Advisory Council
SAIF's Advisory Council is a working network of researchers, technologists, academics, and institutional experts who contribute specialist judgment to SAIF's research, projects, and responsible adoption work.
Chaired by Dr. Hassan Sawaf, Founding Scientific Director and Chair of SAIF's Advisory Council, the Council is designed to bring the right expertise to the right question. It is not intended to be a ceremonial body or another layer of day-to-day management.
The Charter is SAIF's single authoritative public and internal operating reference for the Advisory Council.
How advisors contribute
Advisors may be invited to contribute in areas such as:
- reviewing proposed research and applied projects;
- advising on methodology, data, evaluation, technical feasibility, and research quality;
- helping identify appropriate publication, conference, repository, or dissemination pathways;
- providing specialist technical, scientific, institutional, or sector expertise;
- advising researchers and project teams where their experience is relevant; and
- helping assess how credible research can progress toward useful applied work.
Advisors are not expected to participate in every SAIF project.
How the Council works
SAIF uses a project-based advisory model.
When a project or research question would benefit from external expertise, SAIF prepares a concise brief describing the problem, proposed approach, expected output, team, resources, timeline, risks, and the specific questions on which advice is requested.
The Council Chair and SAIF team can then identify the advisor or advisors whose expertise best matches the assignment.
Input may take the form of written review, a focused discussion, technical comments, mentorship, or another defined contribution. SAIF remains responsible for institutional and operational decisions.
Council-wide meetings may be held when useful, but routine advisory work does not depend on frequent full-Council meetings.
Who we are looking for
SAIF welcomes expressions of interest from experienced people whose expertise can strengthen work across:
- Applied Research & Trusted Data
- Agentic Systems
- Training & Capability-Building
- Standards & Responsible Adoption
We are particularly interested in people who can contribute practical judgment, scientific or technical depth, institutional experience, or access to relevant research and professional communities.
Council membership is selective. An expression of interest does not constitute appointment or guarantee future membership.
SAIF may also invite specialists to contribute to a particular project without appointing them to the Advisory Council.
Express interest
If you believe your experience could contribute to SAIF's work, we invite you to tell us about your background and where you believe you could add the most value.
Self-nominees review and accept the Advisory Council Charter as part of the focused intake. A third-party nominator cannot accept the Charter on someone else's behalf; acceptance is required from the nominee before any appointment.
Express interest in the Advisory Council