In this episode you’ll hear from Sahar Danesh, Senior Government Advisor atThe British Standards Institution. Sahar works to influence government policy in response to emerging technologies such as AI, Quantum, Data, Telecoms, and Cyber Security.

“I found the problem-solving element the best part and that's really what made me into an engineer”, Sahar says reflecting on her initial entry into STEM. She began her career in construction before pivoting into communication and policy. Sahar wanted to turn her technical fluency into public impact, asking important questions like ‘how do we govern AI so it helps more than it harms?’. Sahar explains that policy is about ‘bringing information together and talking to experts and then coming up with the best solutions’.

Sahar talks about emerging tech such as autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and AI, and explores the complex potential issues: bias in data, the danger of deepfakes, manipulative targeting on social platforms, the tension between safety and innovation and more. Good AI policy requires input from a wide range of people: technologists, policymakers, standards bodies, users, civil society, philosophers, and artists all carry part of the answer.

Sahar explains how few women she’s worked alongside, and how in-awe she has been of fellow female engineers. She encourages women to be louder voices in the design room, in standards meetings, and in public consultations. You don’t need an engineering degree to shape technology; you need lived experience, and the confidence to press it into the policy requirements.

To learn more about STEMazing, and this week’s guest, head to https://www.stemazing.co.uk/podcast