DJ Patil

Dr. DJ Patil is a general partner at GreatPoint Ventures. Patil is recognized for his significant contributions to the field of data science, a term he helped establish. At LinkedIn, Patil served as chief scientist, chief security officer, and head of analytics and data product teams, where he co-coined the term "data scientist."

Patil's work has been featured in books by Michael Lewis, including "The Fifth Risk" and "Premonition." He was appointed as the first U.S. chief data scientist, serving as deputy chief technology officer for data policy and chief data scientist at the White House. In this role, Patil led efforts to transform the U.S. federal government into a data-driven organization, resulting in the creation of nearly 40 chief data officer roles across federal agencies. He contributed to the development of healthcare programs such as the Precision Medicine Initiative (now the NIH All of Us program) and the Cancer Moonshot, as well as criminal justice reforms like the Data-Driven Justice and Police Data Initiatives, which impact more than 94 million Americans.

Patil has also been active in national security and was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. As an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow for the Department of Defense, he directed initiatives to integrate computational and social sciences, including social network analysis to anticipate emerging threats. Patil co-chaired a review of U.S. efforts to prevent bioweapons proliferation in Central Asia and co-founded the Iraqi Virtual Science Library.

As an author, Patil has written "Building Data Science Teams" and "Data Jujitsu: The Art of Turning Data into Product," both published by O'Reilly Media. These works provide guidance on building data science teams and solving data science challenges in business and technology. He has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Patil is a general partner at GreatPoint Ventures, focusing on healthcare, enterprise technologies, and national security. He has served as a senior fellow at the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School and as chief technology officer for the Biden-Harris Transition, where he led technology policy development. Patil's experience at the intersection of government, technology, artificial intelligence, and analytics informs his perspective on how data can shape healthcare, national security, and public policy at a national scale.