Kevin Richards

Kevin M. Richards has dedicated much of his public and private sector career to technology public policy. In 2014, Mr. Richards was named Vice President and Head of U.S. Government Relations for SAP, the world’s leading provider of enterprise application software. He currently oversees a team of U.S. government relations professionals responsible for establishing favorable laws, regulations and policies to enable SAP’s business success in the United States.

Mr. Richards represents SAP on the board of directors leading business advocacy organizations including the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC) Board of Directors, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Chamber Technology Engagement Center (C_TEC) Advisory Board, the Data Coalition Board of Directors. He is also an active member of the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., and the Washington Post’s Technology 202 Network.

Prior to joining SAP, Kevin served as Senior Vice President of Federal Government Affairs (2010-2013) for TechAmerica where he represented the public policy interests of the largest U.S. technology trade association and its 1,000 member companies before the U.S. Congress and the White House. Richards led the Washington, D.C. public policy office and was responsible for managing a team of 10 government affairs professionals; formulating legislative strategy and advancing the Association’s U.S. policy agenda.

From 2005-2010, Richards was the Senior Manager of U.S. Federal Government Relations for Symantec Corporation, the world’s largest information security company. In this capacity, as the corporation’s first registered U.S. lobbyist, he pioneered the development of its U.S. Congressional engagement strategy, established a core U.S. Government Relations program and devised a U.S. federal public policy agenda.

Richards’ public service experience includes serving as a senior advisor in the United States Senate for thirteen years (1992-2005) on the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. From 1998-2005, he held the title of Legislative Assistant and Economic Policy Advisor, a position in which he helped to shape the Committee’s economic legislative agenda. His responsibilities included advising the Committee staff and Members on all economic, science, telecommunications, biotechnology, technology, and related policy matters before the Committee. In addition, he acted as senior staff on policy issues before the U.S. Congressional Joint Economic Committee.

Mr. Richards was born and raised in Clinton, Massachusetts, and currently resides in Washington, D.C.