Speakers

Anne J. Flanagan is an international policy expert in Data and Artificial Intelligence, as well as an economist and strategic technology and business leader. With over 18 years of global experience across five continents, including extensive work in the EU and the United States, she now advises senior technology executives on managing risk at the intersection of Data, AI, and governance. Anne began her career in the Irish government and EU institutions, where she spent over a decade shaping Ireland’s technical policy and diplomatic strategy on EU legislation related to telecoms, digital infrastructure, and data. She represented Ireland in high-level fora such as the European Commission and the Council of the EU’s Working Party on Telecommunications and Information Society. During this time, she contributed foundational work to the EU’s Digital Single Market and helped shape its early approach to AI governance. Since relocating to the U.S. in 2019, Anne has held senior roles in technology policy in the private sector, advising business leaders on responsible and sustainable innovation. At the World Economic Forum, she led a global portfolio on data policy and governance, including leading early work on agentic AI. She later joined Meta Platforms Inc. in San Francisco, where she developed cross-product policy strategy for Meta's Reality Labs. Most recently, Anne served as Vice President for Artificial Intelligence at the Future of Privacy Forum, where she founded and led the FPF Center for AI. In November 2024Anne was awarded AI Leader of the Year by World Leaders in Data and AI (WLDA).