Our speakers 2024

Cecilia Álvarez Rigaudias has been the EMEA Privacy Policy Director at Meta since March 2019. From 2015 to 2019, she served as European Privacy Officer Lead of Pfizer, Vice-Chair of the EFPIA Data Protection Group and Chairwoman of IPPC-Europe. For an interim period, she was also the Legal Lead of the Spanish Pfizer subsidiaries. She formerly worked 18 years in a reputed Spanish law firm, leading the data protection, IT and ecommerce areas of practice as well as the LATAM Data Protection Working Group. 

Cecilia was the Chairwoman of APEP (Spanish Privacy Professional Association) until June 2019 and is currently in charge of its international affairs. She is also the Spanish member of CEDPO (Confederation of European Data Protection Organisations) and member of the Leadership Council of The Sedona Conference (W-6). Cecilia is a member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation in the section of the Law on Technologies of the Information and the Knowledge. She formed part of the Volunteer Group of Privacy Experts of the OECD (Working Party on Information Security and Privacy; WPISP) in charge of the 2013 review of the OECD guidelines governing the protection of privacy and transborder data flows of personal data. 

Cecilia has written numerous publications on data protection and regularly lectures on data protection, IT and e-commerce at different Master’s programmes and seminars.

Stephen leads the NCC Group senior adviser team that provides board-level advice and guidance relating to cyber security and privacy. As part of this role, he advises clients on areas ranging from strategy to responding to cyber-related incidents. 

He is also the Global Privacy Services Practice lead at NCC Group. In this role, he is responsible for having oversight of all external delivery activities relating to personal data, including client incidents that require reporting to regulatory authorities. 

He carries out the role of delivery director for large, complex or high-profile projects within NCC Group and has successfully delivered programmes of work in both the public and private sectors. Stephen specialises in the people risk aspects of cyber security and was one of the authors of the UK Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure’s guidance on managing employee risk.

Arnd Böken is a lawyer and partner at GvW Westphalen. Arnd advises national and interna-tional clients on data protection law, IT law, the Data Governance Act, the Data Act and legal issues regarding artificial intelligence. In the automotive sector, Arnd has advised on the creation of the Mobility Data Space and advises on the use and exchange of vehicle data. Arnd is a member of the BITKOM data protection working group. He regularly speaks at con-ferences, holds webinars and is co-author of several publications: Sydow/Marsch, DSGVO und BDSG (GDPR and Federal Data Protection Act); Kipker, Cybersecurity; BITKOM guidelines „Verarbeitung personenbezogener Daten in Drittländern (Processing of personal data in third countries)" and "„Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) & Datenschutz (Artificial intelligence (AI) & data protection)".

Stefan Brink, born in 1966, studied law in Mainz, Heidelberg, Dijon and Paris. 

After completing his doctorate under Prof. Dr. Hans Herbert von Arnim (DUV Speyer), he worked for the Scientific Service of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Parliament, then as a judge at the Administrative Court of Koblenz and as a research assistant at the Federal Constitutional Court (1st Senate, Prof. Dr. Reinhard Gaier). From 2008 to 2016, he was Head of Private Data Protection at the State Commissioner for Data Protection in Rhineland-Palatinate and, since 2012, also Deputy State Commissioner for Freedom of Information in Rhineland-Palatinate; from January 2017 to December 2022, Dr. Stefan Brink was State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information in Baden-Württemberg. 

Since January 2023, Dr. Stefan Brink has headed the independent institute wida in Berlin (scientific institute for the digitalization of the working world), which accompanies the digital transformation with a view to our civil rights and develops digital projects.

Extensive expertise in program and project management, risk strategy development, and compliance management, with a focus on addressing audit findings and enhancing business continuity. Notable projects include managing 44-audit remediation for a European bank, creating a risk management tool for a Central Asian bank, executing business impact analyses for a European Neobank, and conducting feasibility studies for a cloud-based core banking system.

Dr Paul Farrow is a Principal Product Manager at Microsoft, leading teams focused on privacy and advertising technology. He drives innovation in privacy-preserving solutions, like the Ad Selection API, and ensures compliance with global privacy regulations. Known for his strategic leadership and execution, Dr. Farrow advances data-driven advertising while mitigating the impact of identity signal loss.

