The Digital Hub Annual Lecture 2026 with Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt

In his last public lecture as Principal of Jesus College, Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt will discuss the "Silicon Spires: Oxford in the Age of AI". His talk will explore emerging themes in the application, ethics and governance of artificial intelligence, with a specific focus on the Oxford ecosystem.

Nigel is a leading researcher in Artificial Intelligence and one of the originators of the interdisciplinary field of Web Science. He is Principal of Jesus College Oxford and Professor of Computing Science at Oxford University. He is chairman of the Open Data Institute which he co-founded with Sir Tim Berners-Lee. He was knighted in 2013 for ‘services to science and engineering’. With over 500 publications, he has researched and published on topics from cognitive psychology to computational neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence to the Semantic Web. In May 2024 he published ‘As If Human’, which provides a new approach to the challenges surrounding AI. In 2025 he was appointed to the Council for Science and Technology, which advises the Prime Minister and Cabinet on strategic science and technology policy issues. Most recently he was asked to lead the setting up of the Oxford Institute of Ethics in AI and, in November 2025, was appointed as Chair of AI@Oxford Research. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the British Computer Society.

6pm Wine reception

6.30pm Welcome by Professor Jim Naismith (Head of MPLS Division and Professorial Fellow at Jesus College)

6.40pm Talk by Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, followed by Q&A

8pm Event ends

FIND US

This event will take place in the Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub at Jesus College, Oxford. The Hub entrance is on Market Street (opposite Wagamama). The Hub is accessible, with automatic double doors at the entrance and lifts to and from the main lower ground floor event space.

If you have any accessibility requirements, please do contact [email protected] and we are happy to help.

*Filming and photography will be taking place during the event. If you do not wish to be photographed or filmed, please notify a member of the Hub team on arrival.

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