Ms. Swati Karni

Ethical AI: From Autonomy to Accountability

Abstract:

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems evolve from passive tools to autonomous decision-makers, the ethical challenges surrounding their development and deployment have intensified. Modern AI is no longer limited to performing predefined tasks—it now demonstrates agentic capabilities, acting independently, learning from complex environments, and executing multi-step objectives with minimal human oversight. This transformation from assistance to autonomy raises a critical question: how do we ensure accountability when machines begin to make consequential decisions?  This keynote explores the ethical progression of AI systems from autonomy to accountability, emphasizing the need for transparent, traceable, and explainable decision frameworks. It examines how principles such as fairness, responsibility, and human oversight must evolve to match the sophistication of agentic and generative models. Through real-world examples—from autonomous cloud recovery agents to AI-driven governance systems—the discussion bridges theory with practice, showcasing strategies to build verifiable, auditable, and ethically aligned AI ecosystems.  Ultimately, this session argues that the future of trustworthy AI depends not only on empowering systems to act intelligently but also on ensuring they act responsibly. As AI autonomy increases, accountability must become the cornerstone of its ethical design—turning moral principles into measurable, operational proof of responsible innovation.

Profile:

Swati K is an accomplished Principal Cloud Engineer / Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) with extensive experience in cloud architecture, DevOps, and AWS-based solutions. She specializes in designing, implementing, and maintaining scalable, reliable, and secure cloud infrastructure, with strong expertise in automation, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), and cloud operations.

With a solid background in cloud engineering and software development, Swati has contributed to multiple enterprise-level projects across diverse industries, ensuring high system availability, performance optimization, and seamless deployment pipelines. She brings a strategic approach to cloud adoption and operational excellence, combining technical expertise with problem-solving skills to drive innovation and efficiency.

Currently at SAIC, Swati continues to lead cloud initiatives and SRE practices, enabling organizations to leverage cloud technologies effectively while maintaining robust, resilient, and scalable systems.