Developing the Future with Daniel Oates

When the “International Code of Conduct for Organizations Developing Advanced AI Systems” was endorsed by President Joe Biden and G7 Leaders in October 2023, it was a career highlight for Daniel Oates '13.

A more than 13-year civil servant with the State Department, Oates has spent the bulk of his career engaging with foreign governments on digital policy. He helped develop the Code of Conduct, whose purpose is to ensure the safe, secure, and trustworthy development of artificial intelligence across the globe.

“I’ve always been interested in the intersection between science, technology, and public policy,” Oates says. “The Code shows that there’s some common thinking in the ways that we’re approaching advanced AI systems, and highlights steps that developers should be taking to ensure that they’re responsible.”

“Don’t try to only get your dream job. Early on in your career, you should try to collect experiences, and what you’re doing a year or two out of school – even four or five years out of school – really doesn’t matter as long as you’re building experience and building your network" - Dan Oates.

It was while he was at Maryland that an internship helped Oates get in the door for a student employment program which allowed him to work part time at the State Department while pursuing his degree. The program led to full-time employment. Today, Oates is a team lead for multilateral engagement and global technology policy advisor in the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy.

Of working at State while pursuing his degree, “it was an interesting way of being educated in the issues, because I had both the theoretical classroom education on how policy works, and I was in the actual policy meetings,” he says. This experience was “critical” toward understanding the inner workings of the organization.

He advises aspiring civil servants to think broadly about work opportunities.

“Don’t try to only get your dream job,” Oates says. “I think early in your career, you should try to collect experiences, and what you’re doing a year or two out of school – even four or five years out of school – really doesn’t matter as long as you’re building experience and building your network. It’s OK if you don’t know what you want to do. It’s important to explore and try different things.”

And while networking is integral in professional development, “I think people sometimes get it wrong” by broadcasting their name among as many professionals as possible, Oates says.

“What I recommend to people is that they do informational interviews, so they’re not just walking up to somebody at a reception and saying, ‘do you have any jobs?’” he adds. “What you should be doing is sitting down with people and understanding what their days look like. What are the key problems and issues they’re trying to solve? It gives you an opportunity to share about yourself, and it can be used as a jumping off point to meet other people who are aligned with your interests.”

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