Geneva: the first UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance

This week I am in Geneva, attending the first UN Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance as an accredited private sector participant.

Established by the UN General Assembly in August 2025 and mandated by the Global Digital Compact, the AI Dialogue is the first platform where all 193 Member States sit at the same table with the private sector, academia, civil society and the technical community to build common approaches to AI governance. Its premise is simple and important: AI is reshaping economies and societies, no country can manage its opportunities or its risks alone, and governance must reflect the priorities of all nations, not only the most technologically advanced.

The perspective I bring to the Dialogue is shaped by thirty five years spent at regulated financial institutions and working with regulators and exchanges to establish best practices in capital markets. That experience leaves me with one central conviction: the world does not need more principles for AI, it needs an independent and transparent international accountability mechanism for advanced AI systems and infrastructure.

Today, the most consequential technology of our era is developed by a handful of companies, in a handful of jurisdictions, assessed largely by the developers themselves. No other industry with systemic reach, not aviation, not finance, not nuclear energy, has ever been allowed to grade its own homework. A structured, globally based oversight framework for AI governance needs to be developed: one that ensures equitable access, accountability for all Member States, and prevents the AI and digital divide from becoming irreversible.

Where Türkiye stands

Türkiye is participating at the national level, with representation from its ministries. At home, the legal framework is still taking shape. TBMM’s AI Research Commission concluded its work in March 2026 with a recommendation to draft a Turkish AI Law, and several legislative proposals are before committees. In the meantime, the EU AI Act, with its main high risk obligations applying from August 2026, is in my opinion a solid reference for alignment: for Türkiye’s exporters, for its investment climate, and for its place in European value chains.

One message for the corporate world

AI governance is now board level work. It cuts directly across the audit function, corporate governance frameworks and the early detection of risk, the natural remit of audit and risk committees. Boards that treat AI as a purely technical matter will discover its risks late. Boards that embed it in their oversight architecture will detect them early.

After thirty five years in capital markets and board oversight, I see this as the same discipline we have always practised: independent assurance, clear accountability lines, and sustainable institutions that outlast good intentions, amid the ground breaking technologies of our time.

First published on LinkedIn, July 2026.