Matt Chessen is a resident technical expert at RAND in the Center for the Geopolitics of Artificial General Intelligence. He is a retired U.S. diplomat, technologist, and author. From 2021 to 2024 he served at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, leading critical and emerging technology policy strategies in the Indo-Pacific. From 2017 to 2021, Chessen served in Washington, D.C. at the Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State. As the deputy and acting S&T adviser, he led Department efforts on AI, including the development of State's first International Engagement Strategy for AI. Chessen served several tours in technology policy roles in Washington, D.C., and worked overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Liberia.
Before joining the Foreign Service, Chessen founded an e-commerce company and worked in technology consulting. He holds a J.D. from Georgetown University, and an M.B.A. and B.A. from the University of Arizona. Chessen has written two novels, as well as numerous nonfiction articles and short stories.
J.D. in technology and national security law, Georgetown University Law Center; M.B.A. in management information systems, The University of Arizona; B.A. in psychology and history, The University of Arizona
