Russell Wald

Bio

Russell Wald leads the policy and society initiative at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI), and advances the organization’s engagement with civil society and governments worldwide. As a part of HAI’s executive management team, Wald sets the strategic vision for policy and societal research, education, and outreach at HAI. He directs a dynamic team to equip civil society and policymakers with the knowledge and resources to take informed and meaningful actions on advancing AI with human-centered values. From 2020 - 2022, he served as HAI’s first Director of Policy.

He is the co-author of various publications on AI including, Building a National AI Research Resource (2021), Enhancing International Cooperation in AI Research: The Case for a Multilateral AI Research Institute (2022), The Centrality of Data and Compute for AI Innovation: A Blueprint for a National Research Cloud (2022, Notre Dame Journal of Emerging Technologies). Currently he is part of a HAI seed grant research project titled, Addicted by Design: An Investigation of How AI-fueled Digital Media Platforms Contribute to Addictive Consumption. Additionally, he serves as a member of the AI Index Steering Committee, hosted by HAI.

Wald has held various policy program and government relations positions at Stanford University for nearly a decade. He also served as special assistant to Amy Zegart and Ashton Carter at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). In 2014, he co-designed and led the inaugural Stanford congressional boot camp, and has since created numerous tech policy boot camps, establishing a strong and effective tradition of educating policymakers at Stanford and enhancing the collaboration between governments and academic institutions.

Prior to his work at Stanford, he held numerous roles with the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. He is a Visiting Fellow with the National Security Institute at George Mason University, and a former Term Member with the Council on Foreign Relations and the Truman National Security Project. Wald is a graduate of UCLA.