Megan Smith

Megan Smith is an entrepreneur, engineer, and technology leader. She is the CEO and founder of shift7, a company focused on addressing systemic social, environmental, and economic challenges by leveraging technology-driven, open, and shareable practices to create measurable impact.

Smith served as the third U.S. chief technology officer, where she worked on artificial intelligence, data science, open source initiatives, inclusive economic growth, entrepreneurship, addressing structural inequalities, government technology innovation, STEM and STEAM engagement, workforce development, and criminal justice reform. Before her government service, Smith was a vice president at Google, leading new business development and managing early-stage partnerships, pilot projects, and technology licensing across global engineering and product teams. She led acquisitions of "Google Earth," "Maps," and "Picasa," and guided the transition of Google.org to expand engineering initiatives, including Google Crisis Response, GoogleforNonProfits, and Earth Outreach/Engine. Smith also co-created "SolveForX" and "Women Techmakers." Earlier in her career, Smith was CEO of PlanetOut, an online LGBTQ community and digital media company, and contributed to early smartphone technologies at General Magic and Apple Japan.

Smith is a public speaker on technology, innovation, and inclusive economic growth, and advises leaders in both public and private sectors on responsible, human-centered deployment of artificial intelligence, data, and digital tools. She serves on the boards of MIT, Vital Voices, LA Olympics 2028, and Thinkof-Us; is co-founder of the Malala Fund and UN Solutions Summit; and advises Silicon Valley Comes to the UK and the Algorithmic Justice League. Smith has been recognized as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT, with a master's thesis completed at MIT Media Lab. Smith was part of the MIT student team that designed, built, and raced a solar car 2,000 miles across the Australian outback in the first World Solar Challenge. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Academy of Engineering.