Erica Osher will be joining NPR to serve as its Vice President, AI Labs starting July 28.

Prior to joining NPR, Osher was Vice President of Sponsorship Products and NPM Creative at National Public Media LLC (NPM). While at NPM, Osher was a business lead in a cross-functional team that founded and developed NPR's AI Labs initiative, co-writing NPR's AI guidelines and developing pilot programs. She also served in a transitional role, supporting NPR as its General Manager of AI Labs since December 2024.

As Vice President, AI Labs, Osher will oversee NPR's AI strategy as a business leader driving NPR's exploration of opportunities related to artificial intelligence. She'll be charged with developing and leading programs that build trust, augment NPR team capacities, and innovate with emerging AI tools in support of NPR's public service mission.

"Erica has demonstrated curiosity, leadership, and collaboration as interim GM of AI Labs — leading pilots, seeking new partnerships, and ensuring our work drives towards innovation while upholding NPR's mission and values," said Ryan Merkley, NPR's Chief Operating Officer. "She's worked closely with member organizations, industry leaders, and NPR staff across teams and I'm thrilled she's joining our team."

"I couldn't be more excited about this opportunity," said Osher. "I'm a lifelong NPR fan, and all of my prior work at NPM has been done with the aim of supporting NPR's public service mission. Our people and principles are this organization's greatest assets. We're at a transformational moment for technology and for journalism, and I'm eager to explore AI solutions that reinforce our values, maintain trust among audiences, and strengthen NPR's ability to innovate."

During her 14 years with NPM, Osher founded and led the NPM Creative team, an in-house creative agency and sponsorship product development team for NPR digital platforms. She was a key member of the NPM Management team and helped lead sponsorship strategy for NPR.org and NPR apps, as well as voice platforms, newsletters, and third-party platform channels like YouTube. Osher was an executive producer for the Tech Unheard podcast from Arm, as well as the YouTube podcast The Upload, which won a PR Daily award for best branded podcast. She also previously managed user experience at Insider Pages and was an associate producer at CBS Radio.

Osher holds an MIT Certificate in Applied Business Analytics, Scrum Certification, and is an IAAP Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies.

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