Nazam Laila

Dr Nazam Laila is a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Politics and International Studies. 

She completed her PhD in July 2025 and is currently converting her doctoral thesis, “Digital Power and the Bangladeshi Platform Economy: Economic Emancipation or Neocolonial Exploitation?”, into a book. Her research focuses on technopolitics, surveillance capitalism, feminist political economy, the gig economy, and AI governance in Bangladesh. She received the prestigious Commonwealth Doctoral Award for her PhD. Dr Laila holds an MSc in Gender, Development, and Globalisation from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an MA and BA in Interdisciplinary English Literature from BRAC University. She is also a research member of the Digital Research Network at SOAS.

Additionally, she is an Academy Associate with the Queen Elizabeth II Academy and the Digital Society Programme at Chatham House, where she was awarded an Open Society University Network Fellowship to conduct research on AI governance. In that research, she developed effective AI governance models for postcolonial Commonwealth countries, including Bangladesh and Rwanda. In addition, she serves as a member of the National AI Steering Committee of Bangladesh as an AI expert, where she supports the ICT Ministry in developing the National AI Strategy and managing international stakeholders.

Dr Laila has extensive teaching experience across SOAS University of London, BRAC University and the Asian University for Women. At SOAS, she has taught courses including Introduction to International Relations, International Relations of South Asia, Foreign Policy Analysis, Introduction to Research Methods, Philosophies of Interpretation and Understanding, Diplomatic Practice and Decolonising World Politics. She has also delivered guest lectures in the MSc module on Artificial Intelligence and Human Security, focusing on surveillance capitalism and gig economy, as well as in the undergraduate module International Relations of South Asia, focusing on digital colonialism in South Asia. At BRAC University, she teaches Politics and International Relations, Philosophy, and History as an Assistant Professor. At the Asian University for Women, she has served as a Senior Fellow and Instructor, teaching World Civilisations and Cultures.

Dr Laila is internationally recognised for her work on AI and geopolitics and has presented her research at numerous high-level conferences, roundtables, and seminars alongside leading academics, policymakers, civil servants, and world leaders. She has secured multiple research grants and funding awards and remains deeply committed to interdisciplinary research that bridges science, the social sciences, and the humanities through both Western and non-Western perspectives.

Nazam’s interdisciplinary research interests cover the following fields: International Relations and AI governance, digital power and techno-politics, gig economy, cyberdiplomacy, ethical AI policies, and postcolonial feminist economics.