Zachary (Zak) Kilhoffer is a tech policy researcher and PhD candidate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Kilhoffer primarily researches the ethical, socio-economic, and political implications of new and emerging technologies - especially AI governance.

Kilhoffer has a multidisciplinary background of international relations, economics, tech and labor law, and computer science. Kilhoffer uses mixed methods and applies diverse theoretical lenses in his research. He has gained practical experience interning in the US House of Representatives, Organisation for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and United Nations.

From 2017-2021, Kilhoffer worked in the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels, where he focused on the intersection of technology and European Union (EU) policy. In this period he authored research on the platform economy, gig work (platform/crowd work), and algorithmic fairness and transparency. Kilhoffer's exploration into the impact of algorithms on gig workers' job quality has been particularly influential in the EU discourse on digital platform regulation, and is cited in a pending law: Proposal for a Platform Work Directive.

In his free time, Kilhoffer likes woodworking, sci-fi, learning French, and spending time with his cats Theodore Roosevelt (Teddy) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Frankie).