Cory Alpert Keynote Speaker

Registered 6M+ US voters via tech-led initiatives
Columbia Relief (2015): 10k volunteers, 1B lbs aid
Ukraine (2022): advised relief & war-crimes evidence

Cory Alpert's Biography

Cory Alpert is a leading expert on how emerging technology shapes democracy and civil society. A researcher and writer focused on AI’s real-world impact, he helps organisations understand the psychological effects of AI on public trust and decision-making—and how to build resilient systems and better choices in a fast-changing world.

His voter-registration work has contributed to more than six million new voters across the United States through Secure the Ballot and senior advisory roles with Field Team 6. Across three U.S. presidential campaigns—Hillary Clinton, Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden—Cory led strategy and organisation, including as one of the first hires on Buttigieg’s historic 2020 run to build the campaign across the Southeast.

In 2015, he launched Columbia Relief (then UofSC Relief) after Hurricane Joaquin, mobilising 10,000+ volunteers and a billion pounds of donations. The locally driven, technology-enabled blueprint he developed has been replicated around the world. He then served as Senior Advisor to Mayor Steve Benjamin during his presidency of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, building and managing disaster-response portfolios for cities nationwide.

In 2022, Cory was deployed to Ukraine to advise the technology-enabled humanitarian response to the invasion and to deploy a platform collecting evidence for war-crimes investigations. He served three years in the Biden–Harris White House, travelling across the United States and globally to design high-impact public engagements—leading the Second Gentleman’s 2023 visit to Auschwitz and playing a leading role in the first-ever White House visits to Namibia and Samoa.

Cory is pursuing a PhD at the University of Melbourne on AI’s impact on democracy. He writes a regular, agenda-setting column for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald; publishes in the Straits Times, Kyiv Independent, Haaretz, the Post and Courier and Pursuit; and is a frequent commentator on TV, radio and in print. A graduate of the University of South Carolina, he is a member of the Committee for the First Amendment.

For General Sessions: AI & Trust

AI is transforming our world, from algorithms to ChatGPT. This talk builds on Cory’s world-leading research on the psychological impacts of AI on public trust and our political decision-making. It helps companies and organizations rethink how they build trust in a fast-changing world, and to build a better future for all of us.

For Non-Technical Teams: Making AI Make Sense

Non-technical teams need to understand AI and shape how it’s deployed - inside their company and out. Cory translates the complexity of AI and makes it more approachable, offering insights and solutions about how staff and managers can make better decisions and work with AI instead of through it. This is all about empowering workers instead of relying on AI slop.

For the Politically-Minded: Unpacking the New World Order

Cory is one of the most sought-after commentators on the changing shape of global politics, translating and analyzing how the Trump Administration is moving. Cory has strong experience in the White House and around American politics, and unpacks how the Trump Administration and its partnerships with Silicon Valley are reshaping trade, security, and geopolitics.

For the Risk Takers: System Error

System Error is a fully developed and produced late-night show, rethinking what a public lecture can be - asking big questions about the role of technology in our society. Expect academic insight, humor, a little audience participation, a musical guest, and a new way to think about AI and democracy.

He studies how AI is reshaping democracy as a PhD researcher at the University of Melbourne, giving leaders clear, research-led frameworks for protecting trust and improving decision-making.
He writes a regular column for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, translating fast-moving technology and geopolitical shifts into implications boards and public leaders can act on.
He has helped drive large-scale voter registration through senior roles with organisations including Field Team 6, equipping audiences with practical lessons on mobilisation, behaviour change and civic participation.
He founded Columbia Relief after Hurricane Joaquin, mobilising more than 10,000 volunteers and building a technology-enabled disaster response blueprint leaders can apply to crisis coordination and community resilience.
He brings inside-the-room experience from three years in the Biden–Harris White House, showing organisations how high-stakes institutions plan, communicate and execute when the spotlight is unforgiving.