Zachary Boyd, PhD
Zachary Boyd, PhD, is Director of the Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy for the State of Utah and a professor of applied and computational mathematics at Brigham Young University. He helps government agencies regulate AI systems entering healthcare, mental health, consumer services, and other high-stakes settings. His recent work has focused on writing AI laws, designing regulatory pilots, and building oversight models that let useful technologies move forward while giving regulators evidence about safety, quality, and value.
As Director of Utah’s Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy, Dr. Boyd has played a central role in developing Utah’s AI policy framework. His team crafted the nation’s first law allowing AI to practice mental health therapy within clinically appropriate boundaries, along with guidance addressing supervision, scope, and safeguards; this work was recognized with the CLEAR Regulatory Excellence Award. He was also the primary developer and supporter of Utah’s recent deepfake and AI companion legislation, and has consulted on other state AI laws addressing consumer protection, transparency, and liability.
Dr. Boyd also leads Utah’s first-in-the-nation AI policy office, including its AI regulatory sandbox and regulatory mitigation programs. He works with healthcare organizations, technology companies, regulators, legislators, and national experts to evaluate novel AI applications under structured oversight. His office develops regulatory mitigation agreements that allow monitored AI pilots to operate for limited periods while collecting evidence to inform future legislation, rulemaking, and agency practice. His public-sector work has been recognized with UVU’s Excellence in Ethics Award, and the Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy was selected as a Silicon Slopes Community Champion finalist.
Before entering state government, Dr. Boyd built an academic career in applied mathematics, machine learning, and computational modeling of human behavior. At BYU, his research has addressed social influence, leadership, psychology, economics, and mathematical methods for complex systems. His work has appeared in journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, npj Digital Medicine, Biological Psychiatry, SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, SIAM Journal on Mathematics of Data Science, and Journal of Nonlinear Science. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense.
Dr. Boyd is also an award-winning mentor at BYU, where he maintained the largest research lab in his department. He completed postdoctoral training in network science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and held research roles at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He earned his PhD in mathematics from UCLA as an NDSEG Fellow and earned his BS and MS in mathematics from Brigham Young University as Monson Presidential Scholar.