Studied law at the Rheinische Fachhochschule in Cologne, specialising in corporate and data protection law. Subsequently auditor and consultant at TÜV Rheinland with subsequent foundation of legitimis GmbH in 2010. The company specialises in providing data protection support and advice to medium-sized companies both nationally and internationally, including the position of external data protection officer.

As Managing Director, Heiko Gossen is responsible for the consulting fields of data protection and management systems with 20 consultants and auditors within migosens. 

He gained his practical experience in data protection both as an internal data protection officer (Telefónica Deutschland) and data protection auditor (Telefónica O2) and later as an external data protection officer (including Postbank Systems and Amprion). 

Since 2012, he has also audited many companies as a lead auditor on behalf of TÜV Rheinland in the ISO 27001 and ISO 27018 standards, among others. Heiko Gossen also hosts the podcast "Der Datenschutz Talk" and is chairman of the data protection working group at Bitkom e.V.

Sebastian has 15+ years of experience in digital marketing, sales and digital transformation in EMEA. He is the Privacy Lead for Google's team that manages the relationship with industry bodies in EMEA. In this capacity, he works closely with European advertising associations on the changes to the digital advertising ecosystem that have arisen from increased user demands for data protection. Before joining the Industry Relations team, Sebastian spent multiple years in Google's sales organisation and served as the Ads Privacy Lead for Central Europe. He also worked for Scout24 Media, Adconion and smartclip.

Alex Greenstein has been Director, Data Privacy Framework at U.S. Department of Commerce since July 2023. Prior to that, he was Director of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield program. In this role, he was responsible for management and administration of the Privacy Shield program, as well as policy regarding transatlantic data privacy, data flows, and digital trade issues. Prior to joining the Commerce Department, Alex served as Senior Advisor in the Office of the Coordinator for Communications and Internet Policy at the U.S. Department of State. In that role, he was responsible for global data privacy issues, surveillance, law enforcement access to data, civil liberties, data flows, digital trade, as well as digital economy policy in Europe. Previously, from 2016 to 2017, Alex served at the White House as Senior Policy Advisor for Economic and Technology Policy at the National Economic Council. His responsibilities included EU-U.S. Privacy Shield implementation, EU Digital Single Market engagement, G-20 digital economy outcome negotiations, China digital economy and cybersecurity issues, APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules expansion, and a range of other matters at the intersection of technology and foreign policy. From 2015 to 2016, Alex served as Director for the European Union, Southern Europe, and European Economic Affairs at the National Security Council, and oversaw negotiation of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. Alex was a career Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State for 18 years. Alex holds a B.A. in International Economics and Russian Studies from George Washington University.

Emily Hancock is Director, Senior Associate General Counsel (Head of Product, Privacy & IP) and Data Protection Officer for San Francisco-based Cloudflare, Inc., where she provides strategic leadership on global data privacy issues, working cross-functionally with product, security, policy and legal teams to advance Cloudflare’s mission of helping to build a better Internet through privacy-first security, performance and reliability services. Emily has nearly 20 years of experience practicing data protection law. Before joining Cloudflare in 2018, Emily was Vice President, Legal at Evernote. Prior to that, Emily held positions at Yahoo and in private practice working on a wide variety of data protection matters.

Dr Des Hogan was appointed as Commissioner for Data Protection and Chairperson of the Irish Data Protection Commission in February 2024. Prior to that he was Assistant Chief State Solicitor in the Office of the Chief State Solicitor in the period 2015-2024. He served as Acting Chief Executive in the Irish Human Rights Commission in 2007 and from 2012 to 2014. He previously worked for the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and for Amnesty International in Australia and its International Secretariat in London. A solicitor by profession, Dr Hogan was awarded a Masters in European Law from University College Dublin and a PhD in Philosophy of Law from Trinity College Dublin.

Frank Ingenrieth is in favour of effective but lean, long-lasting and therefore scalable solutions. Accordingly, he votes for transparent and active involvement of relevant stakeholders in the development of self-regulatory and co-regulatory instruments; this promotes socially valuable and commercially viable solutions. 

In addition to publications and lectures, Frank Ingenrieth is actively involved in specialist working groups, particularly on the topics of trusted and fair governance, self- and coregulation, and data and consumer protection. 

As Managing Director of the Selbstregulierung Informationswirtschaft (SRIW), he aims to provide the best possible support for the European transformation process in the realms of ‘digitalisation’. The experience and outstanding successes of recent years, and ultimately the solutions developed by SRIW and its ecosystem, can be extended to new areas and utilised across the board. 

