Sellitto, Michael

Michael Sellitto is Deputy Director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.

From 2015-2018, Michael served in the White House as Director for Cybersecurity Policy on the National Security Council staff. In that role he led international engagement on cybersecurity policy and strategy, promoted international adoption of a framework for strategic stability in cyberspace, and advanced U.S. interests on issues related to the digital economy and Internet governance. He also led international negotiations to develop cybersecurity partnerships, such as the Framework for the U.S.-India Cyber Relationship, announced in June 2016 by President Obama and Prime Minister Modi.

Prior to his work at the White House, Michael served as Special Assistant to Deputy Secretaries of State William J. Burns (2014) and Antony Blinken (2015), advising the Deputies on political, energy, security, and trade issues related to South and Central Asia and on worldwide cyber policy and counterterrorism strategy and operations. He served as the Coordinator for the 2015 Leaders’ Summit on Countering ISIL and Violent Extremism, chaired by President Obama at the United Nations in New York. Previously, Michael served as Special Assistant to the State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism, supporting the Coordinator in the development and execution of the full range of counterterrorism strategy, policy, and programs worldwide, as well as in the conduct of bilateral and multilateral diplomacy. He also covered counterterrorism policy and programs in the East Asia and Pacific region for the State Department Bureau of Counterterrorism and served as a Political Officer on the State Department China Desk, where his portfolio included China’s bilateral counterterrorism and law enforcement cooperation and China’s external relations.

Prior to joining the State Department, Michael was a Presidential Management Fellow in the Directorate of Strategic Operational Planning at the National Counterterrorism Center.

Since 2016, Michael has been a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He holds degrees of Master in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and Bachelor of Science from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business.