GOPIO hosts webinar on ‘Coping with Technological Changes & Challenges’

Chief Guest, Moderator and Speakers at the GOPIO Webinar on Coping with New Technological Changes are Challenges, Top row, Philip Thomas, Sunil Vuppala, Dr. Latha Christies; Bottom row: Piyush Malik, Prof. D. Yogi Goswami, and Amb. T.P. Sreenivasan. PHOTO: Courtesy GOPIO

The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) hosted its December 2025 webinar, “Coping with Technological Changes and Challenges,” on December 13, 2025. It brought together distinguished speakers from diplomacy, academia, industry, and technology, organizers said in a press release. Participants offered perspectives on emerging technologies and their far-reaching implications for society, development planning, and the global workforce.

Former Indian Ambassador T. P. Sreenivasan delivered the keynote address. The panel featured Professor D. Yogi Goswami, Piyush Malik, Dr. Latha Christie, and Phillip Thomas. Discussions covered artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, clean energy technologies, and their societal, ethical, and geopolitical impacts.

Speakers explored critical issues such as the affordability of new technologies for disadvantaged populations, the geopolitical risks associated with technological dominance, and the urgent need for ethical guardrails in AI development. Throughout the session, panelists emphasized balancing innovation with human values and adopting policies that ensure technological benefits reach all segments of society. The discussion was moderated by GOPIO Associate Secretary Sunil Roberts Vuppula.

Ambassador Sreenivasan, currently Adjunct Professor of Eminence at Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Mumbai, noted that technological change is reshaping every vocation, including diplomacy, and that no profession can remain indifferent to these “tectonic tremors.” Quoting historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari, Ambassador Sreenivasan emphasized that the unprecedented speed of technological change poses a greater challenge than the evolutionary pace of humankind.

He also referred to concerns raised at the United Nations Security Council regarding AI-related risks to global stability and conflict prevention, highlighting the principle that: “Humans must retain full control over life-and-death decisions.”

Coping with Technological Changes and Challenges – A section of the audience. PHOTO: GOPIO

Dr. Thomas Abraham, chairman of GOPIO briefly outlined the history of the organization since its founding in 1989 in New York. He also addressed the “unprecedented acceleration” of technology which offered immense opportunities for innovation, productivity, and improved quality of life.

The webinar concluded with an interactive panel discussion.