ICYMI: TechNet Day Convenes Policymakers and Industry Leaders to Advance American Innovation

Last week in Washington, D.C., TechNet brought together leaders from its member companies for its 26th annual federal lobby day, "TechNet Day." At a pivotal moment for U.S. technological leadership, meetings were kicked off by TechNet President and CEO Linda Moore and led by Executive Council Chair Aparna Bawa, Chief Operating Officer at Zoom, and Vice Chair Kerry McLean, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary at Intuit . Executives met with senior White House officials and more than 30 members of Congress, including House and Senate leadership from both sides of the aisle, to advance policy priorities and help ensure America leads the next era of innovation.

The discussions focused on federal frameworks for AI, privacy, and autonomous vehicles, investments in our energy infrastructure and workforce, and pro-growth trade policies.

Participating executives, in addition to Bawa and McLean, included David Zapolsky, Senior Vice President, Chief Global Affairs and Legal Officer at Amazon; Kent Walker, President of Global Affairs at Google and Alphabet; Mamoon Hamid, Partner at Kleiner Perkins; Josh Silverman, Executive Chair at Etsy; Ed Knight, Executive Vice Chairman at Nasdaq; Amar Mehta, Chief Legal Officer at Waymo; Morgan Fong, General Counsel at Instacart; and Chris Lehane, Chief Global Affairs Officer at OpenAI.

Ahead of TechNet Day, TechNet partnered with Punchbowl News to host a panel featuring U.S. Representative James Walkinshaw (D-VA) and a fireside chat with Aparna Bawa and David Zapolsky on the policies needed to sustain U.S. leadership in innovation. Both segments were moderated by Punchbowl News Founder and CEO Anna Palmer.

Earlier this year, TechNet released its 2026 Federal Policy Agenda , which outlines the organization's top priorities to ensure the United States leads the next era of technological innovation - including leading in AI, establishing a national privacy standard, strengthening cybersecurity, modernizing energy infrastructure, expanding the STEM pipeline, and promoting global trade. Read the full policy principles here .