{"id":341145,"date":"2026-06-01T08:43:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T08:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/341145\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T08:43:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T08:43:20","slug":"ballard-partners-taps-california-ai-czar-to-head-new-emerging-tech-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/341145\/","title":{"rendered":"Ballard Partners taps California AI czar to head new emerging tech practice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;Amy &#8230;  will offer unique insights that will be instrumental in delivering the exceptional results our clients expect in this rapidly evolving landscape.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ballardpartners.com\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Ballard Partners<\/a> is launching a new Emerging Technology and AI Practice Group and has tapped former California Government Operations Secretary Amy Tong to lead the effort.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">Tong joins the firm as a Partner after serving as Secretary of Government Operations and Senior Counselor to Gov. Gavin Newsom, where she oversaw a sprawling portfolio that included technology investments, cybersecurity initiatives and statewide modernization efforts. She previously served as California\u2019s Chief Information Officer and played a leading role in developing the state\u2019s approach to artificial intelligence policy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">\u201cWe are incredibly excited to welcome Amy to our powerhouse California team and to launch this vital Emerging Technology and AI Practice group under her world-class leadership,\u201d said firm founder and President Brian Ballard. \u201cAs tech innovation, artificial intelligence, and government policy become increasingly intertwined, Amy\u2014alongside a powerhouse team of our firm\u2019s partners \u2014 will offer unique insights that will be instrumental in delivering the exceptional results our clients expect in this rapidly evolving landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">Tong will lead the new practice from the firm\u2019s Sacramento office, helping clients navigate the increasingly complex intersection of technology, AI and government policy amid a time of significant demand for guidance on emerging tech issues.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">During her time in state government, Tong managed a $67 billion portfolio and oversaw more than $8 billion in technology investments. Her tenure included the creation of California\u2019s Cybersecurity Integration Center, oversight of major broadband expansion efforts and implementation of California\u2019s first Generative AI Executive Order in 2023, which established a framework for the state\u2019s use and procurement of artificial intelligence technologies.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jaytrumbull.com\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-723469\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/jay-trumbull-florida-politics-banner-ads-728x90-b-scaled-e1740688220698.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"728\" height=\"90\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">\u201cBallard Partners is widely recognized as one of the most effective, respected, and forward-thinking government relations firms in the country, and I am deeply honored to join such a talented group of professionals,\u201d Tong said in a statement announcing the move.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#8216;Amy &#8230; will offer unique insights that will be instrumental in delivering the exceptional results our clients expect&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2007,140564,2080,140565,140566,7,9,8,457],"class_list":["post-341145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-ai","tag-amy-tong","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-ballard-partners","tag-brian-ballard","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-gavin-newsom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}