However, this would obviously not fully describe Nik Blosser, who has been named Oregon’s first-ever chief privacy officer (CPO) and artificial intelligence strategist. In addition to serving as chair and longtime board member for the family-owned Sokol Blosser Winery in Oregon, Blosser has held senior leadership roles in former Gov. Kate Brown’s office as well as serving in the White House and at Portland General Electric.
“Nik will significantly enhance our ability to safeguard data, ensure compliance with privacy regulations, prioritize workforce AI literacy, and lead efforts to promote a culture of awareness across all state agencies, ultimately making Oregon a leader in data protection, privacy management, and AI governance,” Terrence Woods, Oregon’s state CIO, said in a statement.
The addition of a chief privacy officer, to also serve as an AI strategist, “has been a goal of mine for a few years,” Woods said.
Blosser has served as chief of staff for former Gov. Brown and joined the White House in 2022 as special assistant to former President Joe Biden and deputy cabinet secretary. Immediately afterward, he was the vice president of public affairs at Portland General Electric. Blosser was also co-founder and president of Celilo Group Media, which focused on providing sustainable goods and services including consumer guides to cities in five states, according to LinkedIn. He has a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering and English from Stanford University.
Developing a vision around how to bring together the overlapping issues of data protection, privacy and artificial intelligence will be an overarching goal for Blosser, officials said.
These are all areas the state has been steadily addressing. Speaking at the annual Link Oregon member meeting last month, Jimmy Godard, the state’s chief technology officer, recounted projects like one focused on modernizing “identity access management,” which seeks to extend the state’s cybersecurity strategy statewide.
In the private sector, AI stands to play a prominent role in Oregon’s technology economic development ecosystem, said Skip Newberry, president and CEO of Technology Association of Oregon.
“Anytime there’s a new disruptive technology, that represents an opportunity,” Newberry said during a panel discussion with Godard at the Link Oregon meeting. “And you could argue that there’s no more greater of an inflection point than AI right now.”
Oregon is not alone when it comes to venturing into AI governance. In January 2024, New Jersey named Beth Noveck as its first-ever chief AI strategist. Officials in New York state are seeking their second chief AI officer. And in California, Dara Wheeler is serving as acting chief data and AI officer for the California Department of Transportation, per LinkedIn.
