Lead, Technology Policy and Governance, RAND Center on AI, Security and Technology; Senior Political Scientist
Brodi Kotila leads the Technology Policy and Governance research group at RAND's Center on AI, Security and Technology (CAST), where she directs frontier AI policy research, developing actionable policy and governance options for advanced AI systems. Her work bridges the gap between rapidly advancing AI capabilities and the realities of government decision-making, and recent research is shaping policies at the White House, Department of Defense, and allied governments. Kotila was awarded the Leonard Schaeffer Medal for Impact, RAND's highest award for research impact.
Previously, Kotila served as Assistant Secretary for Strategy, Plans, Analysis and Risk at the Department of Homeland Security (managing 180 staff and a $40M budget), Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of the Army, veterans policy lead at the White House Domestic Policy Council and Special Counsel to the DoD General Counsel. She also served as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer.
She holds a a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University, and a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a member of the Massachusetts bar.
Ph.D. in political science, Harvard University; M.A. in political science, Harvard University; J.D., Yale Law School; B.A. in political science, UC Berkeley
