The WAISI team

Leadership Team

Operations Team

  • Kaustubh Kislay
    Kaustubh Kislay
    him
    Director
  • Anaya Mandal
    Anaya Mandal
    they/them
    Deputy Director
  • Sruthi Sitamraju
    Sruthi Sitamraju
    she/her
    Operations Lead
  • Nick Manchester
    Nick Manchester
    he/him
    Treasurer
  • Micah Hees
    Micah Hees
    he/him
    Operations
  • Jigyasa Raizada
    Jigyasa Raizada
    she/her
    Operations
  • Max Kamachee
    Max Kamachee
    he/him
    Operations
  • Samuel Zarr
    Samuel Zarr
    he/him
    Operations
  • Nathan Pease
    Nathan Pease
    he/him
    Operations
  • Arya Pasumarthi
    Arya Pasumarthi
    he/him
    Operations
  • Lanya Yu
    Lanya Yu
    she/her
    Communications
  • Alka Lakadia
    Alka Lakadia
    she/her
    Events

Research Team

  • Shawn Im
    Shawn Im
    he/him
    Research Lead

Technical Team

  • Maanan Purothi
    Maanan Purothi
    he/him
    Technical Lead
  • Eva Skarabot
    Eva Skarabot
    she/her
    Technical Team
  • Vincent Cimino
    Vincent Cimino
    he/him
    Technical Team
  • Zavi Rahmansyah
    Zavi Rahmansyah
    he/him
    Technical Team

Policy Team

  • Celeste Li
    Celeste Li
    she/her
    Policy Lead
  • Hemanth Indukuri
    Hemanth Indukuri
    he/him
    Policy Team
  • Olivia Woitach
    Olivia Woitach
    she/her
    Policy Team
  • Lucy Bugni
    Lucy Bugni
    she/her
    Policy Team
  • Kaden Johnson
    Kaden Johnson
    Policy Team

Faculty Advisor

Junjie Hu
Junjie Hu
Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Sciences

Notable Alumni

  • Jeremy Kintana
    Jeremy Kintana
    Generalist @ Kairos
    Previously
    Mentor @ PathFinder, Director @ WAISI
  • Ben Hayum
    Ben Hayum
    Research Assistant @ CNAS
    Previously
    Research Fellow @ MATS, Director @ WAISI
  • Will Anderson
    Will Anderson
    Research Strategist @ CAIF
    Previously
    Research Fellow @ MATS, Research Fellow @ UChicago XLab, Director @ WAISI
  • Andy Wang
    Andy Wang
    Technical Governance Researcher @ Safe AI Forum
    Previously
    Contractor @ SAIF, Research Contractor @ METR, Research Fellow @ Astra, AI Safety Research Fellow @ SPAR, Project Lead @ UChicago XLab, Deputy Director @ WAISI
  • Satya Srinath Namburi
    Satya Srinath Namburi
    AI Security Scientist @ GE HealthCare
    Previously
    Founding Leadership Team @ WAISI

Other Notable UW–Madison Alumni

  • Blaine Hoak
    Blaine Hoak
    Assistant Professor of Computer Science @ UT Dallas
    Previously
    PhD Research Intern @ Visa, PhD @ UW–Madison
  • Sean Du
    Sean Du
    Assistant Professor @ Nanyang Technological University
    Previously
    Research Intern @ Microsoft Research, Jane Street Graduate Research Fellow, PhD @ UW–Madison
  • Jihye Choi
    Jihye Choi
    Research Scientist @ NVIDIA Research
    Previously
    Research Intern @ Google Cloud AI Research, PhD Research Intern @ Visa Research, PhD @ UW–Madison
  • Asvin G
    Asvin G
    Research Scientist @ Simplex
    Previously
    Anthropic Fellow @ Anthropic, Postdoc @ Institute for Advanced Study, PhD @ UW–Madison
  • Hayley Clatterbuck
    Hayley Clatterbuck
    Senior Research Manager @ Rethink Priorities
    Previously
    Associate Professor of Philosophy @ UW–Madison, Assistant Professor of Philosophy @ University of Rochester, PhD @ UW–Madison
  • Varun Chandrasekaran
    Varun Chandrasekaran
    Assistant Professor @ University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
    Previously
    Postdoctoral Researcher @ Microsoft Research, PhD @ UW–Madison
  • Matt Fredrikson
    Matt Fredrikson
    CEO & Co-founder @ Gray Swan AI, Associate Professor @ Carnegie Mellon University
    Previously
    PhD @ UW–Madison
  • Yiyou Sun
    Yiyou Sun
    Postdoctoral Researcher @ UC Berkeley
    Previously
    Researcher @ NEC Laboratories America, PhD @ UW–Madison
  • Patricia Paskov
    Patricia Paskov
    Director of Standards @ AVERI
    Previously
    Technology and Security Policy Fellow @ RAND, Data Scientist @ Condé Nast, Agricultural & Applied Economics @ UW–Madison

Past Leadership

  • Albert Ge

    Albert Ge

    Years
    2024–2026
    Title
    Research Team
  • Arman Akbar

    Arman Akbar

    Years
    2024–2026
    Title
    Operations Lead
  • Elise Fischer

    Elise Fischer

    Years
    2024–2026
    Title
    Policy Team
  • Kaushal Dasika

    Kaushal Dasika

    Years
    2025–2026
    Title
    Operations Team
  • Laurel Adams

    Laurel Adams

    Years
    2025–2026
    Title
    Policy Team
  • Ritesh Neela

    Ritesh Neela

    Years
    2025–2026
    Title
    Technical Team
  • Roxie Clausen

    Roxie Clausen

    Years
    2025–2026
    Title
    Policy Team
  • Viktoria Sakman

    Viktoria Sakman

    Years
    2025–2026
    Title
    Communications Lead
  • Sam Baumohl

    Sam Baumohl

    Years
    2026
    Title
    Lead Baumohl Officer
  • Zach Lichtman

    Zach Lichtman

    Years
    2026
    Title
    Technical Team
  • Jackson Kunde

    Jackson Kunde

    Years
    2024–2025
    Title
    Deputy Director, Networking Team
  • Reid Kuenzi

    Reid Kuenzi

    Years
    2024–2025
    Title
    Policy Advisor
  • Rheeya Uppaal

    Rheeya Uppaal

    Years
    2024–2025
    Title
    Research Team
  • Shrey Modi

    Shrey Modi

    Years
    2024–2025
    Title
    Research Team, Hackathon Lead
  • Stuti Pandey

    Stuti Pandey

    Years
    2024–2025
    Title
    Technical Lead
  • Yogesh Prabhu

    Yogesh Prabhu

    Years
    2024–2025
    Title
    Technical Advisor
  • Christian Classen

    Christian Classen

    Years
    2025
    Title
    Technical Team
  • Maria De Martino

    Maria De Martino

    Years
    2025
    Title
    Policy Team
  • Mason Baloun

    Mason Baloun

    Years
    2025
    Title
    Operations Team
  • Matthew Foley

    Matthew Foley

    Years
    2025
    Title
    Policy Team
  • Uday Tyagi

    Uday Tyagi

    Years
    2025
    Title
    Technical Team
  • Andrea Tseng

    Andrea Tseng

    Years
    2024
    Title
    Technical Team
  • Ben Tietjen

    Ben Tietjen

    Years
    2024
    Title
    Policy Team
  • David Viggiano

    David Viggiano

    Years
    2024
    Title
    Not listed
  • Inba Rajashankar

    Inba Rajashankar

    Years
    2024
    Title
    Not listed
  • Nivesh Tuwani

    Nivesh Tuwani

    Years
    2024
    Title
    Technical Team