logo
Laura Williams takes charge as new US Consul General in Hyd

Laura Williams takes charge as new US Consul General in Hyd

Hans India2 days ago
Hyderabad: Laura E Williams has taken charge as the new US Consul General in Hyderabad. A distinguished career member of the US Senior Foreign Service, Laura Williams brings a wealth of experience in diplomacy, technology, and innovation to her new role. She stated that she will strive to strengthen the US-India partnership across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha.
Laura Williams previously served as the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Enterprise Services at the US Department of State, where she managed the suite of information technology platforms that connect diplomats in Washington and embassies worldwide. Throughout her career, she has championed initiatives to secure sensitive data, improve knowledge management practices, and leverage innovative technology to amplify public diplomacy.
Her extensive overseas experience includes assignments at US Embassies in Nicosia, Algiers, Rome, and Mexico City. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Laura Williams worked as a contractor with the US Navy Submarine Command, the US Department of State's Consular Affairs Bureau, and the US Agency for International Development.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Inside Track: Wheeling in Circles
Inside Track: Wheeling in Circles

Indian Express

time14 minutes ago

  • Indian Express

Inside Track: Wheeling in Circles

At the start of 2025 we were led to believe that we were Donald Trump's special friend and that India would probably be the first to conclude a trade tariff agreement with the US. Now we are not just back of the queue, but could be blackballed! A close observer of Trump-India relations has a different take from others for the mysterious fallout. It was not initially about Russian oil, Pakistani perfidy or thwarting Trump's Nobel Peace Prize ambitions. Trump was infuriated with India's dilatory tactics in signing a deal, which goes back to his first presidency. His joint appearance with Modi in Texas in 2019 was meant to help seal an agreement, but talks fell through a day later in New York. Time and again, as in Gujarat February 2020, like the traditional smooth-talking Indian trader, our officials assured that a deal was almost through, without confessing candidly that some portions of the deal concerning agriculture and dairy products were non-negotiable. Unfortunately, Trump is focused on just this sector, since his Republican supporters come from the farm belt. As US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick remarked angrily, 'You claim to be such a big country and you can't accept a bushel of American corn.' After being re-elected, President Trump was even willing to overlook past slights. (PM Modi did not call or even telephone Trump during his three visits to the US during the Biden presidency.) But in 2025, once again, despite the head-start in negotiations, the deal has not materialised! Retired IAS officer Subhash Chandra Garg's new book is titled No Minister. The former Finance Secretary does not hold back in recalling riveting encounters with his ministerial bosses, some of whom, in fact, refused to take no for an answer, despite bureaucrats citing the rules and the wishes of the incumbent PM. Garg names P Chidambaram among the naysayers who, as finance minister, threatened then PM Manmohan Singh with his resignation unless his proposal that 60-70 secretary level-posts were allotted to the Indian Revenue Service cadre. In Garg's view, this unbalanced the bureaucratic structure without improving tax collection. Similarly, Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu, on whom the Vajpayee government was dependent for survival, cornered more than 40 % of the portfolios of Indian projects approved by the World Bank in 1999 and 2000. Despite objections from the government, Naidu forced them to agree to his audacious demand, in disregard of fair Central resource distribution. Similarly, Kamal Nath bullied his way so that 5% of the total pool of government houses in Delhi was part of his discretionary quota, which largely included newly constructed category type VII and VIII bungalows in Moti Bagh. Considering it is an intra-party contest to elect the fairly modest position of secretary (administration) of the Constitution Club, it is surprising that the poll has attracted intense national interest and media scrutiny. In contrast, Rajeev Shukla (Congress) has been elected unopposed as secretary (sports) and Tiruchi Siva (DMK) as secretary (culture) without any rancour. There seems more than meets the eye in the fierce tussle between the two ill-matched adversaries for the post of administrative secretary. The jocular, down-to-earth ex-MP and UP Jat leader Sanjeev Balyan, who only joined the club eight years ago, appears to have been pitch forked into the contest, while Rajiv Pratap Rudy, the suave Bihar MP who has been the guiding spirit behind the club for the last 25 years, is credited with upgrading its facilities, including gyms, saunas, lounges and sports facilities. Balyan's most vocal campaigner is controversial Bihar MP Nishikant Dubey, who is fighting with all the vehemence and caste calculations of a panchayat election and throwing names of powerful central politicians. Pratap, more discreet, is believed to be backed by an influential regional satrap, who has not shown his hand openly. Amidst constant reports of Air India's slipping standards, I am pleased to report my recent personal experience of the airlines, which demonstrates that the staff's spirit of service beyond the call of duty, the hallmark of JRD Tata's original Air India, has not vanished. While flying back from Kenya on an AI flight, the senior air hostess noticed my distress as I rummaged through my carry bag and under the seat for my missing iPad, which had obviously been left behind in Nairobi. I presumed resignedly that recovering my iPad was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but I had not reckoned with the resourcefulness of the very helpful air hostess and the AI Nairobi manager. The latter, with the assistance of his counterpart at the Nairobi airport lounge, located the missing iPad, got it identified through WhatsApp photos and arranged to have it returned to Delhi within a week.