Frank Ingenrieth was responsible for the content and strategic work of SRIW for more than six years. On the ecosystem side, for example, he was responsible for the development of the EU Cloud CoC and strategically for the development of SCOPE Europe, a subsidiary of SRIW, which appears currently Europe's leading monitoring procedure and has been accredited several times under GDPR.

As CTO of ZEIT ONLINE, Marco Kaiser is running software development and operations for the online news portal www.zeit.de and other online products since 2013. He became a member of the executive board for ZEIT Online GmbH in 2019. He is also responsible for Producing, Technical Audience Management and Data Protection. Before, he worked at various international and national startups as Head of Product, Director of Engineering, and CTO.

Meike Kamp was elected as the new Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information in October 2022. Between 2010 and 2019, the lawyer already worked at the authority in the field of data protection, media and freedom of information. From 2005 to 2010, she worked at the Independent Centre for Data Protection in Schleswig-Holstein. Before her election, Meike Kamp worked as a meeting representative in the Federal Council for the Bremen State Representation in Berlin.

Tobias Kellner is leading Google’s industry relations efforts with the German ads ecosystem, in particular its advertising trade bodies. This covers a wide topic range from business topics such as AI or privacy to regulatory perspectives and industry standards. Tobias held previous roles in sales and marketing for Google, and previously worked for IBM. He is a board member of the digital marketing committee at Bitkom.

Dr Axel Kessler, LL.M. is a specialized lawyer in the area of IT, new Media and Data Privacy since 1998. He is admitted to the German and the New York Bar. After starting his career with Hogan Lovells he took an in-house counsel position with Siemens in 2004. First he advised on IT matters and Outsourcing transactions, and then he was leading a M&A team responsible for internal restructurings. 2013 he took over the global position as Head of Data Privacy, being responsible for the Data Privacy program for all Siemens group companies and its 300.000 employees. Since 2019 he is also the Data Protection Officer of Siemens AG.

Thoralf Knuth is a lawyer for compliance and data protection and heads data protection and information security at Bosch. He is the Corporate Privacy Officer for Bosch.

Prof. Dr. Dieter Kugelmann studied at the universities of Mainz and Dijon. After his Pd.D. in European media law he qualified at the university of Mainz. He is author of numerous publications especially on the European fundamental rights, European law, media law, security law and data protection law. In 2008 he became a fully tenured professor at the German Police University with a specialization for public law with a focus on police law including international and European Law. In 2015 he was elected for President of the Authority for the protection of data and the freedom of information of Rhineland-Palatinate and in 2023 he was re-elected for a second term. He is the editor of a commentary on the data protection law of Rhineland-Palatinate and co-editor of a commentary on the GDPR.

Since March 2022 Justus Leonhardt is Head of Berlin Office for SCHUFA Holding AG. SCHUFA Holding AG is Germany's leading provider of credit reporting and information services for businesses and consumers. 

In his position Leonhardt is responsible for managing the relationship with government entities, policymakers and other external stakeholders. Before, Leonhardt was working as a Senior Governmental Affairs Expert for Aareal Bank AG and at Deutscher Bundestag (German Parliament). He studied political science at Free University of Berlin.

Carolin Loy studied law at the University of Erlangen and worked previously as a lawyer in civil law. 

She has been a member of the Bavarian Data Protection Authority for the Private Sector (BavarianDPA) since April 2020. She is responsible for the topics ePrivacy, Internet and Digital Services. 

Since September 2022 she is also head of the staff unit for European Cooperation and since April 2024, she is working as press and public relations officer for the Bavarian DPA.

Olivier Micol is since 2016 the head of the Data protection unit within the Directorate General for Justice and Consumers of the European Commission. His tasks include monitoring the implementation of the EU data protection rules, in particular the GDPR, and the respect of these rules in all EU policies. 

Within the European Commission, he previously followed the bilateral trade relations between the EU and Asia for 12 years, in the Directorate General for Trade and in the EU Delegation in China. He also worked for 7 years in the field of consumer policy, as deputy head of the Consumer strategy unit, and subsequently as head of the Financial services and redress unit in the Directorate General for Justice and Consumers.

