Dr. Ayesha Khanna is a globally recognized AI expert, entrepreneur, and CEO of Addo, helping businesses leverage AI for growth. With 20+ years in digital transformation, she advises Fortune 500 CEOs and serves on global boards.
A thought leader in AI, Dr. Khanna has been recognized as a groundbreaking entrepreneur by Forbes, named Edelman’s Top 50 AI Creators (2025), and featured in Salesforce’s 16 AI Influencers to Know (2024).
Committed to diversity in tech, she founded the charity 21C Girls, which taught thousands of students the basics of AI and coding in Singapore, and currently supports mid-career women in tech through her education company, Amplify.
Ayesha was named one of Southeast Asia's groundbreaking female entrepreneurs by Forbes magazine and is a strategic advisor on artificial intelligence, data and smart cities to leading corporations and governments worldwide.
Ayesha is a highly regarded speaker on AI and disruptive technologies, provides high-level government and board briefings, and was a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Councils, a community of international experts who provide thought leadership on the impact and governance of emerging technologies.
Ayesha has a BA (honors) in Economics from Harvard University, an MS in Operations Research from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Information Systems (focused on digital innovation in smart cities) from the London School of Economics.
Ayesha has been globally recognised for her work in artificial intelligence and her thought leadership on the impact of technology disruptions on the future of work and smart cities.
ZDF (Germany's largest TV channel) featured Ayesha in a documentary on twelve "Leading Women" around the world (2019). She has been named one of Singapore's leading women in tech (Singapore Computer Society).
Ayesha has served on several Singapore government boards. She was also a steering committee member of the Singapore Ministry of Education and developed the country's Skills Future program. This innovative national program aligns education with economic demand, career guidance, and lifelong learning to prepare citizens for the fourth industrial revolution.
Ayesha founded 21st Century Girls, a registered charity in Singapore, that ran for over a decade and provided free coding and artificial intelligence classes to young women. Working with partners such as Google, PayPal, Visa, and the Infocomm Media Authority, the program introduced thousands of girls to foundational tech and AI skills before concluding its operations.
Ayesha is the author of two books including co-author of Hybrid Reality: Thriving in the Emerging Human-Technology Civilization (2012) and the author of Straight Through Processing (2008).
She is currently working on her forthcoming book, Gamechanger, which focuses on business strategies for understanding, implementing, and harnessing the full potential of generative AI.