Margrethe Vestager

Margrethe Vestager served as the European Commission's Executive Vice-President for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age from 2019 to 2024, making her the EU's most powerful technology and AI regulator. In her previous term as European Commissioner for Competition (2014–2019), she gained global recognition for taking on the world's largest tech companies with landmark antitrust cases.

Vestager's most consequential achievement in AI policy was leading the development and passage of the EU AI Act — the world's first comprehensive regulatory framework for artificial intelligence, which entered into force in 2024. The AI Act establishes risk-based categories for AI systems, banning certain uses (like social scoring) while imposing strict requirements on high-risk AI applications in areas like healthcare, law enforcement, and critical infrastructure.

Born in Denmark, Vestager studied Economics at the University of Copenhagen and entered Danish politics at a young age, eventually becoming leader of the Social Liberal Party and Minister of Economic Affairs. Her fines against Google (totaling over €8 billion), Apple ($14.3 billion in back taxes), and other tech giants established the EU as the world's most assertive technology regulator.

She was named to TIME's 100 Most Influential People and has been consistently ranked among the world's most powerful women by Forbes.