I am the founder of Techne AI a Chicago-based consultancy specializing in AI enablement and governance. With over 14 years of experience commercializing emerging technologies in cybersecurity, digital health, legal tech, and AI startups, I partner with founders and C-suite leaders to design and execute AI strategies that are both innovative and compliant with emerging regulations.

Since 2020, I've worked at the intersection of AI product and revenue strategy in regulated environments, including an in-house leadership role at an AI biotech firm. I later launched a small advisory practice, guiding organizations through AI governance, risk management, and compliance challenges. I also lead trainings for corporate boards, enhancing their ability to oversee AI-related risks and opportunities.

I have a BA in Philosophy from Carleton College and a JD from the University of Minnesota Law School. I'm an active contributor to the public dialogue on AI policy and ethics and host the AI in Chicago podcast, where I interview leaders shaping the future of AI, healthcare, and innovation.

I am seeking research opportunities in AI Governance, Risk, Ethics, and Safety. On the philosophy side, I am particularly interested in AI moral agents. I'm interested in how we can confidently assess synthetic minds and infer whether they are conscious, can suffer, and are, therefore, moral patients. Our ability to either deny or to confer moral patient status to the synthetic being and adjust our standards, policy choices, and behavior accordingly depends on extending some model of human representations of consciousness to synthetic minds.

I can offer 5-10 hours a week of free research assistance. Although I haven’t been in an academic setting for over a decade, deep research—leading to synthesis and writing and quickly getting up to speed on complex topics and technologies—has remained a critical part of my work and skill set. I was also trained in philosophy and law at rigorous institutions and have continued to self-study both philosophy and law. I think that my background in law, in particular, can be helpful when it comes to examining questions about AI agents, morality, and the recognition of rights for synthetic beings, to whom, at some point, we may have no choice but to ascribe conscious status.