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Empire AI uses a hybrid governance model built to balance state oversight, university participation, technical expertise, and philanthropic backing. The board currently consists of 16 members: 14 voting members and 2 advisory observers.

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Board of directors

This mix gives the consortium academic legitimacy, operational grounding, and access to external expertise in infrastructure, venture creation, and large-scale research administration.

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Operating leadership

Daily execution sits with a smaller management and technical team: Kiran Keshav leads the research-computing side of the platform: cluster operations, technical direction, and the translation of Empire AI’s shared-infrastructure model into a usable environment for researchers.
The Empire AI source materials also highlight the importance of the at-large members. Kim Hazelwood brings deep AI systems and infrastructure expertise, while Howard Morgan adds commercialization and venture-building perspective that can help research move into startup or translational pathways.

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Why this structure matters

Empire AI depends on coordination across public universities, private research institutions, state agencies, and philanthropic supporters. A single-campus governance model would not be strong enough for that. The current board design spreads representation across member institutions while preserving room for outside technical and strategic guidance.