“People complain about the rich-and-poor divide. It's crazy, no doubt about it. But what gets me is that today, a billionaire or head of state on their smartphone has the same direct access to information as a homeless person has on a smartphone - or a person in Bangladesh or Papua New Guinea.”

German-American computer scientist, entrepreneur, and educator

Sebastian Thrun is a German-American computer scientist, entrepreneur, and educator. He is an adjunct professor at Stanford University and is known for work in self-driving cars, robotics, artificial intelligence, and online education. He co-founded Google X and Udacity, and later served as chief executive officer of Kitty Hawk Corporation. His career spans research and company building across advanced technology and learning.