The AI Policy Podcast

Episode: How to Build a Career in AI Policy
Host: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Guests: Gregory C. Allen (Senior Adviser, Wadhwani AI Centers) and Matt (Research Assistant)
Date: October 30, 2025

Episode Overview

This special episode offers an in-depth conversation with Gregory C. Allen about how to build a successful career in AI Policy. By sharing candid stories from his own journey—spanning debate tournaments in Kansas to senior roles at think tanks and the Pentagon—Greg provides practical, actionable advice for aspiring AI policy professionals. The structure covers three main areas: Greg's career path, general advice for professional success, and specific guidance for AI policy careers.

Table of Contents

1. Greg Allen’s Background and Early Influences
2. Foundational Career Lessons
3. General Advice for Professional Success
4. Mastering Writing and Communication
5. Mentorship and the Value of Communities
6. Experimentation, Drifting, and Specialization
7. Career-Specific Advice for AI Policy
8. Entering and Advancing in AI Policy
9. Pacing Your Career with AI's Rapid Progress
10. Is Graduate School Essential?
11. Final Reflections – Looking Back and Moving Forward

1. Greg Allen’s Background and Early Influences <span id="greg-background"></span>

• Kansas Roots and Debate Culture ([03:37]–[09:00])
  • Greg grew up in the rural suburbs of Kansas City with a family background in technology.
  • His passion for policy began in high school as a “huge debate nerd” in an environment where debate and competitive speech were part of the social norm.
  • Debate involved researching policy topics from think tanks like CSIS, cutting out evidence (“cutting cards”), and learning to argue both sides.

“You want to be part of a community where doing the right thing is the normal thing.”
—Greg [10:01]

• Importance of Community
  • Being surrounded by ambitious, committed people made habits like public speaking practice and reading the norm.

2. Foundational Career Lessons <span id="career-lessons"></span>

College and Running the Student Magazine ([14:17]–[21:10])

• Greg attended Washington University in St. Louis, studying both science (especially the evolution of intelligence) and political science.
• He ran the Washington University Political Review, where he learned graphic design, leadership, and, most importantly, the “gift of criticism.”
• Humbling experience: Overhearing peers critique the magazine’s flaws made him realize people close to you may sugarcoat feedback.

“People who tell you white lies, they’re usually doing themselves a favor. … Any time you can get somebody…to point out everything that you’re doing wrong, that’s an incredible gift.”
—Greg [21:11]

3. General Advice for Professional Success <span id="general-advice"></span>

Defining “Great Work” ([45:36])

• Success starts with deserving to be taken seriously, not seeking validation.
• Consistent high performance comes from:
  • Deliberate practice, focusing on improving weaknesses.
  • Studying excellent work and deconstructing why it’s effective.
  • Actively seeking brutal, constructive criticism from people who excel in the field.

“The first thing is not to be taken seriously. The first thing is to deserve to be taken seriously.”
—Greg [45:36]

Embracing the Learning Curve ([51:32])

• Greg quotes Ira Glass on the frustration beginners face: your taste outpaces your current abilities, but deliberate, high-frequency practice is the way out.

“It's only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions.”
—Greg quoting Ira Glass [51:32]

• Metrics and practice—track your progress with things you can count (e.g., books read per year).

4. Mastering Writing and Communication <span id="writing"></span>

Top Three "Hacks" for Better Writing ([56:08]–[61:39])

1. Read Your Work Aloud:
   • Forces you to catch clunky phrasing or unclear passages. “It’s like, immediately, plus 25% to your writing skill.” ([56:38])
2. Argue Against Yourself:
   • Be your own toughest editor. Anticipate objections and address them pre-emptively.
3. Seek Diverse Criticism:
   • Share drafts with both experts and non-experts, and explicitly ask for feedback on confusion and boredom.

“Criticism is a gift. … It would help me a lot if you would tell me where this is boring, where this is confusing, or where you think it's wrong.”
—Greg [61:39]

5. Mentorship and the Value of Communities <span id="mentorship"></span>

How to Find and Be Worthy of Mentorship ([61:50])

• Mentors played a pivotal role in Greg’s trajectory, from high school debate to Harvard.
• In fields with apprenticeship cultures, mentorship is “very expensive” in terms of time.
• Key: Become worthy of a great mentor by working relentlessly and making their investment pay off.

“Write the recommendation letter that I’m going to write for you — and then go make it true.”
—Greg [65:41]

6. Experimentation, Drifting, and Specialization <span id="experimentation"></span>

Early Career Optimization ([66:42])

• The early stage should be about maximizing learning and acquiring diverse skills, even over immediate salary.
• Prioritize positions where excellent work leads to more opportunity.
• Beware of “drifting” into complacency—be intentional about transitions.

