IAPP AI Governance Global Europe 2025

Ronan is a senior executive with 20 years of in-house technology and private practice experience in the legal and compliance sector. Ronan currently serves as Associate General Counsel at Anthropic. As Anthropic’s first hire in the EU, he has been instrumental in supporting the company’s recent expansion into Europe and advising on EU regulatory considerations including its approach to compliance with the EU AI Act and GDPR.

Prior to working at Anthropic, Ronan spent more than nine years at Etsy where he served as Deputy General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Data Protection Officer. He also spent several years working in two of Ireland’s leading commercial law firms prior to joining the technology industry.

Helen Dixon was appointed Data Protection Commissioner for Ireland in September 2014, and held the position until February 2024, responsible for upholding the rights of individuals regarding how data about them is used. The role, among other things, requires regulation of a large number of US internet multinationals with European bases in Ireland. She was previously Irish Registrar of Companies where she led regulatory enforcement of compliance with the filing provisions of the Companies Acts. She's also held senior roles in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and spent the first 10 years of her career in the IT industry. Dixon holds postgraduate qualifications in European economic and public affairs, governance, computer science, official statistics for policy evaluation and judicial skills and decision making. In February 2024 Dixon was appointed Commissioner for Communications Regulation, holding the position until February 2025.

Niamh Donnelly is a leading entrepreneur and innovator in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence. She is the co-founder and CTO at Akara Robotics, a company developing autonomous technologies that improve healthcare outcomes and hospital efficiency. With a background in robotics and AI, Niamh has been recognized as one of Europe’s top emerging tech leaders, named a top rising innovator by the European Commission. Her work at Akara has also earned global acclaim, with the company’s robots named among TIME magazine’s Best Inventions of the Year.

J. Trevor Hughes is the president and CEO of the IAPP, the professional home for privacy, AI governance and digital responsibility globally. With over 80,000 members in more than 150 countries, the IAPP provides training, certification, publications, research, events and networking opportunities to respond to the growing need for professionals to manage the intersections of data, technology and humanity.

A native of Canada, Trevor previously served as the executive director of the Network Advertising Initiative and the Email Sender and Provider Coalition.

Trevor is widely recognized as a leading digital policy expert on the global stage. He is a sought-after speaker, appearing at SXSW, RSA Conference, TEDx, the Global Privacy Assembly and more. Recent speaking engagements have included ICA Live: Africa, World Bank Group Data Privacy Day, the FIFA Global Compliance Summit and the Mobile World Congress Ministerial Programme. He has lectured extensively around the world, including at Harvard, MIT, London School of Economics, Trinity College Dublin, University of Texas at Austin, and Northeastern University Law School.

Trevor has contributed to media outlets such as The New York Times, TechCrunch and Wired and has testified on issues of privacy, surveillance and privacy-sensitive technologies before U.S. Congress, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, British Parliament and more.

He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maine School of Law, where he is an adjunct professor.

Michael McGrath assumed the role of EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection on 1 December 2024, as a member of the European Commission under the leadership of President Ursula von der Leyen.

As a member of the College of Commissioners, Commissioner McGrath contributes to delivering on the Commission’s overall political priorities, set out in the Political Guidelines underpinning the European Commission 2024 – 2029.

Commissioner McGrath has specific responsibility for upholding the rule of law, protecting democracy and fundamental rights, tackling disinformation, improving criminal justice cooperation and strengthening the rights of victims of crime, and improving EU competitiveness through the reform of company law and civil law. Commissioner McGrath has lead responsibility for consumer protection policy for almost 450 million consumers in the EU, and . He works to ensure full enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation and promoting trusted data flows with international partners.

Commissioner McGrath has been appointed by President von der Leyen as Chairperson of the Commission Project Group on Democracy and is a member of the Project Groups on Artificial Intelligence; Startups and Scaleups; European Savings and Investment Union; and European internal Security.

Prior to this, Commissioner McGrath served as Ireland’s Minister for Finance from 2022 to 2024, as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform from 2020 to 2022, and was an elected member of the Irish Parliament between 2007 to 2024. As Minister for Finance, he had a key role in decisions made across government. He was Ireland’s representative at the Eurogroup and Ecofin meetings of European Finance Ministers and was Governor of a number of international bodies that Ireland is a member of, including the European Investment Bank, the IMF, the World Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Commissioner McGrath holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University College Cork. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has undertaken studies with the London School of Economics and Political Science. He held senior roles in both the private and public sectors before entering politics full-time.

Niall Muldoon is Ireland's Ombudsman for Children. He was appointed as Ombudsman by President Michael D. Higgins on 17 February 2015. With a background as a clinical psychologist, he has worked in the field of child protection for almost 20 years.

Niall formerly worked at the OCO as Director of Investigations and was the national clinical director of the CARI Foundation, a charity that provides therapy and support for children affected by sexual abuse.

Emma Redmond is Associate General Counsel, Head of Privacy and Data Protection at OpenAI.

She was formerly Global Head of Privacy and Chief Privacy Officer at Stripe, with previous roles as the Head of International Data Protection at both Ancestry and LinkedIn.

Emma is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at University College Dublin and was honored with a selection for the Leadership in Law programme at Harvard Law School in May 2017.

She is a member of the Government of Ireland’s AI Advisory Council and featured in the 100 Top Tech People in Ireland.

Niamh Smyth is Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special responsibility for Trade Promotion, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation. She was appointed to this role on 29 January 2025.

Dr. Daniel Susskind is a writer and economist. He explores the impact of technology, and particularly AI, on work and society. He is a Research Professor in Economics at King’s College London, a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University, a Digital Fellow at the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, and an Associate Member of the Economics Department at Oxford University.

His new book, “Growth: A Reckoning” (2024), was chosen by President Obama as one of his ‘Favorite Books of 2024’ and was a runner-up for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year 2024. He is also the author of “A World Without Work” (2020), described by The New York Times as "required reading for any potential presidential candidate thinking about the economy of the future” and a runner-up for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year 2020, and co-author of the best-selling book, “The Future of the Professions” (2015). His TED Talk, on the future of work, has been viewed more than 1.6 million times. He is currently working on his next book, “What Should Our Children Do? How to Flourish in the Age of AI”.

Previously he worked in various roles in the British Government – in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, in the Policy Unit in 10 Downing Street, and in the Cabinet Office. He was a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University.