Are you in a mid-career to senior job? Don't fear AI - you could have this important advantage
Are you in a mid-career to senior job? Don't fear AI - you could have this important advantage

Economic Times

time14 minutes ago

  • Economic Times

Are you in a mid-career to senior job? Don't fear AI - you could have this important advantage

ET Online Have you ever sat in a meeting where someone half your age casually mentions "prompting ChatGPT" or "running this through AI", and felt a familiar knot in your stomach? You're not alone. There's a growing narrative that artificial intelligence (AI) is inherently ageist, that older workers will be disproportionately hit by job displacement and are more reluctant to adopt AI tools. But such assumptions - especially that youth is a built-in advantage when it comes to AI - might not actually hold. While ageism in hiring is a real concern, if you have decades of work experience, your skills, knowledge and judgement could be exactly what's needed to harness AI's power - without falling into its traps. What does the research say? The research on who benefits most from AI at work is surprisingly murky, partly because it's still early days for systematic studies on AI and work. Some research suggests lower-skilled workers might have more to gain than high-skilled workers on certain straightforward tasks. The picture becomes much less clear under real-world conditions, especially for complex work that relies heavily on judgement and experience. Through our Skills Horizon research project, where we've been talking to Australian and global senior leaders across different industries, we're hearing a more nuanced story. Many older workers do experience AI as deeply unsettling. As one US-based CEO of a large multinational corporation told us: "AI can be a form of existential challenge, not only to what you're doing, but how you view yourself." But leaders are also observing an important and unexpected distinction: experienced workers are often much better at judging the quality of AI outputs. This might become one of the most important skills, given that AI occasionally hallucinates or gets things wrong. The CEO of a South American creative agency put it bluntly: "Senior colleagues are using multiple AIs. If they don't have the right solution, they re-prompt, iterate, but the juniors are satisfied with the first answer, they copy, paste and think they're finished. They don't yet know what they are looking for, and the danger is that they will not learn what to look for if they keep working that way." Experience as an AI advantage Experienced workers have a crucial advantage when it comes to prompting AI: they understand context and usually know how to express it clearly. While a junior advertising creative might ask an AI to "Write copy for a sustainability campaign", a seasoned account director knows to specify "Write conversational social media copy for a sustainable fashion brand targeting eco-conscious millennials, emphasising our client's zero-waste manufacturing process and keeping the tone authentic but not preachy". This skill mirrors what experienced professionals do when briefing junior colleagues or freelancers: providing detailed instructions, accounting for audience, objectives, and constraints. It's a competency developed through years of managing teams and projects. Younger workers, despite their comfort with technology, may actually be at a disadvantage here. There's a crucial difference between using technology frequently and using it well. Many young people may become too accustomed to AI assistance. A survey of US teens this year found 72 per cent had used an AI companion app. Some children and teens are turning to chatbots for everyday decisions. Without the professional experience to recognise when something doesn't quite fit, younger workers risk accepting AI responses that feel right - effectively "vibing" their work - rather than developing the analytical skills to evaluate AI usefulness. So what can you do? First, everyone benefits from learning more about AI. In our time educating everyone from students to senior leaders and CEOs, we find that misunderstandings about how AI works have little to do with age. A good place to start is reading up on what AI is and what it can do for you: What is AI? Where does AI come from? How does AI learn? What can AI do? What makes a good AI prompt? If you're not even sure which AI platform to try, we would recommend testing the most prominent ones, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude, and Google's Gemini. If you're an experienced worker feeling threatened by AI, lean into your strengths. Your decades of experience with delegation, context-setting, and critical evaluation are exactly what AI tools need. Start small. Pick one regular work task and experiment with AI assistance, using your judgement to evaluate and refine outputs. Practice prompting like you're briefing a junior colleague: be specific about context, constraints, and desired outcomes, and repeat the process as needed. Most importantly, don't feel threatened. In a workplace increasingly filled with AI-generated content, your ability to spot what doesn't quite fit, and to know what questions to ask, has never been more valuable. Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Can Coforge's ambition to lead the IT Industry become a reality? How Mukesh Ambani's risky bet has now become Reliance's superpower Berlin to Bharuch: The Borosil journey after the China hit in Europe As RBI retains GDP forecast, 4 factors that will test the strength of Indian economy In a flat market, are REITs the sweet spot between growth and safety? These large- and mid-cap stocks may give more than 25% return in 1 year, according to analysts Buy, Sell or Hold: Avendus trims target on Titan Company; Motila Oswal maintains buy on Jindal Stainless Stock picks of the week: 5 stocks with consistent score improvement and return potential of more than 23% in 1 year

Are you in a mid-career to senior job? Don't fear AI
Are you in a mid-career to senior job? Don't fear AI

Time of India

time14 minutes ago

  • Time of India

Are you in a mid-career to senior job? Don't fear AI

Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Have you ever sat in a meeting where someone half your age casually mentions "prompting ChatGPT" or "running this through AI", and felt a familiar knot in your stomach? You're not a growing narrative that artificial intelligence (AI) is inherently ageist, that older workers will be disproportionately hit by job displacement and are more reluctant to adopt AI such assumptions - especially that youth is a built-in advantage when it comes to AI - might not actually ageism in hiring is a real concern, if you have decades of work experience, your skills, knowledge and judgement could be exactly what's needed to harness AI's power - without falling into its does the research say?The research on who benefits most from AI at work is surprisingly murky, partly because it's still early days for systematic studies on AI and research suggests lower-skilled workers might have more to gain than high-skilled workers on certain straightforward tasks. The picture becomes much less clear under real-world conditions, especially for complex work that relies heavily on judgement and our Skills Horizon research project, where we've been talking to Australian and global senior leaders across different industries, we're hearing a more nuanced older workers do experience AI as deeply unsettling. As one US-based CEO of a large multinational corporation told us: "AI can be a form of existential challenge, not only to what you're doing, but how you view yourself."But leaders are also observing an important and unexpected distinction: experienced workers are often much better at judging the quality of AI outputs. This might become one of the most important skills, given that AI occasionally hallucinates or gets things CEO of a South American creative agency put it bluntly: "Senior colleagues are using multiple AIs. If they don't have the right solution, they re-prompt, iterate, but the juniors are satisfied with the first answer, they copy, paste and think they're finished. They don't yet know what they are looking for, and the danger is that they will not learn what to look for if they keep working that way."Experienced workers have a crucial advantage when it comes to prompting AI: they understand context and usually know how to express it a junior advertising creative might ask an AI to "Write copy for a sustainability campaign", a seasoned account director knows to specify "Write conversational social media copy for a sustainable fashion brand targeting eco-conscious millennials, emphasising our client's zero-waste manufacturing process and keeping the tone authentic but not preachy".This skill mirrors what experienced professionals do when briefing junior colleagues or freelancers: providing detailed instructions, accounting for audience, objectives, and constraints. It's a competency developed through years of managing teams and workers, despite their comfort with technology, may actually be at a disadvantage here. There's a crucial difference between using technology frequently and using it young people may become too accustomed to AI assistance. A survey of US teens this year found 72 per cent had used an AI companion app. Some children and teens are turning to chatbots for everyday the professional experience to recognise when something doesn't quite fit, younger workers risk accepting AI responses that feel right - effectively "vibing" their work - rather than developing the analytical skills to evaluate AI everyone benefits from learning more about AI. In our time educating everyone from students to senior leaders and CEOs, we find that misunderstandings about how AI works have little to do with age.A good place to start is reading up on what AI is and what it can do for you:What is AI? Where does AI come from? How does AI learn? What can AI do? What makes a good AI prompt?If you're not even sure which AI platform to try, we would recommend testing the most prominent ones, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude, and Google's you're an experienced worker feeling threatened by AI, lean into your strengths. Your decades of experience with delegation, context-setting, and critical evaluation are exactly what AI tools small. Pick one regular work task and experiment with AI assistance, using your judgement to evaluate and refine outputs. Practice prompting like you're briefing a junior colleague: be specific about context, constraints, and desired outcomes, and repeat the process as importantly, don't feel threatened. In a workplace increasingly filled with AI-generated content, your ability to spot what doesn't quite fit, and to know what questions to ask, has never been more valuable.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store