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Michael Zidar_

Driving AI innovation inside a public safety technology company — enabling teams, shipping tools, and scaling adoption enterprise-wide.

> currently

Sr. Manager, Corporate AI Solutions at Axon Enterprise, leading company-wide AI enablement — upskilling teams, accelerating adoption, and building the practices that make AI real across the organization.

> background

My path spans crime analysis, software development, innovation management, academia, and consulting. With roots in public safety and a Ph.D. focused on AI adoption, I now channel that experience into enabling organizations to embrace AI — from strategy and governance to hands-on developer tooling and enterprise-wide upskilling.

> experience

Sr. Manager, Corporate AI Solutions

Axon Enterprise, Inc.

2024 – Present

Adjunct Assistant Professor

University of Cincinnati, School of Information Technology

2025 – Present

Assistant Professor

University of Cincinnati, School of Information Technology

2024

Public Safety Innovation Technology Manager

City of Boulder, Department of Innovation and Technology

2022 – 2024

Adjunct Faculty

University of Cincinnati, School of Information Technology

2022

Crime Analyst and Technical Lead

University of Cincinnati, Division of Public Safety

2018 – 2022

Adjunct Faculty

Murray State University

2018 – 2019

Crime Analyst

Paducah Police Department

2015 – 2022

> education

Ph.D., Information Technology

University of Cincinnati

Dissertation: Policing in the AI Era: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Police Adoption of Information Technology

M.S., Criminal Justice

University of Cincinnati

Specialization in Data-Driven Public Safety and Technology Adoption

B.S., Criminal Justice

Xavier University

Cum Laude, Minor in Political Science

> consulting

Zidar Analytics LLC

AI and technology consulting — helping organizations build AI strategies, develop internal tooling, and stand up enablement programs. Clients include the University of Colorado at Boulder, the National Police Institute, and other data-driven organizations.

> publications

Zidar, M. (2023). Policing in the AI Era: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Police Adoption of Information Technology. Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati.

Feldmeyer, B., Cullen, F. T., Sun, D., Kulig, T. C., Chouhy, C., & Zidar, M. (2022). The community determinants of death: comparing the macro-level predictors of overdose, homicide, and suicide deaths, 2000 to 2015. Socius, 8.

Said, H., Zidar, M., Varlioglu, S., & Itodo, C. (2021). A Framework for the Discipline of Information Technology. Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference on Information Technology Education.

Ozer, M., Zidar, M., Deryol, R., Varlioglu, S., Eldivan, I. S., & Akbas, H. (2020). Creating A Real-Time Geocoding System: Implications of Open Source for Public Safety. 2020 International Conference on Computational Science and Computational Intelligence (CSCI).

Zidar, M. S., Herold, T. D., & Eck, J. E. (2019). Superusers of Small-Town Police Resources. The Police Chief, 86(10).

White, D. R., Hepworth, D. P., & Zidar, M. S. (2018). Texting and Driving: Is It Just Moral Panic?. Deviant Behavior, 39(11).

Zidar, M. S., Shafer, J. G., & Eck, J. E. (2017). Reframing an Obvious Police Problem: Discovery, Analysis, and Response to a Manufactured Problem in a Small City. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice.

White, D. R, Kyle, M. J., Galli, P., & Zidar, M. S. (2017). Youth Attitudes Regarding Police Effectiveness and Trust in One Midsize City. The Police Chief, 84(10).