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Biography
Tess DeBlanc-Knowles serves as Special Assistant to the Director for Artificial Intelligence at the National Science Foundation (NSF), where she oversees NSF’s implementation of the Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence and works across the agency to coordinate AI initiatives and AI policy. In addition, she holds the position of Strategic Advisor for Technology Policy and Strategy within NSF’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships.

Prior to stepping into these roles, Tess spent two years as a senior policy advisor within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). While at OSTP, she led policy efforts focused on strengthening the nation’s 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 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.