Call for Experts: State Staff Academy on Emerging Technologies — Artificial Intelligence Module
At CCST Academy, California Legislative Staff Navigate AI Fundamentals with the Experts Building It
May 21, 2026 | CCST Newsroom Â
Global Influence, Direct Dialogue
California’s technology policies carry global influence. Supporting that leadership means ensuring the people writing and analyzing those policies have access to grounded, nuanced perspectives — including direct dialogue with the experts developing emerging technologies like AI.
That’s the premise behind the CCST Legislative Staff Academy on Artificial Intelligence.
Launched in October 2025 in partnership with Omidyar Network and with support from the Kapor Foundation, the AI Academy is a structured educational program for California’s legislative staff, built to close the gap between technical reality and legislative action. The initial phase ran in fall 2025; a full academy launches in fall 2026 and continues through 2027.
Phase One: Building the Foundation
The first phase of CCST’s AI Academy provided an in-person, interactive program delivered across multiple formats. Designed to build genuine fluency, the program created space for legislative staff to engage directly with researchers, industry leaders, and subject-matter experts working at the frontier.
The program offered four components between October 2025 and March 2026:
1. AI Fundamentals Training Series | Oct. 2025
These introductory sessions built shared vocabulary and foundational fluency: what AI actually is, what it can and can’t do, and how it’s being deployed in the real world today.
2. Roundtable Discussions on AI and California’s Changing Workforce | Nov. 2025
In these expert-led conversations, attendees explored the implications of AI for education, economic competitiveness, and the future of work. The impact of California’s decisions on these topics will ripple far beyond its borders.
3. AI in Action Site Visits | Dec. 2025
Participants visited leading software and hardware companies and talked directly with the engineers and researchers building these systems, gaining firsthand exposure to how AI is researched, developed, and deployed.
4. AI Research & Innovation Showcase | March 2026
Part of CCST’s Science & Technology Week in March 2026, the final event of Phase 1 was an interactive showcase of the industries, research initiatives, and emerging technologies across California using AI to enhance products, services, and technological innovation. Participants described the AI Academy as a highly engaging program that connected emerging AI trends with real-world industry applications.
Attendees emphasized the value of bringing together leaders from technology, research, policy, and vertical industries to explore how AI is being integrated into products, services, and operational systems across California. Many also highlighted the Academy’s collaborative environment and practical insights, describing the experience as an important forum for understanding California’s evolving role in shaping the future of AI innovation, governance, and industry transformation.
Displayers:
- Adobe
- Caltech
- Future House
- Intuitive Surgical
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- SAP
- Tools for Humanity
- UC Davis
- UC Santa Cruz
In addition to providing foundational support for legislative staff who are navigating the complex field of AI, Phase 1 clarified the specific policy challenges, technical questions, and governance gaps most in need of deeper examination – insights that now directly shape Phase Two.
Phase Two: Going Deeper
The second phase launches in fall 2026 with a more advanced, policy-oriented experience for a select cohort of policymakers and legislative staff. Over 12 weeks, participants will examine critical AI topics, technical frameworks, and governance considerations in greater depth, with an emphasis on translating technical understanding into informed, effective policymaking. Each weekly two-hour session will offer a foundational briefing and an interactive policy discussion.
The AI Academy is effective because it creates a space for honest, direct engagement between experts who build and study artificial intelligence systems and the policymakers responsible for shaping how those systems are governed. Rather than aiming to turn legislative staff into engineers, the program focuses on building a deeper working understanding of the technical foundations of AI.
Through this engagement, participants gain the context needed to develop thoughtful, effective, and evidence-based policy. They are also given conceptual tools to critically evaluate claims about AI and to distinguish credible information from the noise and hype that often surround the field. In a landscape where rapid technological change is frequently accompanied by public misunderstanding and media amplification, this grounding is essential.
The result is a more informed policymaking process – one that is better aligned with expert insight and emerging best practices, and ultimately more capable of ensuring that AI policy in California reflects how the technology actually functions in practice.
Get Engaged
Are you a legislative staffer interested in participating in the program?
Sign up through our interest form.
Are you an AI expert interested in being a speaker/presenter?
Get in touch.
