Guardrails for the Digital Age: Investors and the Future of Responsible AI with Michael Connor

In this episode of The Future of Finance, host Georges Dyer kicks off a new series on responsible technology and AI with Michael Connor, Executive Director of Open MIC—a nonprofit pioneering investor engagement on digital technology accountability.

Michael shares how Open MIC has worked for nearly two decades to hold major tech companies accountable on issues from privacy and misinformation to AI governance, workers’ rights, and democracy. He discusses the power of shareholder engagement as both a financial and social tool, and how early-stage investors and venture capital firms can help startups embed responsible tech principles from the start.

The conversation dives into the systemic risks AI poses—from bias, disinformation, and labor disruption to climate impacts—and explores the role investors can play in shaping the future through corporate governance, proxy voting, and public policy advocacy. Michael also shares insights from his journalism background, his optimism about building better systems, and advice for young professionals eager to enter sustainable finance and tech.

Keywords: Responsible AI, shareholder engagement, corporate governance, misinformation and disinformation, tech accountability, sustainable investing, Open MIC, digital ethics, systemic risk, fiduciary responsibility