Luukas Ilves

Luukas Ilves is advisor to the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine on questions of AI and digital transformation, founder of the Agentic State Initiative and non-resident fellow at the Tallinn (Estonia) based International Center for Defence Studies . Luukas’ mission is the adoption of technology in pursuit of prosperity and security in free and open societies.

From 2022-24, Luukas was Undersecretary for Digital Transformation and Chief Information Officer for the Government of Estonia, where he was responsible for developing the country’s digital public services, infrastructure and cyber security.

Previously, Luukas held various roles in Estonia and Brussels, including at the European Commission, Guardtime (a deep-tech company), the Lisbon Council (a Brussels-based thinktank) and for the Estonian government. During Estonia’s 2017 EU Presidency, Luukas led the EU Council’s legislative work on telecommunications, data and cyber security. He has contributed in expert or advisory roles to the Council of Europe, Stanford University, the EU Cybersecurity Agency ENISA, the Creative Destruction Lab and other institutions.

Luukas has been decorated by the President of Estonia with the Order of the White Star, one of the youngest recipients in the history of the award. In 2022, his work in support of Ukraine during Russia’s full scale invasion was recognized by President Zelensky’s Ukraine Peace Prize. Luukas is a graduate of Stanford and Quantic Universities, a reserve officer and a member of the Estonian Defence League’s Cyber Defence Unit.