Michael Kratsios

Michael John Kotsakas Kratsios (born November 7, 1986) is an American business executive and political advisor who has served as the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the science advisor to the president since 2025. Kratsios served as the acting under secretary of defense for research and engineering from 2020 to 2021 and as the chief technology officer of the United States from 2019 to 2021.

Kratsios graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor's degree in political science in 2008. After graduating from Princeton, he worked as an analyst at Barclays Capital and the Lyford Group International. Kratsios served as the chief financial officer of Peter Thiel's Clarium Capital. He later became a principal at Thiel Capital and served as Thiel's chief of staff. After Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election, Thiel hired Kratsios to work for Trump's presidential transition. In March 2017, Trump appointed Kratsios to serve as a deputy chief technology officer of the United States, the only employee in the chief technology officer's office.

In March 2019, Trump nominated Kratsios to serve as the chief technology officer of the United States. Kratsios was confirmed by the Senate in August. He became the acting under secretary of defense for research and engineering in July 2020. In May 2021, Kratsios became the managing director and head of strategy at Scale AI. In December 2024, Trump named Kratsios as his nominee for director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The following month, Kratsios became the science advisor to the president. He was confirmed by the Senate as the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in March 2025.

Early life and education (1986–2008) Michael John Kotsakas Kratsios was born on November 7, 1986. Kratsios was raised in South Carolina. He graduated from Richland Northeast High School in 2004. Kratsios graduated magna cum laude and a certificate in Hellenic studies in 2008. Kratsios served as the editor-in-chief and the president of Business Today.

Career Early career and Thiel work (2008–2017) After graduating from Princeton, Kratsios worked as an analyst at Barclays Capital and the Lyford Group International. In 2010, Kratsios became a visiting scholar and instructor at Tsinghua University. In March 2017, Politico reported that Trump had appointed Kratsios to serve as a deputy chief technology officer of the United States. According to The New York Times, the chief technology officer's office had been largely vacated of employees by that month, with the exception of Kratsios. In August, Kratsios and Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, issued a memorandum directing the Department of Defense to prioritize multi-use technology and cut idealistic projects. Kratsios sought to develop a technology-policy agenda, although his efforts occurred amid criticism of the Trump administration from many scientists and business executives. in February 2018, a Trump administration official told E&E News that a "triumvirate" was running the Office of Science and Technology Policy, including Kratsios, Ted Wackler, and Rachael Leonard. He pledged to support emerging technologies The Senate voted to confirm Kratsios by unanimous consent on August 1. Kratsios's tenure occurred amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He assisted in a task force on technology and research involving COVID-19 and established an endeavor to allow researchers to use advanced computing for research into the disease. Kratsios led Trump's American AI Initiative. In May 2020, Kratsios and Kelvin Droegemeier, the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, oversaw a G7 meeting on artificial intelligence. In July, Kratsios was appointed as the acting under secretary of defense for research and engineering.

Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (2025–present) Nomination and confirmation In November 2024, The New York Times reported that Kratsios had joined Donald Trump's presidential transition, overseeing its technology policies, and that he had expressed interest in joining Trump's forthcoming administration. By the following month, Kratsios had been interviewed for the position of director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, according to the Times. Alongside Steve Davis, Kratsios led interviews for Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency initiative. On December 22, Trump named Kratsios as his nominee to serve as the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Kratsios's nomination was met with criticism from some experts for his relevant inexperience; Kratsios was the first individual nominated to the position without a doctorate degree. He submitted Kratsios's nomination to the Senate on January 22, 2025. Kratsios appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on February 25. The committee advanced Kratsios's nomination in a 24–4 vote on March 12. The Senate confirmed Kratsios in a 74–25 vote on March 25. After the United States brokered an Armenia–Azerbaijan peace agreement in August, Kratsios met with officials from Armenia and Azerbaijan on technology exchanges between the two countries.

Views Kratsios has advocated for lessened regulations on emerging technologies, particularly drones; in May 2018, he told representatives of several companies that the first Trump administration would not heavily regulate artificial intelligence. Kratsios criticized European Union regulators's plan to regulate artificial intelligence in February 2020. In September 2025, Kratsios rejected the United Nations Security Council's call for regulations on artificial intelligence.

In November 2019, Kratsios criticized Huawei's connections to the Chinese government. In April 2026, the second Trump administration published a memorandum written by Kratsios accusing China of "exploiting American expertise and innovation" by allegedly stealing artificial intelligence technology.

In response to the second Trump administration's budget cuts, Kratsios stated that the United States needed a "creative" allocation of its finances in April 2025. Kratsios has argued that the private sector should spend more money on scientific research and that the federal government spends too much on the bureaucracy.