I am an Associate Fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for the Future of Intelligence. Previously, I was an International Security Program Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

My work lies at the intersection of international security, political violence, and AI-related risks. I study how non-state armed actors adapt, learn, and acquire new capabilities — and what this means for contemporary security.

My latest research investigates risks from terrorist groups leveraging AI. I examine AI misuse risks by documenting how non-state armed actors engage with AI capabilities, including their adoption pathways and current use cases. I also assess the bioterrorism risks these groups pose through interdisciplinary collaborations, with implications for AI governance and biosecurity policy.

This builds on earlier fieldwork in Northeast Nigeria, where I interviewed former Boko Haram members and conflict-affected communities to understand how armed groups govern and how civilians navigate life under insurgent rule. That research is the basis of my book project, Civilians Behind Front Lines, and helps ground my current work in how these groups behave. Related work examines people’s navigation of internal armed group dynamics and the methodological and ethical challenges of researching armed groups.

My research has received the 2025 Kenneth Boulding Award from the Peace Studies Section of the International Studies Association, the 2024 Hayward R. Alker Award by the American Political Science Association's Interpretivist Methodologies and Methods Related Group, and financial support from the UK Economic and Social Research Council, the University of Edinburgh, Harvard University, the Thomas and Ulla Kolbeck Foundation, and Open Philanthropy.

I received my Ph.D. in International Development from the University of Edinburgh in 2024. I hold an M.Sc. in African Studies from the University of Edinburgh, an M.Sc. in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a B.A. in Social Sciences from Humboldt University Berlin. I have worked for and consulted the United Nations, the German Corporation for International Development (GIZ), and non-governmental organizations in Germany, India, Nigeria, Thailand, and the United States.

To get in touch, please email me at: an.juelich@gmail.com.