Terah Lyons

Terah Lyons is the Executive Director of the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (P.A.I.). Prior to joining P.I.A., Terah served as a Mozilla Foundation Technology Policy Fellow.

During the Obama administration, Terah served as a Policy Adviser to the U.S. Chief Technology Officer in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (O.S.T.P.), where she led a policy portfolio focused on machine intelligence, including AI, robotics and intelligent transportation systems. In her work at O.S.T.P., she helped establish and direct the White House Future of Artificial Intelligence Initiative, oversaw robotics policy and regulatory matters, led the administration’s work from the White House on civil and commercial unmanned aircraft systems/drone integration into the U.S. airspace system, and advised on Federal automated vehicles policy. She also advised on issues related to diversity and inclusion in the technology industry and entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Prior to her work at the White House, Terah was a Fellow with the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences based in Cape Town, South Africa. She previously worked with David Gergen at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Center for Public Leadership examining leadership and U.S. politics, and with Amy Kaslow working to chronicle domestic and international economic reconstruction, poverty and contemporary conflict and genocide. She has contributed to articles published in The New York Times, Fortune magazine, The Huffington Post, The Boston Globe, and on CNN.com. She is a graduate of Harvard University, where she currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Harvard Alumni Association.