Ann Cathrin Riedel – Whoever controls technology controls the future
Why Ann Cathrin Riedel is one of the most uncomfortable—and most important—voices in digital policy.
There is one question that preoccupies Ann Cathrin Riedel. Not as an abstract vision of the future, but as an urgent issue of the present:
What happens to a democracy when the state is no longer able to function digitally?
Her answer is as clear as it is unsettling: “Without digital sovereignty, the system breaks down—no access to social benefits, no tax processing, no justice. The fundamental functions of democracy and the rule of law are thrown into turmoil.”
This isn’t a scenario from a strategy paper. It’s the reality we’re heading toward. And Ann Cathrin Riedel speaks out—in parliaments, on international stages, in leading media outlets, and directly to the ears of chancellors and presidents.
Ann Cathrin Riedel – From Saudi Arabia to the digital world order
Her path is unusual. Ann Cathrin Riedel studied Islamic Studies and Political Science, specializing in International Relations and the Middle East. In her bachelor’s thesis, she analyzed the #Women2Drive campaign in Saudi Arabia—an early example of the political power of digital spaces in authoritarian contexts. A foresight that remains ingrained in her entire way of thinking to this day.
What others treat as a niche topic, she recognized early on for what it truly is: the all-encompassing infrastructure of our time. After holding positions at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, where she was responsible for international digital policy, and serving as chair of LOAD e. V.—Association for Liberal Internet Policy—from 2018 to 2024, she is now the executive director of NExT e. V., the network for the digital transformation of public administration.
The Thesis That Changes Everything
In Germany, we usually discuss digital sovereignty as a debate about values. Ann Cathrin Riedel counters this—poignantly and precisely:
“When we in Europe—and especially in Germany—talk about digital sovereignty, we usually talk about our values. Sometimes we also talk about economic potential. Rarely, however, do we address the question of what power we would have if we acted together. Yet that is precisely the decisive lever.”
For her, digital sovereignty is not a moral issue—but a question of power. And she backs this up with concrete examples: Today, nations are dependent on private companies to an unprecedented degree—for access to space via SpaceX, for internet connectivity via Starlink, and for the operation of undersea cables via Google and Meta.
“Those who are dependent on other nations or corporations for software, hardware, and infrastructure may no longer be able to pursue their own political goals. This affects all policy areas—from education and healthcare to national defense.”
This is not an abstract warning. It is an analysis with concrete consequences—for nations, for companies, and for everyone who depends on functioning democratic structures.
Lunch with the German Chancellor—and Why This Is Just the Beginning
Ann Cathrin Riedel moves in the circles where decisions are made. As one of two experts, she attended a luncheon with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other cabinet members at the 2023 Digital Summit—to discuss artificial intelligence. She spoke with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Estonian President Alar Karis about digital policy challenges in Germany and Europe.
In her moderation sessions, she brings together worlds that rarely sit at the same table: former Taiwanese Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang, Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa, Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius, and FDP Federal Chairman Christian Lindner—to name just a few.
Internationally, she has traveled to Moscow, Johannesburg, Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, Astana, and Portland—always with the same goal: to learn from one another and strengthen democratic developments.
Award-winning, time and again—and rightly so
Capital magazine named her twice among the “Top 40 Under 40”—in 2020 in the Science & Society category and in 2025 in the Society category. The Handelsblatt honored her as a Young Leader in GovTech 2025. She is an Atlantik Brücke Young Leader 2023 and has received the Women of the Year Award in eGovernment Gold two years in a row. Her newsletter “Ann Cathrin’s Digital Digest” was honored with the for..net Media Award.
Her insights are regularly sought after by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Tagesschau, Tagesthemen, ZDF, and Deutschlandfunk. Internationally, she is quoted by The Economist and The Hindu.
On stage: clear, precise, without doomsday scenarios
What makes Ann Cathrin Riedel so effective as a speaker and moderator is her ability to explain highly complex geopolitical and technological issues in a way that makes them tangible—without oversimplifying them. She doesn’t paint doomsday scenarios. She shows where the real leverage lies.
And she never ends on a note of helplessness, but rather with a sense of agency: “We’re not at the mercy of this. We can recognize our potential for influence, define common interests, and take action. Because those who act together have power.”
For whom is Ann Cathrin Riedel the right speaker?
Her keynotes are most effective wherever companies and organizations want to understand what the digital shift in power specifically means for them—today, not ten years from now. For executive boards that want to know which dependencies make their company vulnerable. For institutions that want to understand why state modernization isn’t an administrative task, but a matter of national standing, sovereignty, and democracy. And for anyone seeking a voice that connects geopolitics, technology, and democracy in a way that’s not only understandable but also actionable.
Ann Cathrin Riedel makes one thing very clear: technology is not a neutral infrastructure. It is power. And anyone who hasn’t grasped that yet should urgently invite her to speak.
Book Ann Cathrin Riedel as a keynote speaker or moderator: 1 (704) 804 1054 or ann-cathrin.riedel@premium-speakers.com