Events

The seminar will be led by Adam Chalmers, Associate Professor at the University of Edinburgh. Adam’s academic work sits at the intersection of comparative political economy, regulation, and democratic governance, with a particular focus on how intermediaries, expertise, and organised interests shape policy outcomes in the European Union. He has published widely on EU regulation, lobbying, and corporate sustainability policy. Alongside his academic career, Adam is the CEO and Founder of Resonate AI, where he leads the development of AI agents for ESG and sustainability reporting. His work supports organisations in benchmarking, analysing, and completing complex compliance disclosures including UN Global Compact Communication on Progress, GRI, CSRD, SASB, and TCFD. The seminar is based on a new paper examining how the EU AI Act is implemented in practice. Drawing on original data from 645 EU based consultancy organisations, the paper explores how consultancies and political intermediaries shape AI governance across Europe, and how uneven regulatory readiness and institutional capacity affect transparency, accountability, and democratic oversight. This event will be of interest to staff and students working on democratic governance, AI governance, sustainability, public policy, regulation, and EU politics. Date: Wednesday 4 February 2026 Time: 12:30 to 14:00 Location: S1.50 All staff and students are very welcome. No prior expertise in AI policy is required.