Joe Sutherland is a noted technology executive, public service leader, and educator.

Dr. Sutherland is the inaugural director of the Emory Center for AI Learning, a newly established center that promotes artificial intelligence (AI) literacy and community across Emory University. He is also the elected Georgia Democratic State Committee Representative for Fulton County Commission District 3.

Sutherland’s professional background includes executive roles at Amazon and Cisco, public service at The White House and academic appointments at Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University and Emory. Sutherland currently serves as a visiting assistant professor in the Department Quantitative Theory and Methods at Emory University, and a fellow of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to that role, he was the director of CX Cloud Data, Insights and Growth at Cisco, where he led applications of artificial intelligence for their CX Cloud product portfolio.

Sutherland founded two startups that were later acquired: Peachtree AI, a professional services firm specializing in artificial intelligence integrations, and Prattle, a fintech company that uses natural language processing to forecast both the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions and the performance of publicly traded companies.

From 2011 to 2013, he served in the White House Office of Scheduling and Advance for President Barack Obama, traveling with the President in support of various policy initiatives. His research exploring the utilization of machine learning and AI in congressional policy, political behavior and development economics is published in top peer-reviewed journals, including the American Political Science Review, Political Behavior, and Energy. In 2017, the National Science Foundation recognized his work in state politics and policy with Honorable Mention, considered a national honor.

Sutherland earned his PhD, MPhil, and master’s degree in political science from Columbia University and his bachelor’s degree in political science from Washington University in St. Louis.