Nicholas Butts is Director of AI and Cybersecurity Policy at Microsoft. He previously held senior roles at a leading European startup working with frontier AI labs, government, and national security clients. Earlier, Nicholas led global government affairs, trade, and strategy teams at HP after beginning his career as a diplomat. He is co‑author of the Tech Cold War (Lynne Rienner, 2025), has written extensively on geopolitics and technology, and serves on the Executive Council of the Harvard Kennedy School Fund and the board of the Coalition for Secure AI. Nicholas studied at Sciences Po Paris and holds graduate degrees from Peking University, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Harvard University.
