Aditi Kumar is a Non-Resident Research Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). She previously served as the Principal Deputy Director of the Defense Innovation Unit within the U.S. Department of Defense. In this role, she led numerous initiatives focused on the accelerated acquisition and fielding of commercial technologies in response to urgent military needs. 

Prior to joining DIU, Aditi served as the Senior Advisor to the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment, leading efforts related to industrial production expansion and acceleration. She was previously the executive director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. She also led the Belfer Center’s Economic Diplomacy Initiative, focused on research and expertise at the intersection of international affairs and economic policy. 

Prior to her time at Harvard, she was a principal at management consultancy Oliver Wyman in the financial services and public policy practices. She holds a BS in Economics and a BA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania’s Huntsman Program, an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. Originally from India, she immigrated to the United States at the age of nine.