AELERT Regulatory Masterclass on AI and Emerging Technologies ft. Professor Gary Marchant

Five cities and one of the world’s leading thinkers on how regulators can govern emerging technologies responsibly, adaptively and with public trust.

Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are reshaping the industries regulators oversee, and the tools regulators use. Frameworks built for a slower world are being asked to govern one that won’t slow down. This masterclass series brings one of the world’s leading thinkers on technology governance to five Australian cities to work through what it takes for regulators to respond with credibility, adaptability and public trust.

Program overview

Regulators across Australia are being asked to govern a wave of technologies that are evolving faster than the frameworks built to contain them. Artificial intelligence, automated decision-making, data-driven compliance, biotechnology, neurotechnology and the inevitable wave of innovations are reshaping the industries and behaviours regulators oversee. Furthermore, at the same time these pressures are reshaping how regulators themselves monitor, assess, enforce and report. The challenge is not only technical; it is institutional, legal and ethical, and it sits squarely with the regulator.

In this masterclass, Professor Gary Marchant draws on more than two decades of research and practice at the intersection of law, science and emerging technology to offer regulators a structured way of thinking through the governance of AI and related innovations. He introduces the now widely recognised idea of the pacing problem: the gap between the speed of technological change and the capacity of traditional regulation to respond, and explores why conventional command-and-control approaches are increasingly insufficient on their own. Drawing on his global research programs, including his landmark study of more than six hundred AI soft law mechanisms, his work on adaptive and anticipatory regulation, and his leadership of the IEEE P2863 working group developing a global AI governance standard, Professor Marchant will examine how regulators can combine hard law, soft law and private standards into an integrated, credible governance approach.

Discussion will range across:

• The pacing problem and why it matters for Australian regulators
• Adaptive and anticipatory regulation as a practical response to uncertainty
• The growing role of private standards such as ISO/IEC 42001 and the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, and the emerging use of regulatory safe harbours
• How hard law, soft law, liability and private standards can reinforce rather than duplicate each other
• Building institutional capability to govern complex, rapidly changing systems
• Lessons from international practice, including the United States, Europe and across OECD jurisdictions, that can be adapted to Australian regulatory contexts

The session is framed through the lens of environmental regulation, but the principles apply across every regulatory portfolio now grappling with emerging technology, complexity and risk, including workplace safety, competition and consumer protection, privacy, planning and heritage, primary industries, resources, health, and integrity and corruption.

Additional programming notes:

Following Professor Marchant’s presentation and Q&A, the second half of each masterclass will be tailored to the host jurisdiction, drawing on pre-submitted questions and case studies from attending regulators and academics to ensure the discussion is relevant and rewarding.

Event details

Dates: June 22 – July 2, 2026

Delivery: In-person only

Ticket pricing:

• AELERT & affiliate members*: $500 + GST and booking fees
• Non-member: $750 + GST and booking fees

Member pricing is extended to affiliated professional bodies including EIANZ, NELA, NRCoP, and AIPIO. You may be asked to prove valid membership upon registration.

Terms and conditions: Please review the AELERT event registration terms and conditions.

Register in your city

The Masterclass on AI and Emerging Technologies ft. Professor Gary Marchant will be held in five locations. Each session will feature a subtheme tailored to participants in each jurisdiction.

Meet the speaker

Who should attend?

This masterclass is designed for professionals working in or alongside regulatory agencies whose operating environments are being reshaped by emerging technology. It suits:

• Senior leaders and executives responsible for regulatory strategy, institutional capability and system reform
• Policy and legislative professionals designing or reviewing frameworks for emerging technology
• Practitioners in compliance, enforcement, intelligence, investigations and monitoring who are starting to see AI and automated systems in their operating environment
• Regulatory governance, integrity and assurance professionals
• Legal and technical advisers to regulators, both in-house and external
• Academics, researchers and students working on regulatory theory, environmental law and technology governance
• Consultants, in-house counsel, risk and audit professionals working with the regulated community

While the session is framed through an environmental regulatory lens, the content applies across portfolios including workplace safety, competition, consumer protection, privacy and digital safety, health, primary industries, resources, planning and integrity.

Outcomes for you and your agency

Designed to support leadership capability uplift and strategic planning, this session will help you:

• Build a practical framework for governing AI and emerging technology within your existing regulatory toolkit
• Learn from international jurisdictions ahead of the curve on AI governance
• Work through real regulatory challenges directly with a world-leading thinker in technology governance
• Connect with senior regulators, academics and in-house experts across jurisdictions and portfolios

A certificate of attendance is provided to support CPD and capability records.

Event sponsors

The AELERT Regulatory Masterclass series is proudly sponsored by Objective Corporation.

FAQs