AI Leadership Council Members

Established as an advisory body, the AI Leadership Council is co-chaired by Teena Piccione, Secretary of Information Technology, and Lee Lilley, Secretary of Commerce. 

Council Leadership

  • Teena Piccione, Secretary of N.C. Department of Information Technology and State CIO (Co-Chair)
  • Lee Lilley, Secretary of North Carolina Department of Commerce (Co-Chair)

Council Membership

  • Sen. Todd Johnson, N.C. Senate, District 35, Senate Majority Whip
  • Sen. DeAndrea Salvador, N.C. Senate, District 39
  • Rep. Zack Hawkins, N.C. House of Representatives, District 31
  • Rep. Jake Johnson, N.C. House of Representatives, District 113, House Deputy Majority Whip
  • Dr. David Yokum, J.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientist, N.C. Office of State Budget and Management
  • Mary Penny Kelley, Chief of Staff, N.C. Office of State Human Resources
  • Kunal Choksi, Senior Deputy Attorney General, Consumer Protection Director at N.C. Department of Justice
  • Vera Cubero, N.C. Emerging Technologies Consultant, N.C. Department of Public Instruction
  • Bryan Harris, Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer at SAS
  • Phaedra Boinodiris, Global Leader of Responsible AI at IBM Consulting
  • Marina Chase Carreker, Founder, Galleon Strategies
  • Igor Jablokov, Chairman, Pryon Inc.
  • Dr. Thomas Reardon, former VP, Research at Meta; Partner, Lux Capital
  • The Hon. Tommy Sowers, Ph. D., Deputy Director, Duke Initiative for Science and Society
  • Dr. Andrea Crowley, Ph.D., Executive Director, N.C. Student Success Center, North Carolina Community Colleges
  • Dr. Stan Ahalt, Ph.D., Dean, School of Data Science and Society, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • Dr. Siobahn Day Grady, Ph.D., Founding Director, Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Research & Associate Professor of Information Systems, North Carolina Central University
  • Markell Storay, Chief Information Officer and Director of Innovation & Technology, City of Charlotte
  • The Hon. Shinica Thomas, Wake County Commissioner
  • Jennie Bowen, Workforce Development Director, Rivers East Workforce Development Board
  • Dr. Angel Hsu, Ph. D., Associate Professor of Public Policy, Director of the Data-Driven Lab, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • Leslie Boney, Principal, BoneConnector.com; former Director, Institute for Emerging Issues, NC State University
  • Rick Knafelz, Managing Director, Employee Experience Technology, Bank of America
  • Hannah Drummond, RN, Vice President, NC AFL-CIO
  • Todd Olson, CEO & Co-founder, Pendo
  • Sarah Bacha, Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Strategy, Analytics, and AI, LendingTree
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