Nelli Blinova leads international partnerships at Defence AI Center A1, established under Ukraine's Ministry of Defence, where she drives strategic alignment between Ukraine's defence AI ecosystem and the global technology and defence-industrial community.
Nelli serves as the primary bridge between A1 and international donors, BigTech companies, and government partners, driving co-development, technology-sharing, and funding arrangements across NATO and Indo-Pacific frameworks. She previously served as Head of AI International Partnerships at Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation, where she helped align Ukraine's National AI Strategy with the global tech ecosystem and worked closely with BigTech leaders, international donors, and research institutions — experience she now brings to building Ukraine's sovereign defence AI capability and its international partnership base.