Mentor Profile: Rohan Light

Tell us about your role

I work in data governance, which is about setting rules around data management and use. I work a lot in data ethics, am a Fellow with the AI audit, risk and assurance charity ForHumanity and specialise in uncertainty techniques.

How did YOU pave your career in the Responsible Tech field? What advice would you give others that are looking to grow their career in the field?

I got into public interest technology while working in public sector digital transformation risk. I saw the risk grow with the scope and there would usually be a rights issue involved. So the thing to look for is people dealing with unmitigated service delivery risk

What skills have you found most valuable in your current role?

I was trained as an evidential interviewer, which has been very useful. Anything with a strong empirical basis is helpful (such as scrum for example) to make the case for change. Putting time into understanding forward probabilities and Bayes Theorem will become useful later

What advice with you give to a current college student that is looking to take their passion around creating a more responsible tech future and turn it into their career?

Take a history of science course or two: we're in the middle of a big paradigm shift and it's useful to get perspective so as to avoid the razzle dazzle of techspeak. If you can learn to critique art it will come in handy later when deciding if a technology lens is the right lens after all

What individuals, organizations, or resources have been instrumental in advancing your career?

ForHumanity, All Tech Is Human, Are You A Robot and Good Tech Fest have been great experiences for me, connecting me with a very broad range of people and getting more perspective on the problems I study.

Where do you see the future of Responsible Tech headed?

Without solid regulatory innovation, the responsible tech field faces a strong head wind so influencing that should be priority number one for everyone. Contributing to the growth of soft law data governance should be another high priority. Getting empirical quickly is needed to avoid too many talking heads.

Stay in touch with Rohan Light at @rl_rohan