Mariami Tkeshelashvili is the Deputy Director for Artificial Intelligence Security Policy at the Institute for Security and Technology (IST). She leads the AI Risk Reduction Initiative, engaging a diverse range of stakeholders across the AI ecosystem to identify emerging risks from cutting-edge AI models and to develop technical and policy-based mitigation strategies that advance responsible innovation. She also contributes to IST’s broader work on AI, cybersecurity, national security, and the geopolitics of technology.
Mariami brings over a decade of experience in international security and global governance. Prior to joining IST, she was a Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University Emerging Technologies Initiative, where she analyzed the national security implications of transformative technologies – including AI, quantum computing, and biotechnology – and helped manage the Trilateral Technology Leaders Program, launched by the White House.
Previously, she focused on transatlantic technology policy at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). Earlier in her career, she supported institutional capacity building for governments across Eurasia, working on security and economic policy, crisis management, electoral integrity, and media literacy.
Mariami holds a Master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), with a concentration in Technology and Innovation, and a Bachelor’s degree in Social and Political Sciences, with a focus on Eurasia and the Middle East. She was twice awarded EU-funded scholarships to study in Germany and Czechia, where she conducted research on Russia, NATO, great power competition, and international security.
