Current Outpost / 01
The AI Policy Generalist
As AI policy becomes more specialized, what makes someone useful across the field?
Why we’re asking
AI policy increasingly depends on deep expertise in areas such as compute, security, evaluations, law, international governance, and technical policy.
Institutions also need people who can move between domains, understand enough to ask the right questions, connect specialized expertise, and turn ideas into projects. Outpost wants to understand where those people are especially useful, what makes them effective, and what the field may be missing.
This is an exploration, not a formal study. Conversations help us understand the field, build connections, and notice whether a practical response is worth testing.
Questions we’re exploring
- 01
Where are generalists unusually valuable in AI policy?
- 02
What makes someone useful across domains without becoming shallow?
- 03
What work falls between existing teams, disciplines, or institutions?
- 04
What skills and habits help generalists earn trust from specialists?
- 05
What do institutions need from people who can connect ideas, expertise, and action?
Who we’d like to hear from
People seeing the field from different positions.
Government
Policy organizations
Technical governance
Program building
Philanthropy
Civil society
Industry
People early in their AI policy careers
What might come from it
A useful next step should follow the gap, not a predetermined format.
That might be an introduction, a small discussion, a working group, a resource, an experiment, or a new program. It may also be a clearer understanding of a problem that is not ready for action yet.
If you’ve thought about the role of generalists in AI policy, we’d like to hear from you.
Talk to Outpost