#344 Governing Pandora's Box: Managing AI Risks with Andrea Bonime-Blanc, CEO at GEC Risk Advisory

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Feb 2, 2026

Andrea Bonime-Blanc, CEO of GEC Risk Advisory and author on governance of exponential tech, discusses governing fast AI change. She covers adaptive, lifecycle governance and why leadership and boards must act. Talks include building cross-functional rapid-response teams, embedding ethics in product teams, and connecting AI risk with cyber and geopolitics.

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INSIGHT

Risk From Not Keeping Up

The biggest risk is failing to keep up with both AI’s upside and downside across the organisation.
Balance innovation speed with holistic risk management to avoid costly disasters.

ADVICE

Adapt Governance To Change Speed

Make governance adaptive to the speed and multifaceted nature of technological change.
Build structures that enable rapid learning and adjustment as technology evolves.

ANECDOTE

Early Warnings Before Major Failures

Andrea recounts that small hidden warnings and whistleblowers hint at larger AI safety gaps before a major disaster.
She warns a big incident will trigger a rush toward governance, at potentially high cost.

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AI leaders talk about innovation, but the wider reality is messy: fast change, uneven guardrails, and threats that span cyber, reputation, and customer harm. Industry-wide, organizations are shifting from one-off compliance to lifecycle governance—from inception to decommissioning—supported by boards, CEOs, and frontline teams. For professionals, that shows up as coordination work: shared metrics, incentives for responsible delivery, embedded ethics partners, and rapid-response groups when a new risk appears. How do you decide who is accountable for model behavior? What signals should trigger escalation? And what sources can you trust to stay informed without getting overwhelmed?

Andrea Bonime-Blanc, JD/PhD, is founder and CEO of GEC Risk Advisory, a board member, strategic advisor, and award-winning author. She specializes in the governance of change, advising companies, NGOs, and governments on global strategic risk, leadership trust, geopolitics, sustainability, cyber resilience, and exponential technologies. A former C-suite executive at four global companies, including Bertelsmann and PSEG, she has held roles spanning legal, risk, ethics, sustainability, and cybersecurity, and currently serves on multiple boards and advisory boards.

Andrea is a Senior Fellow at The Conference Board, NYU’s Center for Global Affairs, and an AI Ethics Strategy Fellow at the American College for Financial Services. She is a sought-after keynote speaker and media commentator, appearing in outlets such as Bloomberg, the Financial Times, and The New York Times. She is the author of several books, including Gloom to Boom and most recently, Governing Pandora: Leading in the Age of Generative AI and Exponential Technology.

In the episode, Richie and Andrea explore the rapid advancements in AI, the balance between innovation and risk, the importance of adaptive governance, the role of leadership in tech governance, and the integration of ethics in AI development, and much more.

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