Lauryn Williams

Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Strategic Technologies Program
Lauryn Williams

Lauryn Williams is the deputy director and senior fellow in the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Until January 2025, she was chief of staff to the assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, where she spearheaded the release of the National Defense Industrial Strategy Implementation Plan. From 2022 to 2024, Lauryn was director for strategy in the White House Office of the National Cyber Director and led the strategic initiative on space system cybersecurity, which leveraged extensive government agency, industry, and international collaboration. This work resulted in the first-ever minimum cybersecurity requirements for federal space systems. Prior to the White House, Lauryn served as a policy advisor in the Pentagon space policy office and led efforts to leverage commercial space and develop norms of responsible behavior. She has also served in the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, where she led international export control projects, and worked at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Lauryn received her master’s degree in public and international affairs from Princeton University and her bachelor’s degree in political science, with honors in international security studies, from Stanford University.

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Unpacking Ukraine’s Future Cyber and Space Forces

This piece explores the key questions surrounding Ukraine's proposed Cyber and Space Forces and what they will mean for the future of warfighting.

Critical Questions by Lauryn Williams, Taylar Rajic, and Kuhu Badgi — October 20, 2025

Audio Briefs

Unpacking Ukraine’s Future Cyber and Space Forces

An audio version of “⁠Unpacking Ukraine’s Future Cyber and Space Forces⁠,” a new Critical Questions by CSIS’s Lauryn Williams, Taylar Rajic, and Kuhu Badgi. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by Lauryn Williams, Taylar Rajic, and Kuhu Badgi — October 20, 2025

Audio Briefs

Growing the Greater San Diego Semiconductor Ecosystem

The San Diego region anchors the high-tech innovation hub that is southern California. This event highlights the unique roles that the public, private, and academic sectors work together to create a vibrant and globally-renowned semiconductor design hub.

Event — October 9, 2025