Heather Hayes, PhD, is a Psychometrician at Western Governors University where she aids in the development and validation of competency-based assessments with a particular focus on how AI can be used to improve assessment experiences and validity by including novel and authentic assessment activities that blend seamlessly with learning curriculum and formative assessments. She has been involved in the construction and validation of both cognitive ability and personality assessments for over 26 years. Much of her work has included linking cognitive theory and response processes to Item Response Theory to aid in the construct validation of test scores as well as computer adaptive testing applied to authentic, interactive, performance-based assessments.