Jade Nester is TikTok’s Director of Data Public Policy, Europe. She leads a team of European public policy subject matter experts within the European government relations and public policy team. Before joining TikTok, Jade worked as Director, Consumer Policy, at the GSMA. Before joining the private sector, Jade held a number of roles within the U.S. government, including Senior Advisor for Internet Policy at the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and Director, Internet Public Policy at the State Department. She has worked on international Internet public policy issues, including privacy, cross-border data flows, and cybersecurity, for over 16 years. 

She is an International Association of Privacy Professionals Fellow of Information Privacy and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). She has a Juris Doctor degree from the Catholic University of America.

Rafaela leads data, privacy, and consumer protection efforts for OpenAI's Global Affairs team in Europe, collaborating closely with product and legal teams and engaging with privacy and policy stakeholders and regulators. Before joining OpenAI, Rafaela spent 12 years at Google, where she led AI data, privacy & safety initiatives for the Government Affairs & Public Policy team.

Attorney-at-law Dr Carlo Piltz is a partner of Piltz Legal, a Certified Data Protection Officer (TÜV®) as well as a Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E).
He advises national and international clients on issues of data protection, IT security and IT law, both in day-to-day business and in complex cases and contract negotiations. In addition, he is himself active as an external data protection officer. Dr. Carlo Piltz was invited to serve as an expert in the respective parliaments for both the new version of the Federal Data Protection Act and the Berlin State Data Protection Act. He is part of the editorial board of the journal "Privacy in Germany" (PinG) and since the end of 2019 editor-in-chief of the journal "Datenschutz-Berater". In addition, he runs the internet blog "De Lege Data" on data protection law issues and developments (www.delegedata.de) and can point to numerous publications.

A father of four, Didier Reynders was born in Liège on 6th August 1958. In 1981, he obtained a degree in law at the University of Liège. Guest lecturer at the universities of Liège and Louvain, he has never really left the academic life until he became on 1th December 2019 European Commissioner for Justice. 

After presiding the Belgian railways and the Belgian Airways Agency, he was elected Deputy Chairman of the PRL (Liberal party), before becoming a Member of Parliament in 1992. 

On 12th July 1999, he became Minister of Finance (until 6th December 2011) and, on 18th July 2004, (concurrently) Deputy Prime Minister (until 30th November 2019). 

He was Chairman of the Mouvement Réformateur (liberal party alliance) from 11th October 2004 until 14th February 2011. 

He was Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs from 6th December 2011 until 11th October 2014. 

He became Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs, in charge of Beliris and Federal Cultural Institutions on 11th October 2014 (until 30th November 2019). 

He has also been Minister of Defense since 9 December 2018. 

Since 1th December 2019 he is European Commissioner for Justice, in charge of Rule of Law and Consumer Protection.

Frederick Richter has been director of the Data Protection Foundation since it was founded in 2013. Previously, he worked as an advisor for network policy in the German Bundestag and as data protection officer for a trade association. 

Frederick studied law at the University of Hamburg and earned a master‘s degree in IT law at the Universities of Vienna and Hanover. He is a member of the Federal Government's Digital Strategy Germany Advisory Board, of the Advisory Board of the Plattform Privatheit at Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research. 

He is permanent author of the professional journal "Privacy in Germany" (PinG).

Eike Richter is Professor of Public Law and was Dean of the Hamburg Police Academy from 2019 to 2013. After studying law, applied mathematics and practical computer science at Justus Liebig University Giessen, he was a research assistant at the Chair of Public Law and Administration there from 2000 to 2007 and then at the Department of Public Law and Political Science at the University of Hamburg. After completing his legal clerkship, he headed up nationwide and Hamburg reform projects as a government councilor from 2007 to 2010. From 2011 to 2012, he headed the legal department and the “Information Technology and E-Government” division of the Senate Chancellery and, from 2015, the “Fundamental Issues of Equality and Gender Identities” division of the Ministry of Justice and Equality. He then worked in the Senate Chancellery's Digital City Control Center.

With over a decade of work experience as a lawyer and in-house counsel, I am a passionate advocate for privacy, compliance, and legal operations. I have a deep understanding of the regulatory and technical challenges faced by businesses in the digital age. As the founder and CEO of KERTOS, I lead a team of experts who are developing a no-code SaaS solution, connecting entire IT infrastructures to manage data, processes, and systems to automate compliance operations across all departments. 

