JAMES E. TUNNESSEN JR.
D. Eng. Candidate, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
Forbes Technology Council ~ Former Federal Chief AI Officer Council Member
25+ years federal service · 14 in uniform (1995–2002, 2008–2014) · 15 federal civilian (2011–2026) · 13 at the executive level · five agencies
Email: info@gradientdescent.biz •
Location: Virginia; Washington, DC area
GitHub: github.com/jtunnessen •
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jimtunnessen
Advisory & Research: gradientdescent.biz (Gradient Descent Advisory Services · Gradient Descent Labs)
Software: GOVERNBOX.ai — a Gradient Descent LLC venture
TEACHING INTERESTS
Courses I am prepared to develop and teach at the graduate level:
- Explainable AI (XAI) & Counterfactuals
- AI Governance, Ethics & Policy
- Orchestration & Oversight of Agentic AI Systems
- Applied Machine Learning & Deep Learning
- Federal Enterprise IT Strategy & Digital Transformation
- Cybersecurity Leadership: Zero Trust and Beyond
- Data Engineering for AI Systems
- Technology Leadership for the CIO (nonprofit to Fortune 500)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Guest Lecturer — AI Governance, Federal Technology Leadership 2024 – Present
Various Venues | Washington, DC Metro Area
- Delivered practitioner lectures on agentic AI governance, federal CIO leadership, and responsible AI deployment to professional and executive audiences
- Moderated executive panels on AI strategy including SIM Capital Area Chapter sessions with OpenAI and NASA Goddard; GovLoop Executive Roundtables; ATARC Executive Roundtables
Chief Instructor, NCO Leadership School 1999 – 2000
United States Marine Corps | Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, Beaufort, SC
- Designed and delivered leadership curriculum for non-commissioned officer professional military education (PME)
- Responsible for all school operations, instructor development, course scheduling, and academic quality
- Taught leadership principles, tactical decision-making, and small unit management to Marines preparing for supervisory command
- Developed and refined instructional materials; evaluated student performance and provided structured developmental feedback