Appointment continues CAIS's expansion to meet the urgent operational demands of scaling its AI safety mission
Phil Lau has joined CAIS as Vice President of Operations, where he will lead the institutional buildout required to move our research and policy work from insight to impact.
Lau brings nearly two decades of experience scaling organizations through critical growth phases, building the teams, processes, and infrastructure needed to bring ambitious strategies to life. In his most recent role as Chief Operating Officer of a prominent digital design and development agency, he held full P&L responsibility across revenue and product delivery. Phil previously served as Head of Operations at Google, where he led an R&D organization focused on environmental sustainability and workplace innovation.
"CAIS is entering an exciting phase of rapid growth, and with that comes the challenge of matching our vision with operational excellence, “ said Lau. “As Vice President of Operations, my goal is to build the foundation that allows our Research, Public Engagement, and Program teams to deliver on our mission."
“Phil has spent his career making ambitious organizations actually work,” said Devin Kim, President of CAIS. “As we expand our research agenda and deepen our engagement with stakeholders well beyond the AI safety community, Phil brings the operational leadership to help us execute our mission at scale.”
As Vice President of Operations, Lau will oversee CAIS's core Operations and Program teams. His appointment follows CAIS's recent naming of Devin Kim as President and Rochelle Nadhiri as Head of Public Engagement, as the organization continues to strengthen its senior leadership and pursue its mission of ensuring AI is developed safely and aligned with human values.
About the Center for AI Safety
The Center for AI Safety is a San Francisco-based nonprofit conducting research and advocacy to reduce large-scale risks from advanced artificial intelligence. Through technical research, policy advising, and public engagement, CAIS works to ensure AI is developed safely and aligned with human values. Learn more at safe.ai.
Media Contact:
media@safe.ai