“Ideally, you should be getting paid well in dollars and in learning. But it is unacceptable if you’re not being paid in learning.”
—Greg [71:34]

7. Career-Specific Advice for AI Policy <span id="ai-policy-advice"></span>

The Success Spectrum ([72:53]–[73:17])

• Greg frames think tanks as the midpoint between pure advocacy (lobbyists) and pure scholarship (ivory tower academics).
• Success means both advancing rigorous knowledge and producing actionable policy impact.

The Pareto Principle in AI Policy ([74:44]–[78:40])

• Impact is highly concentrated: “The difference between going from 10th-best paper to 9th-best paper is like going from irrelevant to irrelevant. … Going from second to first is a ton more readership.”
• Quality and speed matter—policy actors usually only read the FIRST and/or the BEST work on a hot topic.

8. Entering and Advancing in AI Policy <span id="breaking-in"></span>

Specialization is Key ([79:29])

• Find a niche with high demand and low supply; Greg’s own breakthrough was choosing a neglected topic: AI’s national security implications.
• The “hourglass” career: Start broad, specialize deeply, then broaden again after establishing expertise.

Deserve and Show, Don’t Just Ask ([90:40])

• Reflect: What skills make you immediately useful in AI policy?
• Back up applications with proof—published work, research, or other tangible evidence of impact.
• LinkedIn Stalking: Research people whose careers you aspire to and trace their path.

Networking Over Cold Applying ([94:21])

• “If you’re cold applying to jobs, you’re probably wasting your time."
• Talk to people directly within your target program/organization; aim to impress as a prospective colleague, not just an applicant.

Resources

• EmergingTechPolicy.org: Guides and fellowship databases for AI policy and adjacent fields.

9. Pacing Your Career with AI's Rapid Progress <span id="pacing"></span>

• Should predictions about AI’s trajectory affect your career strategy? Greg argues that, whatever you believe:
  • Focus on acquiring highly valuable, fundamentally human skills that remain useful even in partnership with advanced AI.
• Centaur Chess Analogy: For years after AI beat humans at chess, the top player was a team (“centaur”) combining human perspective and machine power ([100:26]).

“My advice to people who have a short timeline, and my advice to people who have a long timeline is the same: Go become a very valuable person.”
—Greg [102:52]

10. Is Graduate School Essential? <span id="grad-school"></span>

Greg’s Heuristics for Grad School ([104:05])

• Only go if the career outcomes for graduates match your aspirations.
• Have a plan to connect with standout professors—building those relationships is often more valuable than coursework.
• Classes matter, but thesis work and proximity to decision-makers (getting introductions) is critical for impact.

“Don’t drop hundreds of thousands of dollars in years of time going to grad school just because it seems like a thing a lot of people are doing. … I had a plan.”
—Greg [107:36]

11. Final Reflections – Looking Back and Moving Forward <span id="final-thoughts"></span>

One Piece of Advice to Young Greg ([108:28])

• Admire great work, but deconstruct it.
• Figure out what makes the best exceptional, and deliberately practice the skills that separate them from the average.

“Practice is awesome. And if you can carve out time in your schedule to do it, you can be awesome too.”
—Greg [111:37]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Doing Great Work:
  “The first thing is not to be taken seriously. The first thing is to deserve to be taken seriously.” ([45:36])

• On Feedback:
  “People who tell you white lies, they’re usually doing themselves a favor. … Any time you can get somebody…to point out everything that you’re doing wrong, that’s an incredible gift.” ([21:11])

• On Practice and Taste:
  “It's only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions.” – Ira Glass, quoted by Greg ([51:32])

• On Networking:
  “If you're cold applying to jobs, you're probably wasting your time.” ([94:21])

• On the Future of Human-AI Collaboration:
  “Even after we have superhuman AI, it doesn't necessarily mean that humans are irrelevant. The humans who will still be relevant are the highly skilled ones.” ([100:40])

Key Takeaways

• Master the craft: Deep, honest practice (not “talent”) leads to mastery.
• Build evidence: Demonstrate your capabilities through tangible outputs and published work.
• Seek mentors and peer excellence: Learning accelerates in communities with high standards and robust feedback.
• Network purposefully: Directly connect with people inside organizations; cold applications are rarely effective in a crowded field.
• Adapt with the field: Specialize early in emerging areas, then generalize as those areas mature.
• Focus on impact: In AI policy, aim not just for scholarship, but for real-world changes—write for clarity, credibility, and actionable insight.
• Be strategic with further education: Only pursue grad school if it’s proven to deliver the ROI you seek and if you have a plan for extracting value from key relationships and experiences.

For those interested in AI policy careers, this episode is a highly valuable, candid, and practical roadmap for breaking into, thriving, and making a real impact in the field.