Tess DeBlanc-Knowles

Tess serves as Special Assistant to the Director for Artificial
Intelligence, where she oversees NSF’s implementation of the
recent Executive Order on AI and works across the agency to
facilitate collaboration on AI initiatives. In addition, she holds the
position of Strategic Advisor for Technology Policy and Strategy
within the Foundation’s new directorate for Technology,
Innovation, and Partnerships.
She recently concluded a two-year assignment as Senior Policy Advisor to the National AI
Initiative Office of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). While at
OSTP, she led the National AI Initiative Office’s policy efforts to strengthen the AI innovation
ecosystem and co-chaired the National AI Research Resource Task Force. She also led the
development of the National Strategy to Advance Privacy Preserving Data Sharing and
Analytics and the National AI Research and Development Strategic Plan: 2023 Update. Before
joining NSF, Tess served as Director for Research and Analysis at the National Security
Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI). She has also spent time as Chief of Staff at the
Atlantic Council, at U.S. Special Operations Command, and in the Office of the Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction.