About the Center

The Center for AI Oversight is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit advancing the practice of AI oversight governance for boards, executives, and regulators.

Mission

Organizations are adopting AI faster than they are developing the capabilities required to oversee, govern, and remain accountable for its use.

The Center provides a construct for that oversight: what must be governed, who is accountable, and how the oversight program operates. The Center for AI Oversight calls that gap the Velocity Gap, and the AI Oversight Program is the institutional capability built to close it. Governance is not a brake on adoption. It is what gives boards the confidence to make informed, accountable AI decisions at the speed the technology demands.

The Center works with boards, audit executives, risk leaders, regulators, and trade organizations to advance AI oversight governance. Its work rests on a single thesis: organizations with mature governance infrastructure make AI decisions faster, and with greater confidence, than those without it. Governance is not a constraint on AI adoption. It is the capacity that makes confident adoption possible.

  • Governance enables velocity

    The Center rejects the premise that governance slows AI adoption. Organizations with mature oversight governance make AI decisions faster and with greater confidence. That thesis, Decision Velocity, informs everything the Center builds.

  • Oversight, not operations

    The Center defines what must be governed and who is accountable. The distinction between oversight governance and operational governance is the foundation of its work.

  • Substance over commentary

    The Center produces frameworks, maturity models, diagnostic tools, and co-branded publications with institutional partners. Every output has practical application for the leaders who use it.

  • Independence

    As an independent nonprofit with no commercial AI products and no vendor affiliations, the Center's guidance is grounded in research and free from conflicts of interest. Its advisory board serves in an advisory capacity only.

Leadership

Leadership Team

The Center is led by an Executive Director and Managing Director who bring complementary expertise in governance, regulation, partnerships, and operations.

Brian Allen, Executive Director of the Center for AI Oversight

Brian Allen

Executive Director

Brian Allen is a licensed attorney and governance executive whose career spans the C-suite, the regulatory landscape, and the emerging question of what AI demands of fiduciary duty. He founded the Center for AI Oversight to address a gap he observed across regulated industries: boards and executives were being told AI governance mattered, but no one was defining what it actually meant at the oversight level.

Prior to founding the Center, Brian served as Chief Security Officer at Time Warner Cable (Fortune 100), where he built and led enterprise risk governance across one of the largest telecommunications companies in the United States. He subsequently served as Senior Vice President of Emerging Technology Risk Management at the Bank Policy Institute, where he advised the nation's largest banks on financial regulation and technology risk.

He currently serves as Chief Trust Advisor at Ampliwork and Adjunct Professor in the University of Connecticut's MBA Financial Risk Management program, where he teaches the next generation of risk leaders.

Career Highlights
Chief Security Officer
Time Warner Cable (Fortune 100)
SVP, Emerging Technology Risk Mgmt
Bank Policy Institute
Chief Trust Advisor
Ampliwork
Adjunct Professor, MBA Program
University of Connecticut
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Scott Helfrich, Managing Director of the Center for AI Oversight

Scott Helfrich

Managing Director, Partnerships and Operations

Scott Helfrich brings nearly three decades of executive leadership across healthcare, technology, and professional services. He has served in senior leadership roles including Chief Commercial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Client Officer, and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, leading organizations through growth, modernization, technology adoption, and operational scale in highly regulated environments.

As Managing Director of the Center for AI Oversight, Scott leads the Center's institutional partnerships, business operations, and the execution of the programs, education, and convening activities that advance practical AI oversight. Drawing on extensive experience leading complex commercial and operational organizations, he helps bridge the gap between AI innovation and real-world implementation, bringing a pragmatic perspective to the opportunities, risks, and responsibilities facing executive leaders.

Scott's healthcare leadership background provides particular insight into the deployment of AI in environments where decisions carry significant implications for individuals, organizations, and communities. His leadership combines strategic vision with operational discipline, helping organizations adopt AI at enterprise scale without surrendering accountability.

Career Highlights
Executive Leadership
PSS / McKesson / nThrive / Parcel Shield
Enterprise Modernization
Healthcare & Life Sciences
Healthcare & Technology
Deep experience across healthcare, technology, data, and business operations
Oversight in Practice
Decades of executive experience applied to advancing practical, accountable, and scalable approaches to AI oversight
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Advisory Board

Guided by leaders who built the regulatory landscape.

