AI governance, with public purpose
Dustin Haisler is Chief AI Officer and US General Manager at Darwin AI, where he helps governments make AI governance operational: understanding how AI is used, translating policy into guardrails, and enabling responsible adoption. His work connects AI visibility, risk management, employee education, and governed workflows with the practical realities of public service.
He previously served as president of e.Republic, the company behind Government Technology, Governing, and the Center for Digital Government, where he co-founded the Center for Public Sector AI. Across research, public briefings, training, and expert testimony, he has helped leaders understand emerging AI capabilities and the governance needed to use them responsibly. His career spans open innovation, crowdsourcing, QR codes, open source, cloud, and artificial intelligence.
Public service. Global perspective.
As CIO and Assistant City Manager in Manor, Texas, Dustin pioneered the city's use of commercial technologies in civic life, including open innovation, QR codes, crowdsourcing, and gamification. At 22, he became the country's youngest appointed municipal judge, serving a two-year appointment as acting Municipal Judge. Manor Labs became a case study in citizen participation and technology-enabled government.
Through his work at innovation management company Spigit, he went on to help shape innovation programs in New York City, Bogota, and NASA's Langley Research Center. He also served on the original Code for America steering committee. At e.Republic, he founded the GovTech 100 more than a decade ago. It remains the most widely recognized curation of govtech companies in the market.
Research, teaching, and recognized impact
Dustin is a 2019 Zhi-Xing Eisenhower Fellow, program faculty for Texas State University's Certified Public Manager (CPM) program, and a board member of the Good Governance Worldwide academic journal. He has contributed to research with Stanford University's Persuasive Technology Lab and the University of Trento in Italy, and graduated magna cum laude from LeTourneau University with a Bachelor of Business Administration.
His work has been featured in Gavin Newsom's Citizenville, Wired, Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, Inc., The Economist, CNN, Fortune, and NBC's Today Show. He has been recognized among Government Technology's Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers and Constellation Research's Business Transformation 150.
From policy to practice
Dustin's published work makes the case for governance across the entire AI stack, not just a single model or application. His writing and public conversations address shadow AI, policy implementation, workforce readiness, and moving from pilots to production. A two-time TEDx speaker, he works with government leaders, founders, investors, academia, and executive teams on AI governance, Exponential Leadership, and the global govtech market. His focus remains consistent: turn emerging technology into lasting public impact.