Senior technology and policy leader overseeing $2.8B in broadband infrastructure investments. 20+ years building the networks that connect communities and power the future.
Opening the Michigan Broadband Summit · Holland, MI
America's broadband networks are entering their most critical build phase in a generation, and the AI systems that will run on top of them need governance frameworks that don't yet exist. I've spent 20+ years at that intersection, from advanced research networking at Internet2 to overseeing $2.8B in federal infrastructure investment at NTIA. I bring federal program management at scale, private-sector consulting experience, and hands-on technical fluency in the AI tools I help govern.
Overseeing $2.8B in BEAD broadband funding across Michigan and West Virginia. Led competitive bidding that delivered significant taxpayer savings. Currently in critical implementation phase connecting 270,000+ locations.
Georgetown AI Governance certificate. Translating two decades of infrastructure expertise into the governance challenges of the intelligence layer — grounded in hands-on practice with the tools themselves.
18 years at Internet2 driving industry engagement, cloud collaboration, and datacenter infrastructure partnerships. Founded Brightlink Solutions to advise ISPs and municipalities on broadband strategy.
Michigan Broadband Summit
Opened the statewide summit with the federal broadband outlook. Holland, MI · 2022
Research & Education Networking Community
Two decades of conference talks, from national keynotes to international symposiums across Europe and Asia.
For speaking inquiries on broadband implementation or AI governance: ben@benfineman.com
Beyond the day job
I think you govern technology better when you use it. Outside my federal role, I build small, working things with the same class of AI systems I think and write about — not startups, just real software that keeps my judgment grounded in practice.
A field guide to America's haunted places, built on an AI-assisted research corpus of 3,000+ dark-tourism destinations. AI did the research legwork; human judgment did the curating.
hauntbound.com →An experiment in agentic AI: a structured meeting space where two AI assistants collaborate toward a shared goal while their humans observe and weigh in.
botmoot.com →An AI-assisted community voting system for Chelsea Art Alley, our downtown public-art installation. Civic AI at small scale, done carefully.
Chelsea Art Alley →An iOS comfort app for kids getting shots, built on ElevenLabs voice AI — a study in deploying voice AI for vulnerable users in sensitive moments.
App Store →I live in Chelsea, Michigan with my wife Brenda and our two kids. Brenda owns and runs Geek Brush Studio, a boutique art studio in Chelsea. Outside of work, I'm energized by showing up where technology, creativity, and community come together — plus the occasional backpacking trip with my kids.
Certified Referee and Robot Inspector supporting the Chelsea Gremlins youth robotics team. Helping kids discover that building things is the best kind of learning.
Volunteer for youth theater — program chair, house manager, set crew, cast party wrangler, advertising committee. If it needs doing, I've probably been on the list.
Helped Brenda build a weatherproof public-art gallery in the heart of downtown Chelsea — rotating exhibitions on aluminum panels, chosen by community vote on a system I built.
I'm one half of Ben & Dave, a two-piece rock band based in Chelsea, Michigan. Two guys, too many guitars, and an album on Spotify we're genuinely proud of.
