person
Jen Easterly
Former director of CISA (US cyber defence agency)
Ran the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency from 2021 to 2025. Argued that AI systems must be 'secure by design' before deployment.
Profile
expertise
Policy / meta
Specialises in AI policy, regulation, governance, philanthropy, or movement strategy. Reads the technical literature but does not produce it.
Director of CISA (US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, 2021–2025). Engages AI through critical-infrastructure security frame. Cybersecurity, not ML.
recognition
Field-leading
Widely known inside the AI and AI-safety community. Appears repeatedly in top venues, podcasts, or governance forums. Not a household name to outsiders.
Recognised in US government and cybersecurity circles. Some mainstream press.
vintage
Post-ChatGPT
Entered the AI strategy debate in or after 2023. ChatGPT was already public when their voice became influential. Often shaped by Pause letter, AISIs, AI 2027.
CISA director 2021-2025. AI-as-critical-infrastructure framing post-ChatGPT.
Hand-classified. See the board for the criteria and the full grid.
Strategy positions
Governance firstendorses
Lead with regulation, treaties, liability regimesArgues AI must be 'secure by design'; led CISA's push for this framing in federal procurement.
AI systems must be secure by design, not bolted on after deployment.
Closest strategy neighbours
by jaccard overlapOther people whose strategy tags overlap with Jen Easterly's. Overlap is on tag identity, not stance; opposites can show up if they reference the same tags.
Record last updated 2026-04-24.