Stephanie Hare

Stephanie Hare’s career began in the United States, where she pursued a Bachelor of Arts in French from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Despite the burgeoning dot-com boom around her, she focused on humanities, studying languages and history. Her academic journey continued with a Master of Science and a PhD from the London School of Economics, specializing in the theory and history of International Relations, with a particular focus on Cold War history. This foundational academic experience equipped her with a multidisciplinary perspective, which would later become central to her work in technology ethics.

Following her postgraduate studies, Hare transitioned into the professional world, beginning her career at Accenture in 2000. For three years, she gained practical experience in technology, including coding and project management, and developed an interest in understanding user needs and applying technology to solve business problems. After this period, she held the Alistair Horne Visiting Fellowship at St Antony’s College, Oxford. Her work then shifted to political risk analysis at Oxford Analytica, where she covered complex geopolitical events from 2008 to 2013, including the euro crisis, the Syrian war, and the refugee crisis. During this time, the Snowden revelations highlighted the profound impact of technology on global politics, sparking her deep interest in the ethical dimensions of technology.

Hare continued to explore the intersection of technology and political risk through roles at Palantir, starting in 2015, and later as the Principal Director for Cybersecurity Research at Accenture from 2017. These experiences exposed her to the real-world implications of technology, including its use in government operations and the ethical dilemmas faced by technology companies. Her firsthand engagement with these challenges informed her critically acclaimed book, ‘Technology Is Not Neutral – A Short Guide to Technology Ethics,’ where she explores the ethical considerations inherent in technology design and deployment, providing a practical framework for addressing these complex issues.