Kanwaljit Singh

Dr. Kanwaljit Singh leads the Digital Public Infrastructure team’s efforts in the areas of digital identity, cybersecurity, and applications of emerging technologies to accelerate development outcomes.

Kanwal began his career at Intel Corporation, where he led teams investigating advanced technologies in materials science, semiconductor fabrication, device integration, and reliability engineering. He was awarded the company’s highest honor, the Intel Achievement Award, for industry-defining impact. He led efforts in developing and scaling up silicon-based quantum computing across multiple research areas in physics, electronics, cryogenics, and computation, and has authored more than 100 patents and publications.

Since joining the Gates Foundation in 2018, Kanwal has spearheaded a global strategy to invest in foundational digital identity systems, led initiatives to address cybersecurity gaps in sub-Saharan Africa, and explored the use of speech recognition technologies to benefit rural, low-income populations. A strong advocate for global partnerships and digital public goods, he has partnered with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the International Telecommunication Union, and the United Nations to advance the digital public infrastructure approach globally and accelerate progress toward the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Kanwal has a Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry from Cornell University.