photo of Vikrum Aiyer

Vikrum Aiyer

VP of Global Public Policy & Strategic Communications
Postmates

Vikrum Aiyer is Vice President of Global Public Policy & Strategic Communications for the on-demand technology platform, Postmates. And the host of the American Enough podcast. Previously, Aiyer was as a senior official in the Obama Administration serving both as Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of Commerce for intellectual property, and as President Obama's Senior Advisor for innovation & manufacturing policy in The White House.

As Postmates creates new opportunities for brick & mortar businesses to distribute their products in the era of e-commerce, it is also shaping the way independent workers and robotics are shaping the labor market. Aiyer helps lead the legislative, regulatory, and policy discussions at the federal, state, and municipal levels which are impacting the Future of Work and the on-demand industry. In the Obama Administration he coordinated a $3.2B budget in support of the president’s intellectual property agenda. He also helped steer investments in several advanced manufacturing technologies including smart fabrics, autonomous vehicles, high performance computing, and next generation semiconductors.

He has also served on the communications team of Senator Ed Markey (D-MA); Mayor Adrian Fenty (D-Washington, D.C.); and the Democratic National Conventions in 2012 and 2016. In 2015, Forbes Magazine named Aiyer to the 30 Under 30 list for Law & Policy; and in 2017 Aiyer was named a Public Policy Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.

Aiyer currently lives in San Francisco, California where he serves as a Term Member for the Council on Foreign Relations; a co-chair for the US Chamber of Commerce New Economy Working Group; an executive board member of the Bay Area Council; a co-chair for business council for the U.S. Conference of Mayors; and the new leaders council of the San Francisco Symphony.

[Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.]

Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.