Syed Nazakat

Syed Nazakat is an award-winning journalist, media entrepreneur, founder and CEO of DataLEADS, a tech and digital media company he founded to promote open data and democratization of information at scale. He leads DataLEADS in New Delhi, as well as oversees the organization’s strategic vision and oversees its extensive global partnerships and outreach. With a distinguished career spanning over 30 countries, Nazakat has held senior editorial roles in major media organizations and has been widely recognized for his reporting and leadership in the field of media innovation. His work has received numerous international awards and accolades. Nazakat has built one of the world’s largest networks focused on AI, fact-checking, data journalism, and media literacy. This network has supported the launch of multiple multilingual initiatives on information integrity and fact-checking, benefiting hundreds of newsrooms, institutions, and organizations across Asia. He is the founder of First Check, a pioneering cross-sectoral platform that brings together journalists, technologists, and health professionals from 20+ countries to scale the delivery of science-backed health information across communities. More recently, he led the Shakti Project, a groundbreaking initiative that mobilized over 600 journalists, fact-checkers, and technologists from more than 100 Indian newsrooms to combat misinformation, detect deepfakes, and amplify verified content in diverse local languages. Nazakat was a member of the consultation committee convened by India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to help shape policy on AI-generated content, underscoring his leadership in the intersection of technology and information governance. He serves on the board of the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), representing Asia. He is also on the board of The New Humanitarian (Geneva), an advisory member of the Asian Network of News & Information Educators (Hong Kong), and a member of the WHO Expert Group on Ethical Considerations of Social Listening and Infodemic Management. He also serves on the Working Group on Artificial Intelligence and the Information Space at the Forum on Information and Democracy (France). In 2025, he was appointed Chair of the Board of the Asian Center for Journalism (ACFJ) at Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines. Nazakat previously served as a jury member for Google’s COVID-19 Vaccine Counter-Misinformation Open Fund and as an advisory member of Facebook’s Global Health Expert Advisory Council during the COVID-19 pandemic. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from India and a Master’s in Journalism and Mass Communication from Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines.