William Cole serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the AI Asia Pacific Institute (AIAPI), where he provides strategic guidance at the intersection of technology, political economy, and public policy. He also serves as a member of the Advisory Board for the Commonwealth Club World Affairs. His professional career spans senior roles in government, nonprofit, and academic institutions, focused on governance reform, economic development, international relations, conflict, and the impacts of emerging technologies in complex political environments.
Dr. Cole’s recent work has concentrated in two areas: first, the implications of disruptive technologies for economic transformation, governance capacity, and regional security; and second, the growing political, economic, and security challenges facing Advanced Middle-Income Countries as they adjust to increased geopolitical competition and rapidly advancing technology. In 2023, he was a Visiting Fellow at Australian National University (ANU), Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, where he conducted research on these themes.
From 1998 through early 2024, Dr. Cole served with The Asia Foundation, most recently as Senior Advisor for Program Strategy, with responsibility for country strategy and the development of innovative programs in South and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Earlier in his career, he spent a decade with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Indonesia and Washington, D.C., where he led governance and economic reform programs in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union.
Dr. Cole holds a B.S. degree in Natural Sciences and Mathematics from Washington and Lee University, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Anthropology from Washington University.
