What do Virginia Tech, YouTube, and RBTC have in common? Rishi Jaitly.
The countdown is on for TechNite on May 8, Roanoke-Blacksburg’s biggest night in technology. Jaitly, Virginia Tech Professor of Practice and Distinguished Humanities Fellow at Virginia Tech (formerly of Twitter, Google, and YouTube among others) will be the evening’s special guest.
“Rishi’s impressive, multi-faceted career to fuse humanistic perspectives and technology gives him a unique, human-centric context on the power and potential of technology. We’re thrilled to present him at this year’s TechNite and look forward to being enriched by his insights,” said RBTC Director Taylor Spellman.
Rishi Jaitly is a distinguished entrepreneur, executive and educator with extensive global experience in technology, media, and civics. As Professor of Practice and Distinguished Humanities Fellow at Virginia Tech, he founded the Institute for Leadership in Technology, which offers the world’s first Executive Degree in the Liberal Arts and Humanities to rising leaders in the world’s technology landscape. Jaitly also serves as a Senior Advisor to OpenAI, helping lead the company’s expansion into India and the Global south.
Previously, Jaitly co-founded and served as Founding CEO of Times Bridge, a leading venture capital firm facilitating entry into new markets for companies like Airbnb, Uber, and Coursera. Before Times Bridge, he was Twitter Inc’s Vice President for Asia Pacific, Middle East, and North Africa, and the company’s first employee in mainland Asia. Prior to that, Jaitly held leadership roles at Google & YouTube in South Asia and served as a speechwriter for Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
Jaitly has also devoted a range of his career to social entrepreneurship, co-founding initiatives such as Michigan Corps, Kiva Detroit and the BMe Community. He serves as Vice Chairman of the National Humanities Center, and Board Director of Virginia Humanities and the USTA Mid Atlantic Foundation. In 2022, he was recognized as one of Rest of World Magazine’s “Top 100 Global Tech Changemakers.”
A public speaker who has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Forbes and on CNN and the BBC, Jaitly earned his A.B. in History and Certificate in American Studies from Princeton University.
TechNite is an evening that can’t be missed. The celebration begins May 8 at 5:30 pm at Hotel Roanoke. Enjoy music and mingling during cocktail hour, dinner and a full program of events, anchored by professor Jaitly’s address. Be sure to stick around and celebrate the night’s winners at the TechNite After Party. Tickets are available now; register today.
