James Ryseff

James Ryseff
Technical Analyst
Washington Office

Education

M.S. in security studies, Georgetown University; B.S. in computer science, University of Illinois

Overview

James Ryseff is a senior technical policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. He leverages his prior experience as a software engineer at Microsoft, Google, and other companies in the private sector to apply his technical skills to public policy problems. His work focuses how technologies and practices such as Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, cybersecurity, agile software methodologies, and large-scale data analysis impact policy problems. His past research projects have included surveying software engineers to understand their concerns about military applications of AI, analyzing how China might weaponize data to impact US national security, improving the military’s ability to use its data to make decisions, and evaluating the Department of Defense’s readiness to adopt AI. He also maintains an interest in emergency management from his time serving as a lieutenant with a volunteer fire department.

Previous Positions

Software engineer, Microsoft Corporation; Software engineer, Google

Recent Projects

  • Exploring the Civil-Military Divide over Artificial Intelligence
  • The Department of Defense Posture for Artificial Intelligence
  • Improving Army investment data sources to better support acquisition decisionmaking

Selected Publications

James Ryseff, "The Maliciously Formed Packets of August: Cyberwarfare and the Offense-Defense Balance," CSIS Technology Policy Program Occasional Paper Series, 2017

Commentary

Publications