Klaus Tilmes is a Senior Policy Advisor and former World Bank Director with 30+ years of international experience in development policy, strategy development at global, country, and sectoral levels, and program implementation. As senior expert, he provides policy advice to the National Academies for Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering, the African Center for Economic Transformation, UN organizations, as well as private sector companies on economic trends, human development, data policies, and technology strategies. At the World Bank, Mr. Tilmes worked most recently with the Office of the President to develop the institution’s strategy on emerging technologies. He served as Director of the Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice, overseeing operations across Sub-Saharan African and the Middle East and North Africa. During his tenure at the World Bank, Mr. Tilmes also held positions as Operations and Strategy Director for Finance and Private Sector Development; Knowledge Strategy Advisor; and Manager at the Independent Evaluation Group. He earned a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University and a Master in Economics from the University of Mannheim.