Guillermo Christensen, Partner at K&L Gates and Leading Voice on National Security, AI, and Cybersecurity

Some careers follow a straight line. Guillermo S. Christensen’s has crossed some of the most consequential lines in the world: intelligence and diplomacy, law and technology, national security and business. It is this breadth of experience, combined with his influence at the intersection of these fields, that earns him a well-deserved place as one of our Top 10 Latino Voices of 2026.

An immigrant from Argentina, Christensen has built a career around understanding problems that rarely fit neatly into one discipline. Today, as a partner at K&L Gates, he advises organizations on national security, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, international trade, sanctions, and complex cross-border matters. He also co-chairs the firm’s AI Solutions Group, helping clients navigate a technology reshaping how organizations operate, compete, and manage risk.

Before becoming an attorney, Christensen spent 15 years as an intelligence officer with the CIA, serving in international and domestic assignments and working alongside the Departments of Defense and State, the FBI, and other national intelligence organizations. In 2001, he was selected as the CIA’s National Intelligence Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, an assignment reserved for officers considered to be on the path toward senior leadership in the intelligence community.

His government service also took him into diplomacy. As a diplomat with the U.S. Mission to the OECD in France, he gained a broader perspective on how governments, economies, and international institutions intersect. His work earned recognition from both the U.S. Department of State, including a Meritorious Award for Contributions to the Balkan Peace Process, and the CIA.

Today, those experiences converge in his legal practice. Christensen advises organizations confronting cybersecurity threats, ransomware, artificial intelligence, international investigations, sanctions, and national security reviews of global investments. His work has spanned China, Russia, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America, across technology, energy, defense, and transportation.

What distinguishes his career is not simply the number of fields he has entered. It is the ability to carry knowledge from one field into the next.

The instincts developed in intelligence inform his approach to cybersecurity. His diplomatic experience informs his understanding of geopolitics. His legal practice gives organizations a framework for managing risk, while his work in artificial intelligence places him at the center of one of the defining technological shifts of our time.

That commitment to translating complexity into knowledge extends to the next generation. Christensen is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches “AI Skills for Lawyers,” and an instructor at the FBI’s Chief Information Security Officer Academy in Quantico, where he has taught hundreds of cybersecurity leaders about the legal dimensions of incident response.

His leadership also extends beyond his professional practice. Christensen is a founder and board member of the National AI and Cybersecurity Information Sharing Association, serves on the board of the Association of U.S. Cyber Forces, and is a founding member and former co-president of the DC Metro Chapter of the Private Directors Association. He is also active with the Hispanic National Bar Association and the Latino Executive Network.

With a career spanning intelligence, diplomacy, law, technology, and national security, Christensen has helped organizations understand risks that cross borders, industries, and evolving technologies. The result is a rare ability to navigate complexity, bring clarity, and solve problems where the stakes are highest.