral philosophy, and systems design to preserve human agency while governing machine intelligence.
Vilas is President of philanthropic organisation, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. He has served as a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence, is the US Government’s nominated expert to the Global Partnership on AI, and contributes to advisory councils at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI, OECD.AI, and MIT Solve. In 2022, he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, honouring his contributions to global dialogue on responsible innovation. Vilas’ LinkedIn Learning course, Ethics in the Age of Generative AI, has reached over 500,000 learners worldwide.
‘The UN’s AI Turning Point’ (TIME, 2025); ‘Health Systems Are Betting Big on AI. Are Boards Ready?’ (Directorship Online, 2025); ‘Could AI Lift Up Workers in an Unsung Profession?’ (US News, 2025); ‘How China’s AI Breakthrough Could Make Technology More Democratic’ (US News, 2025); ‘The $900 Billion Question: Redistributing Control of AI Development’ (Expressions – by Montaigne, 2025); ‘AI Isn’t Some Hollywood Fantasy’ (US News, 2024); ‘Scarlett Johansson Raises Her Voice for All of Us on AI’ (US News, 2024). A New Code for AI (TEDxPaloAlto, 2024); AI White Spaces (Aspen Ideas Festival, 2024); Reimagining Tomorrow: Breakthrough in Data and AI for a More Resilient World (United Nations, 2023).
“Making significant contributions to management and leadership in the age of AI.”
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Thinkers50 Limited
The Studio
Highfield Lane
Wargrave RG10 8PZ
United Kingdom
Thinkers50 Limited
The Studio
Highfield Lane
Wargrave RG10 8PZ
United Kingdom
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