Ao Kong

Ao Kong brings two decades of experience across multilateral diplomacy, frontier technology, impact investing and public-private partnerships. She currently serves as Lead on Private Sector Engagement at the United Nations Development Coordination Office, supporting the UN Resident Coordinator system across 160+ countries to partner with business, finance and innovation actors in accelerating the Sustainable Development Goals.

Previously, Ao was Chief of Resource Mobilization, Partnerships and Strategic Communications at the UN Technology Bank, where she helped position science, technology and innovation as drivers of national competitiveness, sustainable growth and inclusive development.

Ao’s work focuses on aligning capital, technology, markets and policy into commercially viable and socially impactful solutions. In addition to her UN career, she has held leadership and advisory roles spanning private equity, multinationals and emerging market growth, with an emphasis on mobilizing cross-sector partnerships that connect emerging technologies, financing models and organizational mission.

She is a frequent speaker and contributor to leading global platforms, including the World Economic Forum, Milken Global Conference, Harvard Business Review China, IEEE, the Association for Computing Machinery, ITU/UN AI for Good Summit, Tallinn Digital Summit, and ASEAN and African Union platforms. She also serves as a judge for MIT Solve and global innovation awards, and contributes to academic and industry platforms advancing fintech, AI governance and innovation.