"How do you do that without creating unintended consequences?" said Casey Ellis, founder of San Francisco-based cybersecurity startup Bugcrowd Inc. "That's a hard problem to solve, and I think she's been pretty thoughtful about it." A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Ms. Harris served as California's attorney general as Silicon Valley companies such as Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc. grew into global titans and critics began questioning their influence. The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. While vice presidents have limited power to shape or enforce policy from the White House, advocates say she could help prioritize the tech industry's policy wishlist, which includes issues such as immigration reform. The Trump administration has curtailed visas for highly skilled workers, drawing rebukes from Silicon Valley in recent months.