Prashanth Shanmugan is an academic, corporate diplomat, and global business advisory specialist whose career spans the intersection of geopolitics, energy, and storytelling.
A former member of the Global Scenarios team at Royal Dutch Shell, he has sustained and deepened that expertise over the years bringing both the rigour of long-range strategic foresight and a practitioner’s understanding of how energy systems, policy, and geopolitics interact.
He is President of the Australian Council on Foreign Relations, a Lecturer at the University of St. Gallenin Switzerland, and a Reservist Officer in the Australian Army. He also leads a creative advisory practice working across narrative design, scenarios, and public diplomacy.
He is a recipient of numerous honours and awards including the Centenary Medal, Human Rights Youth Medal, and the Australian Humanitarian Award.
This rare combination spanning academia, creativity, diplomacy, and executive advisory gives Prashanth a multidimensional perspective that few bring to the energy transition conversation.
Based in Australia, he adds a uniquely valuable lens to the NEBS Ambassador network. The Indo-Pacific is one of the most consequential arenas in the global energy transition, a region navigating the tension between energy security, economic development, and decarbonisation at extraordinary scale and speed. It is also a region he knows intimately, shaped by years of engagement across its cultures, institutions, and corridors of power.