The Center's advisory board includes former senior leaders from the federal agencies and regulatory bodies that shape AI governance expectations. Their experience informs our frameworks, our publications, and our guidance to industry.

Includes former senior leaders from:
Federal Reserve U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission Federal Communications Commission U.S. Department of the Treasury U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services
Jim Cunha
Jim Cunha
Former Executive Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Led innovation and technology strategy at the Boston Fed for over two decades, including pioneering work on digital currency, payment systems modernization, and financial technology risk assessment. His experience bringing technology governance inside a monetary policy institution directly informs the Center's approach to AI oversight in financial services.
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Chuck Senatore
Chuck Senatore
Former Director, SEC Southeast Region
Directed SEC enforcement and examination programs with deep expertise in financial services regulatory oversight, compliance infrastructure, and institutional accountability. Subsequently served as Head of Risk Oversight at Fidelity Investments, leading governance across the firm's risk management infrastructure. His perspective on regulatory expectations and enterprise risk oversight informs the Center's guidance on how boards should prepare for evolving AI oversight requirements.
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David Simpson
David Simpson
Rear Admiral (Ret.), U.S. Navy / Former Chief, FCC Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau
Senior military and regulatory leadership spanning telecommunications, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection, and interagency governance. His experience governing technology where national security meets civilian regulation informs the Center's cross-sector oversight frameworks.
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Brian Peretti
Brian Peretti
Former CTO & Deputy Chief AI Officer, U.S. Department of the Treasury
Led technology strategy, AI implementation governance, and digital modernization at one of the largest and most complex federal agencies. His firsthand experience building AI governance infrastructure within government informs the Center's practical approach to oversight program structure.
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Senior Fellows

Senior Fellows are practitioners and subject matter experts whose ongoing work in industry contributes to the Center's intellectual community and research.

Ankur Singhal
Ankur Singhal
Board of Directors, Cyber Risk Institute
Technical leadership at FINRA and the Cyber Risk Institute with deep expertise spanning financial regulation, technology risk, and governance framework development. His work on the CRI Profile directly informs the Center's approach to maturity model architecture and regulatory alignment.
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Former Advisory Board

The Center gratefully acknowledges the contributions of former advisory board members whose service helped shape our institutional direction.

Lance Leggitt
Lance Leggitt
Former Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy; Former Chief of Staff, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
LinkedIn →
Institutional Partners

The Center co-develops its work with the organizations that set governance standards.

The Center's publications, training programs, and frameworks are developed in partnership with established governance institutions, ensuring our work meets the rigor these organizations demand.

Publishing Partner
Private Directors Association
Co-developed AI Oversight: The Private Director's Body of Knowledge, a strategic guide for private company boards on AI governance as a fiduciary obligation.
Framework Supporter
Institute of Internal Auditors
Developed AI Governance Best Practices for Internal Auditors and Governance Professionals, a tool to support implementation of the IIA AI Auditing Framework.
Consortium Member
NIST AI Safety Institute Consortium
Member of the national consortium advancing AI safety standards, contributing oversight governance expertise to the development of federal AI risk management frameworks.
Conference Partner
Virginia Tech
Co-host of the federal financial regulators conference on AI oversight governance, featuring senior officials from the Federal Reserve Board and regulatory agencies.
Research Partner
Telecommunications Industry Association
Co-developing AI governance guidance and the AI Council survey for the telecommunications sector, bridging industry practice with oversight governance standards.
Academic Partner
University of Connecticut
MBA Financial Risk Management program partnership, integrating AI oversight governance into graduate-level curriculum for the next generation of risk leaders.

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with no commercial conflicts.

The Center for AI Oversight is incorporated in Connecticut as a nonstock corporation with federal tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. As an independent institution with no commercial AI products and no vendor affiliations, its work is mission-driven. Revenue from education, publications, and institutional partnerships sustains that work and keeps its guidance independent and conflict-free.

Legal Name Center for AI Oversight, Inc.
Tax Status 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt
State of Incorporation Connecticut
Founded 2026
Headquarters Norwalk, Connecticut

Get in touch.

For inquiries about training, publications, speaking engagements, or institutional partnerships.

info@cfaio.org