Project summary

Talos Network (formerly Training for Good) is dedicated to fostering the next generation of leaders in AI policy.

We primarily do this through the Talos Fellowship (formerly the EU Tech Policy Fellowship), where, each year, we enable 40-50 promising early-career professionals to:

• participate in an 8-week training programme on EU AI policy fundamentals,
• attend a 7-day policymaking summit in Brussels to network with key actors in the EU AI policy sphere,
• pursue a 4-6 month placement at a prestigious think tank or organisation working in AI policy, and
• receive personalised support & coaching to confidently initiate a career in tech policy.

We have graduated 66 fellows to date, with many Talos alumni now working in impactful roles at the EU AI Office and in senior roles at leading Brussels-based think tanks.

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?

By 2030, Talos Network will have

• Graduated 400+ people from the Talos Fellowship
• Transitioned 200+ promising individuals into AI policy careers
• Seen 10+ of our alumni secure highly significant roles (e.g. senior roles at influential organisations working on AI governance) as a result of our activities
• Improved EU and international AI policy by equipping top, young talent with the skills and network to influence AI governance

We will achieve this by

• Running ~4-5 distinct fellowship streams

• Fostering and maintaining strong relationships with the top 5 most influential partner organisations in every region and policy area in which we operate, including government offices, think tanks and other institutions

• Growing the Talos team to 15+ and making it an amazing place to work

• Securing significant funding (>$1m each per year) from 5+ major foundations

How will this funding be used?

Funding in 2025 would go to filling Talos Network's our funding gap, which is most of our ~$2.9M annual budget. Specifically, this funding would enable:

• Running the next two cohorts of our flagship Talos Fellowship program, supporting 35-40 new fellows through intensive training and placements in European and international AI policy.
• Launching a new fellowship stream beyond our 17 existing think tank placements (e.g., placements in EU institutions, technical AI governance roles, or international organisations)
• Hiring a new CEO to lead Talos Network through its next phase of growth

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

Our team includes

Cillian Crosson****, Interim Executive Director

• Cillian is an impact-focused entrepreneur. Through Charity Entrepreneurship, he founded Training for Good in 2021. TFG has now split into Talos Network and Tarbell, two organisations with budgets of >$1.5m each in 2024.

Chiara Gerosa****, AI Fellowship Director

• Chiara brings expertise in AI policy, having served as an AI policy advisor at DSIT and as AI Governance Lead at Impact Academy. She has facilitated BueDot’s AI Governance Course for policy professionals and holds an MS in Security Studies from UCL.

David Conrad****, Talent Lead

• David is an experienced founder and consultant. He has worked at Boston Consulting Group, AI Safety Camp, and as Managing Partner at Kip Happy Stays. He holds an MPP from LSE where he was the top performing graduate.

Francesca Sheeka****, EU Tech Policy Lead

• Francesca is an experienced policy professional, having worked as an AI Policy Analyst at the OECD and on the EU AI Act Codes of Practice at SaferAI. She has trained with the EU Commission, Epoch, and the AI Futures Fellowship.

Carolin Basilowski****, Operations & Strategy Associate

• Carolin is a capable operations professional, having organised EAGx Berlin and the 2023 European AI Safety Retreat. Her work on AI Safety Bounties was recently awarded a first place prize in BlueDot’s AI Governance course.

Stephen Robcraft****, Operations Manager

• Stephen is an experienced strategy & operations consultant. He has worked as Operations Manager at ERA Fellowship, co-organiser of the Good Governance Project, and as Head of Programmes at Prince’s Trust International.

Why do we need your help?

We are at an inflection point for the organisation. Cillian Crosson, our founder and executive director, is leaving to focus on running Tarbell and we are in the process of hiring a new CEO in 2025. We also have growth plans including launching a new stream of the fellowship in the next year and adding additional placement positions with international organisations, including the OECD.

To attract a top-quality CEO and ensure we can continue to operate in 2025, we need to secure a funding runway.

We are reaching out to large donors but still have significant room for marginal funding from individuals. In particular, every $18,000 allows us to offer an additional placement to one of our fellows. These placements are particularly impactful as many placements convert into full-time roles for candidates who otherwise may not have entered the field, or make our fellows particularly competitive candidates for other roles in AI governance and policy.\