ICYMI: Georgetown on the Hill – Discussions on AI
Posted in Events News | Tagged Events - Digital Economy, Georgetown on the Hill, News - Digital Economy
On March 27, 2025, the Center for Business and Public Policy (CBPP) at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business hosted its signature Georgetown on the Hill event at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill.
The event convened academic researchers, policy leaders, and industry experts to explore the future of AI technology and its implications for governance, productivity, and workforce transformation within an evolving policy landscape. Erin McKinney, policy counsel at Amazon Web Services, Fabio Luzzi, vice president of data analytics at Tapestry, and Avi Goldfarb, professor of marketing at the University of Toronto, spoke on a panel moderated by Tim DeStefano, associate research professor at Georgetown McDonough. The conversation focused on building shared understanding across sectors.
“AI is a moving target,” said DeStefano. “Technology is progressing so quickly – and that gives the exact motivation for why we’re doing these events here on Capitol Hill and why we’re doing them so regularly.”
Panel Highlights: Workforce, Innovation, and Economic Transformation
The panel discussion offered a multifaceted view of how artificial intelligence is reshaping the economic landscape, not only automating tasks but also transforming how work is organized, policies are crafted, and educational institutions prepare the next generation. The conversation underscored the critical interplay between industry, government, and academia
McKinney highlighted how industry must lead in preparing the workforce for technological change. “Our responsibility on the industry side is to make sure that learners are educated and upskilled and understand the technology – how to play with it, how to sandbox new solutions,” she said. “There’s all these sorts of positions that are being created… prompt engineering needs creative thinkers who don’t have a computer science degree.”
Luzzi emphasized that AI’s value goes beyond task automation to complete process transformation. “In the past, automation was about following a script,” he said. “Today, with modern AI, it’s more about systems that understand, enhance, and even rewrite that script. We’re moving from manual and reactive to strategic and data-empowered roles.”
Goldfarb framed AI’s economic potential in historical terms. “Unlike previous technologies, this learning role through data is going to be different,” he explained. “To unlock the full potential of AI, we need to redesign workflows – not just insert AI tools into existing ones. That’s when we see the big impact.”
The panel also addressed barriers to AI diffusion – including organizational resistance, fragmented data systems, and policy uncertainty – and stressed the importance of risk-based regulation, interoperability, and investments in data infrastructure.
“If every state has a different set of policies,” noted Goldfarb, “many companies will end up complying with the strictest one. That state will effectively determine how much AI-based innovation we get.”
Advancing AI Policy Through Collaboration
Following the panel, attendees participated in a lively Q&A session and networking lunch, reinforcing the importance of collaboration across academia, government, and industry in shaping the future of AI policy.
The event is part of CBPP’s ongoing effort to advance dialogue at the intersection of business and public policy. It complements the center’s annual AI in Action conference series, which returns in fall 2025 with a focus on AI and infrastructure.