Eddie Mandhry

Eddie Mandhry is the inaugural managing director of Columbia Engineering’s Dream Sports AI Innovation Center, where he leads a $10 million initiative at the intersection of artificial intelligence, sports innovation, and human performance. The Center advances cutting-edge applications of AI in talent analytics, athlete monitoring, officiating technologies, smart venue management, and personalized fan experiences—bridging research and industry to redefine the future of sports innovation.

Prior to Columbia, Mandhry was a senior fellow at Schmidt Futures, the philanthropic initiative of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, where he built the Virtual Center for Advanced Potential, a research and fellowship platform focused on identifying and accelerating exceptional individuals contributing to the frontiers of science and innovation. He later founded Prometheus X, a Schmidt Futures spin-out that backs early-stage entrepreneurs developing AI-driven solutions to global challenges.

Mandhry also served as director for Africa and the Middle East at Yale University, where he led President Peter Salovey’s Africa Initiative, advising deans and senior leaders on institutional partnerships, research collaborations, and global engagement. At NYU, he was associate director of Africa House and the Abu Dhabi Center for Technology and Economic Development, managing research initiatives on entrepreneurship, innovation ecosystems, and market development in Ghana, Ethiopia, and the UAE. Prior, Mandhry was Washington director at Global Kids, where he oversaw civic and global education programs for youth focused on international affairs, human rights, and foreign policy.

Mandhry holds an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics and a BA from Hampshire College, with executive training from MIT, Columbia Business School, and Harvard Kennedy School. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the boards of theCarnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, the African Capacity Building Foundation, and Hampshire College.