Tech Diplomacy Global 50

Christina Steinbrecher-Pfandt

CEO, Tech Diplomacy Network
USA

Christina Steinbrecher-Pfandt is the CEO and co-founder of the Tech Diplomacy Network, a San Francisco–based organization that brings together diplomats, technologists, academics, and policymakers to address the geopolitical implications of emerging technologies. She leads strategic partnerships, public programming, and policy engagement on digital governance, AI, and international cooperation, and lectures on tech diplomacy for institutions including the Diplo Foundation in Geneva and EIT Silicon Valley.

Previously, Steinbrecher-Pfandt was co-founder and CEO of Blockchain.art, a digital platform focused on provenance and revenue sharing in the online art market. Before entering the tech sector, she was a leading figure in international cultural diplomacy, serving as director of viennacontemporary and Art Moscow, where she built cross-border programs and helped establish two of Eastern Europe’s most respected art fairs.

Following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, she launched a Ukrainian poetry reading series in the United States, organizing events at the University of Nevada, Reno, American University in Washington, D.C., and venues in New York City to foster cultural understanding.

Steinbrecher-Pfandt is a 2025 fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Science & Technology Policy Fellowship. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Science and Technology Studies at the University of Klagenfurt, focusing on hybrid sovereignty and the role of Big Tech in global governance, and holds degrees in art history and international business from Maastricht University and the University of Manchester.