Build Modern Tech Policy By Hiring The Students Who Already Understand It

InnovationAIBuild Modern Tech Policy By Hiring The Students Who Already Understand ItByPaulo Carvão,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Paulo Carvão is a Senior Fellow at HarvardFollow AuthorMay 13, 2026, 08:57am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.The campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The next generation is already learning how to turn technical knowledge into modern tech policy. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)Getty ImagesModern Tech Policy Needs A New Talent Pipeline The next generation of AI policymakers is already writing legislation, designing liability frameworks and rethinking infrastructure governance. They just happen to still be in school. That was my takeaway from judging the MIT AI Alignment (MAIA) governance competition that drew students from Boston College, Harvard, MIT, Tufts, and other parts of the local academic ecosystem. MAIA is a student organization working on AI safety research.The strongest submissions treated AI policy as a design problem, asking what information regulators need, who should bear responsibility when things go wrong and how that responsibility should shift as AI systems become more capable.The market is short of exactly these skills. The government needs people who can understand technical architecture without outsourcing judgment to vendors. Companies need people who can anticipate policy, safety and public trust concerns before they become litigation or political backlash. Civil society needs people who can separate real risks from slogans. The next generation is not waiting for permission to contribute.Modern Tech Policy Starts With Practical GovernanceThe winning proposals were striking for their concreteness. One submission addressed the data center buildout in Maine, not through a blunt moratorium but through disclosure, grid impact review and stewardship obligations. T...