Anna Adeola Makanju

OpenAI’s VP is one of the world’s most influential women.

Her journey is rather unusual: she grew up in the Soviet Union, and has lived in Nigeria, the Middle East, Europe and the United States. For the past fifteen years, she has been operating in the most powerful circles: between politics, diplomacy, economics and technology! After a childhood in St Petersburg, she followed her mother as she pursued her career as an engineer, before settling in the United States. Her talents were spotted by Barack Obama's administration and she served as an advisor to his vice-president, Joe Biden. Driven out in 2017 by Trump’s arrival in the White House, she joined Starlink and then Facebook. In 2021, she was recruited by OpenAI and was instrumental in helping its CEO, Sam Altman, to answer the legitimate questions asked by Congress about this new and alarming technology. “Anna Makanju is the de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs for one of the world's largest companies”, says Michael McFaul, an Obama aide. Aware of the potential risks of artificial intelligence, she pre-empts crises by building a climate of trust with institutions. “Our aim is for AI to benefit all humanity,” she repeats. “And Africa's young people aspire to these technologies.”