Sebastian Mallaby Keynote Speaker

  • Best-selling author of “The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence” (2026)
  • Winner of the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Prize for "The Man Who Knew: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan" (2016)
  • Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow for International Economics at the New York Council on Foreign Relations and co-host of The Spillover podcast

Sebastian Mallaby's Biography

Sebastian Mallaby is a highly acclaimed journalist, popular public speaker and best-selling author.

Sebastian is the Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow for International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and from 2007-14 was Director of the Center for Geoeconomic Studies at the same establishment. He has led a US delegation to Beijing to discuss the internationalization of the Chinese currency and has been instrumental in CFR’s work on subjects at the intersection of international relations and international finance. His recent writing has been published in Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Atlantic Monthly.

Sebastian began his career as a staff writer for the Economist, where he wrote about foreign policy and international finance. Between 1997 and 1999, Sebastian was the Economist’s Washington bureau chief and wrote the magazine’s weekly Lexington column on American politics and foreign policy. He spent eight years as a columnist and editorial board member at the Washington Post. He is a two-time Pulitzer prize finalist: once for editorials on Darfur and once for a series on economic inequality.

Sebastian is the author of six books, and is the only writer to have been short-listed three times for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year award in addition to winning it on one occasion. His latest book, “The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind and the Quest for Superintelligence, is a bestseller in the United States, the UK and China.

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Sebastian Mallaby's Speaking Topics

  • Global Economics and Finance

  • AI and the Future of Society

  • Venture Capital and Technology

  • Geopolitics

  • In Conversation With Sebastian Mallaby

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Why Book Sebastian Mallaby as a speaker?

  • He is a leading authority on global finance and geopolitics, with senior roles at the Council on Foreign Relations and a distinguished career in international journalism.

  • He translates complex economic and financial issues into clear insight that helps leaders understand markets, policy and global power dynamics.

  • He brings unparalleled access to influential figures and institutions, reflected in his bestselling books on AI, hedge funds, central banking and venture capital.

  • He is an accomplished columnist and speaker, shaping debate through leading global publications.

  • His insights help organisations anticipate economic shifts, understand financial innovation and navigate an increasingly complex global economy.

Videos of Sebastian Mallaby

How worried should we be about powerful new AI models?
'The Oppenheimer' of the Al Era
Private investors don’t believe OpenAI is worth what it pretends to be, says CFR’s Sebastian Mallaby
Introducing The Spillover | How Global Events Impact Economics, Markets, & Policy

Articles, Media & Podcasts

Books by Sebastian Mallaby

The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence (2026)
The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Art of Disruption (2022)
The Man Who Knew: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan (2016)
More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite (2010)

Comments & Testimonials

I take my hat off to Sebastian Mallaby. His biography of Demis Hassabis is more than just a penetrating study of individual genius. It's the best history yet of AI and the network of brilliant minds who built it. Book of the year.
Niall Ferguson

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