Operational Confidence Starts Here
About Us
AKE is a trusted partner for organisations operating in an increasingly volatile world.
We combine cutting-edge intelligence with proactive operational security and training to help clients anticipate threats, respond to crises, and build resilience where it matters most.
With over 30 years of global experience, AKE brings clarity, confidence, and capability to the world’s most complex environments.
Introducing our Lead Analysts
Powering Insight and Action
Tereza Palicka
Head of Analysis
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Tereza Palicka is the Head of Analysis at AKE International.
She holds an undergraduate degree in Journalism and Security Studies from Masaryk University and a master’s degree in Middle East, Caucasus, and Central Asia Security Studies from the University of St Andrews, where she wrote her dissertation on the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
She joined AKE as a Europe and Eurasia Analyst and has extensively covered the war in Ukraine.
Harish Natarajan
Head of Economic Risk Analysis
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Harish Natarajan has been working for AKE International for over 10 years. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Oxford, and a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge – where he wrote his thesis on sovereign finance.
He is a specialist on sovereign debt and global trade. He spent two and half years working as the in-house consultant at one of London’s largest credit and political risk insurers. In that role, he worked with their team to develop country risk rating models, was involved in the assessment of daily risks, and participated in the team’s reinsurance events.
In 2019, Harish participated in IBM’s third ‘grand challenge’ in San Francisco – debating and defeating ‘Project Debater’, an Artificial Intelligence machine.
Vladimir Paddack
Lead Europe & Eurasia and Energy Analyst
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Vlad Paddack is the lead analyst at AKE International’s Europe and Eurasia desk. Prior to working at AKE, Vlad completed his undergraduate studies at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, and earned his master’s degree at the Graduate Institute Geneva – where he wrote his thesis on energy security in Kazakhstan and Georgia.
He specialises in security and political affairs in Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, with a particular focus on the intersection of energy and geopolitics.
Eliza Burgess
Lead Latin America Analyst; Head of K&R Analysis
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Eliza Burgess is the lead analyst for AKE International’s Latin America desk and Head of Kidnap for Ransom Analysis.
Before joining AKE in November 2022, she spent nearly two years working in the reinsurance sector in Santiago, Chile. She then returned to the UK to complete a master’s degree in Globalisation and Latin American Development at University College London.
Eliza specialises in political and security affairs across Latin America, with a particular focus on regional kidnap for ransom trends.
Megan Khalife
Lead Middle East and North Africa Analyst
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Megan Khalife is the lead analyst for AKE International’s the Middle East and Africa (MENA) desk.
She holds a master’s degree in Forensic Psychology from the George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the American University of Beirut. Before joining AKE, she worked in the US private sector as an intelligence and counterterrorism analyst.
Megan specialises in counterterrorism, with a particular focus on terrorist group dynamics and their impact on regional stability.
Bradley Tait
Lead Asia-Pacific Analyst
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Bradley Tait is the lead analyst for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) desk at AKE International. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the George Washington University and a master’s degree in Politics of East Asia from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies.
Bradley’s postgraduate dissertation focused on Chinese politics, analysing the impact of the country’s Belt and Road Initiative on regional and global relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Saeed Abdilehi
Lead Sub-Saharan Africa Analyst
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Saeed Abdilehi is the lead analyst for the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) desk at AKE International.
He holds a master’s degree in International Politics and a bachelor’s degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Southampton. Before joining AKE, he worked at Control Risks supporting their Africa desk and conducted research on how long-term social, political, security and economic issues shaped social and political development in the Horn of Africa.
At AKE, he focuses on security in the Sahel and southern Africa.
