Project Summary

Advanced AI systems are developing faster than global governance structures can adapt. A critical bottleneck is not only technical safety research, but the design, negotiation, and enforcement of international legal frameworks capable of coordinating states, establishing compliance mechanisms, and creating durable verification protocols across jurisdictions.

I am a postgraduate LLB student at the University of Cape Town, training in public international law and treaty frameworks specifically to work on this problem. My goal is to contribute to the legal and institutional architecture of global AI governance not as a generalist policy analyst, but as someone who can draft, negotiate, and enforce binding agreements. The LLB helps attain legal credibility and drafting skills that serious international governance work requires.

Theory of Impact:

My intended path to impact works through three stages:

Stage 1: Legal Training (2026-2027)

Complete the postgraduate LLB at UCT, focusing on:

• Public international law and treaty law
• Regulatory governance and administrative law
• Institutional design, enforcement structures, and compliance frameworks
• Drafting and interpreting binding international agreements

This provides formal training in the legal tools that AI governance frameworks will need - not just policy analysis, but the mechanics of making agreements stick.

Stage 2: AI Governance Exposure (Parallel Track, 2026-2027)

Concurrently with the LLB, I plan to:

• Apply to AI governance programs including ML4Good AI Governance, the GovAI Seasonal Fellowship, the IAPS AI Policy Fellowship, and the MIRI Technical Governance Fellowship
• Contribute to research or policy memos on treaty verification and compliance mechanisms
• Build networks across EA-aligned and mainstream AI policy communities

Stage 3: Institutional Entry (Post LLB, 2028+)

Target roles at:

• UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (emerging technology governance track)
• OECD AI Policy Observatory
• Global AI governance think tanks (GovAI, CAIS, CSET)
• Multilateral treaty working groups

Specific Research Focus

Verification and compliance mechanisms for international AI agreements - the legal equivalent of what the IAEA does for nuclear technology. Arms control regimes have developed sophisticated tools for verifying treaty compliance across hostile state actors. AI governance will need analogous mechanisms, adapted to the specific challenges of software, compute infrastructure, and frontier model development.

The LLB gives me the technical legal grounding to engage with this problem seriously: understanding how verification regimes are drafted into binding instruments, how enforcement mechanisms are designed, and where existing international law frameworks can be adapted versus where new legal structures are needed.

Why Law Specifically?

The AI governance field has a genuine shortage of people who can move between technical understanding, policy reasoning, and legal drafting. Most existing governance work is done by researchers who can identify problems but lack the formal legal training to translate those insights into binding frameworks. The LLB closes that gap providing the drafting credibility, institutional fluency, and legal legitimacy needed to work inside the treaty and regulatory processes where the real work happens.

About Me / Track Record

Leadership & Program Design:

• Co-founder, Effective Altruism South Africa (Mar 2024 – Dec 2025): Designed and executed fellowship programs; advised 80+ students/early professionals on impact careers; led outreach campaigns

• Chairperson, Effective Altruism University of Cape Town (Sep 2022 – Dec 2025): Oversaw multiple fellowship cohorts; expanded membership by 50%; managed teams, external partnerships, and social media engagement.Events & Mentorship:

• Contractor, Centre for Effective Altruism: Co-led South Africa’s first-ever EA Summit; moderator team lead at EA Connect 2025 with 2,630 attendees; content lead for EA Summit SA 2025; mentored university groups for Organiser Support Programme (OSP) in in Nigeria, Ghana, and Poland.

• Social Media Manager, Christians for Impact (Jul – Dec 2024): Grew TikTok from 30 → 300+ followers; co-developed marketing strategy; managed content production and engagement.Research & Policy:

• Researcher, Oxford Biosecurity Group (Jan – Aug 2024): Conducted policy research on improving UK respirator stockpiles.

• Completed Bluedot Impact courses on Biosecurity and AGI Strategy.

• Runner-up in EA Africa Forum Competition for co-authored post on making EA more inclusive and impactful in Africa.

Education:

• Postgraduate LLB (Law School) (UCT, Feb 2026 – Dec 2027)
• B. Soc. Sci in Politics and Law (UCT, Feb 2022 – Dec 2025

How Funding Will Be Used

Tuition — Year 1 ~$5,300

Tuition — Year 2 ~$5,300

Laptop ~$1,800

Total ~$12,400

Minimum funding of $6,200 covers Year 1 tuition and partial laptop costs. Full funding of $12,400 covers the complete two-year degree and equipment.

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