About Seth

Seth Hays is Managing Director and Co-Founder of APAC GATES, an Indo-Pacific based not-for-profit management consultancy. He brings over two decades of experience in the not-for-profit sector in Asia, including work with governments, leading universities, think tanks, and civil society organizations across the region. He also currently serves as Non-resident Sr. Fellow a the Center for European Policy Analysis.

Previously, he was Chief Representative for a large not-for-profit association in the Indo-Pacific Region working on innovation policy, in which he established and operated association offices in Shanghai, Beijing, and Singapore. 

He previously served as a visiting scholar at the East-West Center and Korea Foundation researching US and Korea economic security. 

He has testified before the Hong Kong Legislative Council on innovation policy, and contributed to amicus briefs before the Supreme Courts of India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. 

Seth is a regular contributor to media, including the peer-reviewed East Asia Forum, Asia Times, Tech Policy Press, and was cited in international publications and newswires such as The Economist, Barron’s, and AFP. He also authors the Asia AI Policy Monitor, a leading newsletter focused on Asia’s emerging tech policy.

He is a member of the New York State Bar and studied not-for-profit management at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He has an M.A. in Pacific and Asian Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi, and a B.A in science, technology, and society from Vassar College.

Additionally, Seth supports the work of the NGO Digital Governance Asia as a board member, advising on policy advocacy and strategy for a multi-stakeholder approach to AI governance in the Asia-Pacific region.