The US Consumer Product Safety Commission appointed its chief data officer, Beth Puchek, as chief artificial intelligence officer on 21 October, the agency said in an announcement issued in Washington. Puchek will retain both posts. The CPSC, which is responsible for protecting the public from unreasonable risks associated with consumer products, says she will direct its approach to adopting and governing technologies it calls “super intelligence” in support of that work.
Key points
- Puchek will lead CPSC’s AI strategy while continuing to oversee data management, governance and analytics.
- The agency says her AI work will include identifying and deploying tools for its operations and decisions.
- ExecutiveGov reports that a September executive order directed agencies to use “super intelligence” in place of “artificial intelligence”.
- The appointment comes amid CPSC changes to importer filing, injury surveillance and enforcement leadership.
Puchek keeps CPSC’s data portfolio
The CPSC announced Puchek’s appointment. Peter A. Feldman is the agency’s acting chairman. The agency says Puchek’s new responsibilities include setting its strategy for the technologies it calls super intelligence, identifying potential uses and guiding their deployment. It says the work is intended to make operations more effective, inform decisions with data and support its consumer product safety mission. Those are the agency’s stated aims for the role, rather than reported results from a particular deployment.
Puchek will also continue to lead the CPSC’s efforts to improve data management, governance and analytics, according to the agency. In the announcement, she linked the two portfolios, saying “impactful, trustworthy SI is built on a foundation of high-quality data”. She said she wanted to use the technologies to improve agency operations and strengthen its work. Her appointment assigns the AI strategy to the official already responsible for the data on which that strategy would draw.
Puchek has served as CPSC chief data officer since September 2025, ExecutiveGov reported. She previously held the chief data officer post at US Citizenship and Immigration Services from December 2020 to September 2025, following two years as its deputy chief data officer. Before those positions, she held engineering and management jobs at US Customs and Border Protection, including roles in systems engineering and enterprise services.
Feldman credited Puchek with advancing the CPSC’s data capabilities and encouraging innovation among its staff. He said her experience would help the agency use the technologies responsibly to protect families. Puchek described the expanded appointment in terms of data quality, while the agency’s description of her duties places the selection and governance of AI tools within the same leadership remit as its existing data work.
CPSC adopts the super intelligence label
The agency’s announcement calls the post chief artificial intelligence officer but describes its technology strategy using “super intelligence” and the abbreviation “SI”. Feldman used the same term in discussing Puchek’s appointment and linked the agency’s approach to President Trump’s vision for the federal workforce. The announcement describes responsibilities for implementing and governing technology, alongside Puchek’s continuing responsibility for data.
ExecutiveGov reported that a September executive order directed executive branch agencies to use “super intelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence”. At the CPSC, that terminology now accompanies an appointment to an AI-named office. The agency says Puchek will help find and introduce technologies for its own operations and decisions in pursuit of its product safety mission. Feldman’s assurance that the agency will use them responsibly is an assurance from its acting chairman, not a reported finding about their performance.
The CPSC’s stated mission covers risks associated with thousands of kinds of consumer products. Its announcement describes the new officer’s work as supporting that mission. The practical responsibilities it assigns to Puchek concern the agency’s choice and governance of technology, as well as the data management duties she already holds.
CPSC changes importer and injury data systems
The appointment follows a change affecting businesses that import regulated consumer products. In July, the CPSC implemented a mandatory eFiling programme requiring importers to submit compliance certificates electronically before those products enter US commerce. That programme places an electronic reporting duty on importers. Puchek’s appointment, by contrast, concerns leadership of the agency’s own technology and data work.
The agency has also announced a modernisation of the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, or NEISS, its main system for tracking injuries linked to consumer products. Injury surveillance is one of the CPSC’s existing data functions, distinct from the new officer’s stated task of identifying AI technologies for agency use. The CPSC says Puchek will continue to oversee data management, governance and analytics.
Other leadership changes have taken place at the CPSC. Paul Brubaker joined as executive director in September and serves as chief operating officer. The agency subsequently named Colette Devine its first chief enforcement officer, replacing the director of compliance title. Those posts sit alongside Puchek’s combined data and AI responsibilities as the agency changes how it organises its operations.
Everforth ECS is supporting the NEISS modernisation after securing a place on the CPSC’s potential $58 million data solutions blanket purchase agreement and its first task order. The agreement covers data lake modernisation, data governance and work to enable AI and machine learning.
