Alby John Varghese

Alby is a doctor turned career civil servant from Tamil Nadu, India, who most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of the Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency, where he also led the Tamil Nadu AI Mission. Over the past decade, Alby has worked across public health, urban administration, and digital governance sectors. His efforts to reduce maternal mortality and improve the sex ratio at birth in Tiruvallur District, where he served as District Collector, were recognized with the Tamil Nadu Government's Best District Collector Award in 2023. His work in combating forced labour was also recognized with the Chief Minister's Good Governance Award in 2022. He comes to Princeton SPIA at a career inflection point when he is transitioning from implementing policies in the field to crafting policies at the state and national level. He believes his MPP at Princeton will equip him with the right tools to design and implement evidence-based, inclusive health policy reforms at scale in India. He is particularly interested in understanding how digital health technologies can improve healthcare access and delivery, while addressing the privacy and security concerns associated with them. As a first-generation graduate from a small village in Kerala, India, he is a strong advocate for equitable opportunities and believes it is the state's duty to ensure them for all, with special targeted initiatives for the most vulnerable. Outside work, Alby enjoys planning a novel he has unsuccessfully been trying to start for the last 15 years and binge watching superhero movies.