Sobanan Narenthiran

From medical student to prisoner to AI ethicist and social entrepreneur, Sobanan Narenthiran’s journey defies convention and powerfully reframes what it means to innovate for good.

Today, as CEO of Breakthrough Social Enterprise, Sobanan leads one of the UK’s most mission-driven organisations focused on bridging the divide between underserved communities and the most transformative technology of our time: Artificial Intelligence. Breakthrough designs and delivers inclusive, government-backed AI and digital skills programmes that equip people from marginalised backgrounds including those impacted by incarceration, poverty, and systemic exclusion to thrive in an increasingly automated world.

His lived experience of the justice system shapes a bold, systems-level approach to AI ethics, economic empowerment, and digital rehabilitation.

At the heart of his work is a clear mission: to humanise AI, democratise opportunity, and reimagine a future where no one is left behind in the digital revolution.

Sobanan’s work explores:

• The intersection of AI, ethics, and human rights, ensuring marginalised voices shape the development and deployment of intelligent systems.

• AI for economic justice, leveraging emerging technologies to build scalable, equitable pathways into employment.

• Digital rehabilitation, pioneering new models that use AI to transform re-entry and reintegration into society.

• The Silicocene, a visionary concept he introduced to mark a new epoch of ethical intelligence, ecological regeneration, and post-Anthropocentric values.

Sobanan is part of a global movement proving that AI can be a force for equity, not just efficiency. At AI for Good, he champions inclusive design, citizen-led innovation, and the urgent need to embed lived experience into the very fabric of our technological future.

Let’s build the future—ethically, inclusively, and intelligently.