Before launching KERTOS in late 2021, I was an advisor at Gorillas, an on-demand grocery delivery company, where I helped them navigate the complex legal and compliance landscape in Europe. Prior to that, I was the General Counsel (Director of Legal & Public Policy) at TIER Mobility, Europe's leading shared micro-mobility provider, where I oversaw all legal, regulatory, and public affairs matters. Thanks to my time as an Associate at Freshfield Burckhaus Deringer I have extensive experience in corporate law, legal writing, and mergers and acquisitions. 

Finally, you will always find me in my running shoes if not on the water, in the mountains, or traveling the world with my backpack equipped.

Barbara Schmitz has been supporting BAY GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft as a lawyer since June 2023. 

After studying law in Münster and Bonn, Barbara Schmitz has been working for 20 years in the fields of data protection, IT law and selected compliance areas in various companies. First in the telecommunications industry, then in the lighting industry, and most recently as a legal advisor in the legal department of SWMH Service GmbH. 

With her comprehensive and interdisciplinary know-how, Barbara Schmitz is a renowned specialist in the field of data protection. She is also involved in the (further) development of legal doctrine in the key areas of international data transfer and payment with data through her contributions and her established network. For this reason, Barbara Schmitz is also much in demand as a lecturer and speaker at professional conferences and training events. 

In addition, Barbara Schmitz regularly publishes in professional journals and is co-author of various professional commentaries. Barbara Schmitz is a member of the scientific advisory board of the Zeitschrift für Datenschutz (ZD).

David Schönwerth is Head of Data Economy at the digital association Bitkom and deals with data policy, data spaces and data technologies at German and European level. This often involves data availability and data use within and between organisations as well as in an international context. His background is in Information Systems (Stuttgart, Hohenheim) and Public Policy (Paris).

Sebastian Schwamberger was a research assistant at the University of Vienna and from July 2019 to June 2022 worked as a consultant for the European Law Institute in the transnational project "The ALI-ELI Principles for a Data Economy". On 1 October 2022, he was appointed Assistant Professor for Civil Law, Business Law, and Digital Law at the University of Rostock. Sebastian Schwamberger's research focuses on private, commercial and civil procedural law. In particular, he deals with the legal challenges arising from the digitalisation, platforms and artificial intelligence. 

Sebastian Schwamberger is currently writing his habilitation thesis with the working title "Data Access".

Prof Dr Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider has been Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information since September 2024. She previously held the Chair of Civil Law, Data Economy Law, Data Protection, Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. She studied law in Bremen, obtained her doctorate and habilitation in Freiburg and subsequently held professorships in Cologne and Passau. As Director, she heads both the Institute for Commercial and Economic Law at the Faculty of Law and Political Science and the Centre for Medical Data Usability and Translation (ZMDT). She was also involved in the founding of the Data Institute under the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) and the Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Homeland (BMI).

Natascha Spörle is Senior Public Policy Manager DACH at Bolt, the European super-app with the mission to make urban mobility more affordable, safe and sustainable. Having worked as advisor to a Member of the German Parliament and as political consultant in the mobility sector, Natascha dedicates her career to mobility and transport policy. Natascha joined Bolt in November 2021, shortly after Bolt launched its services in Germany. She is in constant exchange with governments and cities in the DACH region, enabling cities and business to work together towards the future of mobility. Natascha lives in Berlin, does not own a car and believes in cities built for people.

Hans Steege holds a doctorate in law from the Leibniz University of Hanover and a doctorate in economics and social sciences from the University of Stuttgart. 

He worked in the legal department of Continental AG, in public affairs at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and has been working in data protection at Cariad SE, a Volkswagen Group Company, since 2021. 

He is a lecturer at the University of Stuttgart, where he teaches in the fields of autonomous driving and artificial intelligence as well as metaverse. 

He has been a member of the ‘Autonomous Driving Round Table’ of the Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport (BMDV) since 2023. 

Hans Steege is the editor and author of numerous publications as well as the author of expert reports. 

Margo Steiner is VP Global Privacy Policy at adidas. Previously, she was Chief Data Privacy Officer at CompuGroup Medical (CGM), a leading e-health company, and responsible for customer data protection at Zalando. In 2010-2014, she headed the Department of Analysis and Public Communication at the Polish Ministry of Digitalisation and was an advisor on digital strategy in the office of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Margo studied law in Hanover, Madrid and Berlin, is admitted to the bar in Germany and holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard University. Main areas of specialisation: Global privacy, data regulation, AI regulation, legal framework for digital transformation.

