Redefining Trust in the Digital Age: Tarun Khanna Speaks at the AIWS-DASI Conference
Harvard University Loeb House — November 4, 2025
At the Boston Global Forum’s AIWS Digital Asset Standards Initiative (AIWS-DASI) Conference, Professor Tarun Khanna of Harvard Business School delivered a compelling and deeply insightful talk on the future of trust, ethics, and financial inclusion in the digital age. His remarks offered a grounded, global perspective on how societies can navigate digital transformation responsibly—particularly through lessons from India, China, and the United States.
Khanna began by bringing the audience “back to basics,” reminding participants that trust in finance fundamentally requires only two elements:
- Knowing precisely who you are transacting with, and
- Having a clear mechanism for redress when disputes arise.
From this foundation, he explored how the world’s most populous nations are reinventing financial trust through digital public infrastructure.
China and the United States: Parallel Models of Tech Power
Khanna highlighted the similarities between China’s digital ecosystem—dominated by Alibaba and Tencent under state supervision—and the U.S. ecosystem shaped by Meta, Google, and Amazon, with American regulators increasingly scrutinizing corporate influence. Both cases reflect a “public-private tension” over who controls the digital interface with citizens.
India’s Distinct and Transformative Model
What sets India apart, he argued, is its revolutionary approach:
Digital infrastructure as a public good, not a privately controlled asset.
India’s India Stack—a country-level digital infrastructure built on open, public access protocols—has delivered unprecedented outcomes:
- Eliminated vast fraud through universal biometric identity
- Reduced financial transaction costs to near zero, the lowest globally
- Enabled millions previously excluded to participate in the formal financial system
- Provided a model now being adopted by several countries worldwide
Khanna emphasized that this transformation represents a leapfrogging of digital capability unmatched by any other nation.
Relevance to AIWS-DASI
Returning to the theme of the conference, Khanna noted that ethical digital asset standards cannot succeed without the foundational pillars of identity, authentication, and trust. India’s success demonstrates that infrastructure designed with integrity can eliminate corruption, reduce friction, and ensure fairness at massive scale.
A Call to Return to First Principles
As the world becomes increasingly captivated by tokenization, crypto jargon, and complex AI systems, Khanna urged the audience to stay grounded:
“All you need is information sanctity and contract sanctity. Everything else becomes hopeless if you cannot verify your transacting partner.”
He reminded participants that digital transformation—especially in finance—must always return to the basics of authentic identity, transparent exchange, and human empowerment.
A Timely Contribution to AIWS-DASI
Professor Khanna’s talk provided a powerful intellectual anchor for the AIWS-DASI Conference, aligning perfectly with its mission to build ethical, transparent, and trust-centered foundations for the digital economy of the AI Age.
His insights underscored why AIWS-DASI must look beyond technology hype and instead focus on structural reforms, human-centered design, and the public good—values that will shape the next generation of global digital governance.
Pleaae see full Professor Khanna’s video here:
