Dr Sameer Kumar is Associate Professor at the Asia-Europe Institute (AEI), Universiti Malaya. His research interests lie at the intersection of social informatics, digital economy and international relations, including topics such as AI governance, ASEAN–EU relations and the interplay between technology, geopolitics and human networks. Prior to academia, he spent more than a decade working in the IT industry in India, where he worked as a director and consultant to foreign firms, a background that has shaped his approach to social science research as computational and project management oriented.