As Deputy Head of Office of Deutsche Telekom’s EU Representation in Brussels, Valentin covers the group’s regulatory and legislative engagement towards the EU institutions across a range of policy areas including connectivity, data, cloud, artificial intelligence, and sustainability. He represents DT in various associations, currently acting as Alternate Board Member and Chair of the Network Innovation Taskforce at ETNO. Before joining Deutsche Telekom, Valentin gained professional experience at the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Government Relations team at Mercedes-Benz.

Dan Thomsen is a partner at Data & More. For over 20 years, he has supported organisations in Europe and the US in the management of unstructured data, including data erasure, privacy compliance, GDPR and NIS2. Over the last six years, he has specialised in the classification of data protection data.

Carmen Alvarez Valdés is Senior Corporate Counsel at Microsoft´s Office of Data Protection, part of the Privacy, Safety and Regulatory Affairs team, which is responsible for the alignment and lead engagements with data protection authorities as well as engagements related to data protection and adjacent regulatory issues with other regulators and external stakeholders. Before that, she worked in the same position at software technology companies in the field of AI and telecommunication services on data protection, telecom, software and technology areas of practice. 

Carmen Alvarez completed her bachelor's and master's degrees in law, tax law and audit at the University of Oviedo in Spain. She is CIPP/E, data protection certified.

Prof Dr Max von Grafenstein, LL.M. is professor for "Digital Self-Determination" at the Einstein Center Digital Future (University of the Arts) and co-head of the research program "Governance of Data-Driven Innovation and Cybersecurity" at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG). Max has been a practicing lawyer since 2011 and is founder of the academic spin-off Law & Innovation. In the last 10 years, he has been developing interdisciplinary methods for designing effective data protection by design solutions and providing the corresponding empirical evidence. Funded by the German Ministry of Education, the academic spin-off Law & Innovation is currently developing consent banners and consent agents that enable data subjects to more intuitively decide on the processing of their data.

Rebekka Weiß, LL.M. is a fully qualified lawyer and Head of Regulatory Policy at Microsoft Germany. She is the point of contact in the Microsoft Berlin team for data and competition policy, artificial intelligence, digital safety and platform regulation. Rebekka previously worked at the digital association Bitkom from 2017, where she headed the department and team for trust and security. Rebekka studied law in Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and holds a Master of Laws in ‘Intellectual Property and the Digital Economy’ from the University of Glasgow. She regularly publishes in legal journals and commentaries on data law, IT security law and related fields of law.

Dr Kevin Yam is the Chief AI Officer at coeo Group, one of Europe's leading debt collection companies, where he is responsible for the development and implementation of the company's AI strategy. In addition, he heads the company's own AI Lab in Berlin. After completing his Ph.D. in theoretical physics, he specialized in the realization of complex AI and data analytics projects in the financial sector. In his professional development, Dr. Yam also held the position of a partner in an IT consulting firm and the role of CTO at a medium-sized financial service provider.

As Head of Global Privacy Advisory & Data Ethics, Sarah Zech is also responsible for AI Governance in the Data Protection Department of Allianz SE. Previously, she was Digital Compliance Counsel at Allianz SE. 

Prior to joining Allianz, Sarah Zech worked for several years as a lawyer with a particular focus on financial regulatory law (MiFID II, PSD II, AIFMD etc) and compliance, gaining in-depth experience in the area of special audits pursuant to Section 44 of the German Banking Act (KWG) and advising a wide variety of clients in the financial sector such as credit and financial services institutions, capital management companies and fintech companies. In addition to her legal education, Sarah Zech holds a master's degree in philosophy and art history.

Head of the Unit "Supervision and Enforcement" in the office of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) since 1/2022. 

Previously, Thomas was EDPS Head of Unit “Technology and Privacy" dealing with new technologies and their impact on personal data protection and privacy, as well as Member of Cabinet for the European Commission's First Vice-President Timmermans with responsibilities in particular for issues relating to the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights, including personal data protection. 

At the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, Thomas was Acting Head of the Product safety unit and Deputy Head of Unit of the Data Protection unit. 

Thomas was a key member of the team that prepared and negotiated the European Commission's data protection reform proposals, i.e. the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Police Data Protection Directive between 2009 and 2016. Thomas studied Law at the University of Passau (Germany) and at the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium). He was an German Rechtsanwalt (attorney) specialising in European Union law, IT law and personal data protection law, and Director of the German Bar Association’s Brussels office. 

He publishes commentaries, books and articles on European Union law.