His research focuses on Europe’s role in frontier AI governance and development, with particular interests in the continent’s strategic positioning and compute policy. At RAND, Afek has led and contributed to projects on the procurement of frontier AI models, Europe’s compute strategy, European institutional preparedness for transformative AI, risks from AI adoption in critical national infrastructure, and the design and facilitation of tabletop exercises for senior policymakers. His work has been published and cited in outlets including The Economist, Tech Policy Press, AI Frontiers, Euractiv, and POLITICO, among others.
Prior to RAND, Afek was a Talos Fellow and worked at Brussels-based think tank Pour Demain, contributing to the EU AI Act’s Code of Practice on General-Purpose AI. He previously interned at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Afek holds an MSc in European and International Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BSc in Politics and International Relations from University College London.