Puneet Ahira
Special Advisor to the US Chief Technology Officer, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President
Puneet recently joined Megan Smith - US Chief Technology Officer at the White House, to help debug the world's connectivity deserts. Puneet is focused on expanding affordable access to the Internet in all places where it doesn't exist. In her previous life in the private-sector, she served as a Program Director at Google[x], leading Solve for X - an open moonshot platform to accelerate the progress of individuals and organizations working on breakthrough science and technology projects. Prior to Google she worked as a portfolio analyst at Goldman Sachs, where her role was to identify structurally-advantaged companies that had the potential to stay ahead of emerging global trends and disrupt their industries over the next 15-20 years. She served on the Board of Directors for Colin Powell's non-profit - America's Promise, co-founded an NGO called Freedom's Answer, and co-authored a book on civic activism under the same title. Puneet received her BSc and MSc from Oxford University. She currently lives with her husband in New York City.