Heinz College Alumna Picked to Lead AI Center of Excellence for the Federal Government

Krista Kinnard (MSPPM-DA ’17) recently made the jump from consulting to a new leadership role for the General Services Administration in the federal government.

A specialist in data science and AI, Kinnard was tapped to be AI lead for the GSA’s Centers of Excellence program—a government-wide technology modernization plan, kicked off by the White House in 2017.

Kinnard honed her data skills in the MSPPM: Data Analytics pathway, and was a founding member of the students group currently known as Students Using Data for Social Good (SUDS). Previously, Kinnard worked for IBM as a consultant in their federal practice, where she worked as a data scientist and built AI and machine learning tools for clients in the federal government.