Horizon’s 2025 year in review
Note: If you find what you read below exciting, we are hiring for multiple roles — consider applying or help us spread the word. Deadline February 8, 2026.
The Horizon Institute for Public Service exists to bring much-needed technical expertise into government. We connect emerging technology experts passionate about public service with policy institutions working on the forefront of these issues—through fellowship placements, career support, and resources that help practitioners navigate the transition to policy work and developing in their policy careers.
2025 was a year of significant growth for Horizon. Applications across our programs more than tripled. We supported over 500 individuals through direct programming and more than 150,000 people used our career support resources like emergingtechpolicy.org. To rapidly scale existing programs while launching new initiatives, we more than doubled our team to 18 full-time staff. Across the three years we’ve now existed, our programs have made possible the transitions of over 150 early- and mid-career professionals into emerging technology policy.
The need for technology expertise in government is something that people across the political spectrum and across the policy ecosystem agree on—from Scott Kupor, Director of the Office of Personnel Management, noting the “real, acute shortage of people” in the federal workforce with modern tech skills, to Rep. Sara Jacobs arguing that the US “can’t fully deliver on its national security mission, lead in responsible AI, and compete in the AI race if our federal agencies don’t have the talent to meet this moment.”
Horizon is grateful to have spent 2025 continuing to address this gap, alongside partners like the Foundation for American Innovation, the Texas Innovation and Technology Foundation, the Center for a New American Security, Texas A&M University, and the Brown University Pandemic Center.
What we accomplished in 2025
AI Policy Leadership Network
The AI Policy Leadership Network (APLN) is our newest program. In partnership with the Foundation for American Innovation and the Center for a New American Security, we recently announced APLN: a selective, part-time leadership program for experienced professionals from across the AI policy ecosystem. APLN reaches senior leaders already working in the field, offering a forum for cross-sector dialogue and relationship-building.
Applications launched in the fall of 2025, and the inaugural cohort will convene this spring for a trip to the Bay Area and a series of dinners with distinguished speakers, including Sriram Krishnan, White House Senior Policy Advisor on AI; Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind); Gina Raimondo, Former Secretary of Commerce; Oren Cass, Founder of American Compass; and Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, President of the Carnegie Endowment.
Fellowship
The Horizon Fellowship has been our flagship program for placing subject-matter experts in government offices and leading think tanks. Since 2022, more than 80 Horizon fellows—primarily working in AI and biotech policy—have worked in Congress in personal and committee offices on both sides of the aisle with an equal partisan balance; across the Executive Branch including in the White House, the Departments of War, Energy, Commerce, State, and Homeland Security; and at top think tanks such as the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Heritage Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Institute for Progress, and many others.
In 2025, we trained and placed our largest cohort yet: 27 fellows began placements across think tanks, government agencies, and congressional offices, supporting work on artificial intelligence, biotechnology, energy, nuclear security, innovation, and many other emerging technology policy areas.
A large majority of alumni stay in policy and public service careers after the program. They include full-time Hill staffers serving on both sides of the aisle; senior civil servants and current political appointees across the executive branch including in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the White House; as well as program leads at think tanks and founders of high-impact nonprofits.
“It’s rare to get a group of people who are so expert at what they do, who are passionate about making a difference, and who also have this kind of public servant mindset. It’s genuinely inspirational to be around a bunch of other people, who are doing important and inspiring work.”
— Krystal Jackson, 2022-2023 AI Fellow
We also partnered with the Texas Innovation and Technology Foundation to launch the Texas Legislature’s tech policy fellowship, translating Horizon’s experience building tech capacity through fellowships from the federal to the state level. Two fellows used their tech experience to apply AI to streamline core legislative functions such as the identification of waste, fraud, and abuse in state spending and Medicaid provider malpractice, as well as mapping the implications of over 300 bills for Texas’s technology ecosystem.
Career Accelerator
We launched the Career Accelerator in 2025 to support a wider range of people pursuing policy careers, including those earlier in their journey or exploring initial opportunities in policy. The program provides personalized support through training, advising, networking opportunities, peer and community support, and access to career development grants.
“Before joining the Career Accelerator, I imagined it would take years before I could transition to policy careers in DC. Horizon gave me the resources, encouragement, and guidance to help launch my policy career within months.”
— Accelerator Participant
Our first cohort launched in July with 28 participants, who received training and grants to support a range of activities to help them transition into AI policy, from independent research projects to conference attendance and internship placements. A second selected cohort of 40+ participants will start the program in early 2026. By the end of 2025, the program had committed $400,000 in grant funding to support participants.
Workshops and Events
Horizon connects technical experts with experienced policymakers through DC-based and virtual events designed to demystify policy careers and provide actionable guidance. Many people have the skills and knowledge that are urgently needed in tech policy but not the networks and know-how needed to find their way in. Our workshops make those connections happen.
In 2025, we hosted 4 workshops attended by 145 individuals, including an AI Innovation and Security Policy Workshop alongside the Foundation for American Innovation, and the third annual AIxBio Game Changers Workshop with partners at Brown University and Texas A&M University. After the workshops, more than 80% of participants reported feeling more likely and able to pursue a policy career.
One-on-one support to talent and hiring managers
Beyond our cohort-focused programs, we provide one-on-one career support to emerging technology experts pursuing policy careers. In 2025, we conducted nearly 400 advising calls and connected individuals with policy experts serving as advisors and mentors. We also support hiring managers at agencies, congressional offices, and think tanks with recruitment needs, connecting qualified candidates in our network with critical roles.
“Thank you for all the resources you’ve given me… I feel prepared to go down this path in a way that I absolutely would not have without your help.”
— Horizon Advisee
Learning what types of roles individuals are interested in and what hiring managers’ needs are allows us to matchmake across this two-sided market at scale. In 2025, we sent dozens of opportunity notifications to 1,800 eligible individuals. These targeted alerts frequently result in job applications that would not have happened otherwise, helping ensure that the right people reach the right office at the right time.
Online career resources
Our career resource emergingtechpolicy.org has reached more than 150,000 unique visitors since launching in late 2023. The site offers comprehensive guidance on pathways into policy, US policy institutions, specific policy areas, and practical tips for career transitions—now totaling more than three books’ worth of content that is constantly kept up-to-date.
In 2025, we continued expanding the site with new and updated guides, ranging from an intro to policy careers and a curated list of short-term policy programs to whether to do a PhD to specialized overviews of federal R&D funding and the military departments. We also expanded our institutional coverage with a guide to the Advanced Research Projects Agencies (ARPAs) and ensured critical practical resources, such as our fellowship databases and guide to security clearances, were fully refreshed to reflect the current policy institutional and opportunity space.
Looking forward to 2026
Building the talent pipeline for emerging technology policy is more important than ever. To meet this moment, in 2026, we’ll welcome our inaugural APLN cohort, work with our largest fellowship class yet, scale the Career Accelerator to 100+ participants per year, launch a Substack and expand our online resources, double our workshops and events, and conduct many hundreds of support calls with talented individuals and hiring managers.
None of our work would be possible without the generous support of our partners and funders. We’re deeply grateful for their shared commitment to bringing technical expertise into government.
To meet our ambitious goals for 2026 and beyond, we are growing our team. If you are excited to build the next generation of emerging tech policy leaders — and to do so with a fast-growing and incredibly talent-dense, ambitious, and low-ego group of colleagues — there is no better time to do so than now. You can view our open roles here.
If you’re interested in exploring a career in policy, we invite you to fill out our career support interest form. If you’re at an agency, congressional office, or think tank interested in hosting a Horizon Fellow or want support filling other roles, learn more here.
