Mustafa Suleyman is a prominent figure in the field of artificial intelligence. In The Coming Wave, he draws on his background in both government and technology to illuminate his views on the transformative potential and risks of emerging technologies.

Born and raised in London, Suleyman displayed an early interest in social justice. He pursued a degree from the University of Oxford before dropping out at age 19. After dropping out, he founded a counseling service called the Muslim Youth Helpline. He also delved into the world of public service, working as a policy officer for the mayor of London. In The Coming Wave, Suleyman explains that in his youth, he possessed a sense of idealism about the power of government to positively impact society. This idealism was tempered by his experience working in government. In his twenties, he decided to switch careers to technology in order to make a greater impact on the world. The rapid rise of Facebook showed him that technology had the ability to scale quickly and impact people on a broad scale, unlike the bureaucratic nature of government.

Transitioning to the field of technology, Suleyman co-founded DeepMind Technologies, an AI research lab, in 2010 alongside Demis Hassabis and Shane Legg.