Laura Sallstrom and Erika Barros-Sierra Join BGA’s Technology Practice as Senior Advisers
Washington, D.C. – April 21, 2026
BowerGroupAsia (BGA) is pleased to announce that global technology policy experts Laura Sallstrom and Erika Barros-Sierra have joined the firm as senior advisers to its technology practice.
Their appointments further deepen BGA’s technical and global policy capabilities, strengthening its ability to advise clients on global trends in technology policy and technology value chain issues and how those are shaping the business environment both within and across major markets in the Indo-Pacific, Africa and globally.
Sallstrom and Barros-Sierra bring decades of experience identifying and engaging emerging global technology policy trends and guiding multinational companies and global investors. They will work as members of BGA’s technology practice, a team of over 60 government affairs experts based in BGA offices in the Indo-Pacific, Africa and Washington, D.C., and comprising former officials, corporate executives and policy practitioners engaged in policy deliberations impacting global business.
“Most of the world’s consequential business decisions are now less centralized in Washington, Brussels or London; they are made in capitals across the Indo-Pacific and Africa where technology policymaking is central to countries’ economic and national security,” said Ernest Z. Bower, president and CEO of BowerGroupAsia. “Laura and Erika add technical depth and policymaking experience to our understanding of the global technology policy landscape and how it affects, and is affected by, the business and policy decisions made in Asia and Africa.”
“We are thrilled to be part of the BGA team”, said Sallstrom. “The ability to provide customers both the high-level global perspective combined with on-the-ground intelligence is critical as global political dynamics shift.” Barros-Sierra notes, “BGA’s technical expertise in the technology space is unparalleled in the region, and we are happy to supplement that expertise with ours.”
BGA’s clients are multinational corporations building in the Indo-Pacific and Africa and the global investors — private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds — funding them. Its technology practice delivers business outcomes with impact across a range of subsectors, including semiconductors, artificial intelligence, data governance, platform regulation, subsea cables, digital infrastructure and emerging models of industrial policy. Sallstrom and Barros-Sierra reinforce BGA’s integrated approach to navigating how governments are addressing these critical economic issues.
Laura Sallstrom
Laura Sallstrom brings more than 30 years of experience at the intersection of international trade, technology policy and business strategy. Laura is a founding partner and managing director of ThinkTech Policy Consulting LLC. As former global head of public policy at Access Partnership, she led engagements on cloud computing, digital trade and supply chain policy across Europe and Asia for clients including Google, Microsoft, Salesforce and SpaceX. Earlier in her career, she served in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and as director of the Asia-Pacific at the Business Software Alliance. She is an adjunct professor at Duke University, where she lectures on trade, technology and China’s role in the global digital economy. (Full bio: https://bowergroupasia.com/teams/profiles/laura-sallstrom/)
Erika Barros-Sierra
Erika Barros-Sierra is a founding partner and managing director of ThinkTech Policy Consulting LLC. She is a technology policy and regulatory strategy expert with more than 20 years of experience helping global companies navigate landmark digital frameworks, including the EU’s Digital Services Act and AI Act and the U.K.’s Online Safety Act. She has held senior roles at Vimeo, Access Partnership, EY, Baker McKenzie and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and has represented industry perspectives in high-level multilateral forums including the World Economic Forum’s AI Governance Alliance. A licensed attorney in New York and Mexico, she holds a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School. (Full bio: https://bowergroupasia.com/teams/profiles/erika-barros/)
For more information about working with Laura, Erika and BGA’s tech team, please contact BGA Vice President Charles Bower at cbower@bowergroupasia.com and Senior Director for Technology William Heidlage at wheidlage@bowergroupasia.com.
About BowerGroupAsia
BGA is the premier government affairs firm for companies and capital deployers whose success across the Indo-Pacific and Africa is impacted by how governments design and implement policies and regulations.
With more than 230 professionals embedded in 33 capitals and business hubs across Asia, Africa and Washington, D.C., BGA employs senior teams in every market, under one firm, one standard and one point of accountability.
Our clients are the world’s leading multinational corporations and the private equity, sovereign wealth, pension and infrastructure funds that finance them. For more than two decades, we have delivered policy outcomes and advanced the commercial objectives that turn ambition in these markets into legislation shaped, approvals secured, deals closed, licenses held and growth defended.
Whether you are looking to partner with us, join us, or explore what is possible in the markets we know best, we want to hear from you: https://bowergroupasia.com/
