Team

ARI is run by an experienced team dedicated to AI policy advocacy in the public interest.

Leadership

Brad Carson

Co-Founder & President

Former President of the University of Tulsa, U.S. Congressman, and Under Secretary of the Army. Also served as Acting Under Secretary of Defense, bringing deep expertise in government and institutional leadership to ARI's mission.

Eric Gastfriend

Co-Founder & Executive Director

Former CEO and President of DynamiCare Health, a digital health startup recognized with awards from the NIH and FDA. Brings entrepreneurial vision and health technology expertise to ARI's policy development.

Our Team

Sheriff Almakki

Senior Policy Analyst

Former Foreign Affairs Officer at the U.S. Department of State. Former AI Consultant and CBRN red-teamer for frontier AI labs.

Justin Bullock

VP of Policy

Non-resident Senior Fellow at Global Governance Institute. Lecturer at Texas A&M University with extensive policy expertise.

Doug Calidas

SVP of Government Affairs

Former Chief of Staff to Senator Amy Klobuchar and Chief Counsel to Senator Joe Manchin. Fellow at Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School.

Q Chaghtai

Digital Director

Former Head of Marketing & Public Affairs at Legislogiq. Senior Marketing Manager at Accountable Tech and Groundwork Collaborative.

Caroline Dauchess

Scheduler

Former Outreach Assistant and Campaign Partnerships Assistant at the Heritage Foundation. Former Special Assistant at James Madison University.

Michael Dila

Director, Policy Futures Lab

Former Director at Oslo for AI. Former Advisor at Helpful Places and NSIN at U.S. DoD.

Aaron Dorshow

Policy Analyst

Former Policy Assistant with House Select Committee on the CCP. Policy Analyst at NYC Business Integrity Commission and Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

Kirsten D'Souza

Coalitions Director

Former Coalitions Director at Chamber of Progress. Senior Associate at Dewey Square Group and Florida House of Representatives.

McKenna Fitzgerald

External Relations

Former Research Manager at MATS. Deputy Director of the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute and Board Member of Magnify Mentoring.

Noah Frank

Policy Analyst

Former Research Fellow at Convergence Analysis. Senior Consultant at Valize and Strategy Consultant at Boston Consulting Group.

Iskandar Haykel

Senior Policy Analyst

Former bioethicist at Google. Researcher in NYU's digital governance initiative with expertise in AI ethics and policy.

Rachel Hovde

Policy Director

Former Senior Advisor at Bureau of Industry and Security. Engineering Manager and Head of Data Science in biotech startup space.

Garrett Katz

Associate Director, People Operations

Former Director of Search at Work Renewed. Associate at Odgers Berndtson and Sandler Search.

Sarah Kessel

Manager of Government Affairs

Former Professional Staff Member on Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Senate campaign consultant.

Mitch Kominsky

VP of Government Affairs

Founder of Futureland Ventures. Associate Director at U.S. Department of Transportation. Tech Policy Counsel to Senator Barrasso.

Michael Lee

Research Analyst

Air Force Academy Graduate. Former Research Intern at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Megi Llubani

Policy Research Manager

Former Senior Program Officer at National Endowment for Democracy. Resource Manager at MDRC and UN Women.

Chris MacKenzie

VP of Communications

Former Senior Communications Director at Chamber of Progress. Communications Director to Representatives Kendra Horn, Terri Sewell, and John Delaney.

Jessica Maksimov

Policy Analyst

Science, Technology & Policy Fellow at Department of Energy. AI Research Assistant at Georgetown. Boren Fellow in Warsaw, Poland.

Blair Mallin

Chief of Staff

Former Director of Operations to USAID Administrator Samantha Power and Senator Amy Klobuchar. Scheduler to Congressman Steve Israel.

Allie Maloney

Policy Analyst

Former Scoville Peace Fellow at Federation of American Scientists with focus on security and emerging technologies.

Brandie Nonnecke

Senior Policy Director

Former Director of CITRIS Policy Lab at UC Berkeley. Faculty Director at Berkeley Center for Law and Technology.

Annie O'Donnell

Operations Manager

Former Finance Manager at Brookings with focus on Governance Studies. Grants Manager with DOJ Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Annika Olson

Director of Government Affairs

Former Political and Legislative Representative at National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Assistant Director of Policy Research at UT Austin.

Adam Pastrich

VP of Operations

Former Director of Public Sector Strategy at Tanium. Cyber Policy Advisor at Department of Treasury. Consultant at Boston Consulting Group.

Morgan C. Plummer

VP of Policy Design & Delivery

Former Professor of Practice at U.S. Air Force Academy. Defense & Security Expert at BCG and NSIN. Senior Defense Official.

David Robusto

Associate Director, Policy Strategy

Former Emerging Technology Analyst at Gates Ventures with focus on global health and development policy.

Giovanni Rocco

Communications Manager

Former Communications Co-Chair for WorldPride DC 2025. Press Secretary at U.S. Department of Interior.

Evan Sarnor

Legislative Analyst

Former Public Policy Specialist at Akin law firm with expertise in regulatory and legislative analysis.

Vinaya Sivakumar

Development Assistant

Former Researcher at MATS, Center for AI Safety, and Berkeley AI Research Lab's Responsible AI Initiative.

John Soroushian

Senior Policy Director

Fellow at NYU Stern, Senior AI Advisor at FinRegLab. Former Associate Director for Business and Technology at Bipartisan Policy Center.

Jacqueline Viteznik

Policy Analyst

Former Graduate Consultant and Data Analytics Intern at Department of State. Program Management Intern at UNDRR.

Scott Weathers

Associate Director, Government Affairs

Former Policy Advisor to Representative Diana DeGette. Legislative Assistant to Representatives Julia Brownley and Matt Cartwright.

Masha Winchell

Legislative & Policy Analyst

Former Impact Strategist at Charity Navigator. Research Manager at ImpactMatters.

Board of Advisors

Scott Aaronson

Schlumberger Centennial Chair of Computer Science, University of Texas at Austin

Stewart A. Baker

Former General Counsel of the NSA and Assistant Secretary for Policy at DHS

Erik Brynjolfsson

Director, Stanford Digital Economy Lab; Stanford HAI

Gillian Hadfield

Professor of Government and Policy & Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University

Samuel Hammond

Senior Economist, Foundation for American Innovation

Stuart Russell

Professor of Computer Science, UC Berkeley; Director of Center for Human-Compatible AI

Tim Ryan

Former U.S. Congressman and Chairman of House Appropriations Subcommittee

Advisor Disclaimer: Our Advisors help to inform our work, but they have no official authority in our decision-making process, and their presence does not imply ARI's agreement with all of their opinions or supported policies. The ARI leadership team takes responsibility for ARI's policy positions.