Ali Al-Jaberi is a sought-after moderator and MC of high-level events in policy and business. He is former TV correspondent for AP, studio anchor and war reporter. Beyond the stage, Ali is a senior policy consultant and a former Lecturer of Public Policy and International Relations at The Hague University. In addition, he was a senior manager at award-winning tech scale-up, Distology. Ali has won multiple public speaking awards and works in English, Dutch and Arabic. He has interviewed heads of government, CEOs and global though leaders on a wide array of topics ranging from business and innovation to geopolitics and European affairs.
See www.promoderation.nl for more.

Menno Ettema is the Head of the Hate Speech and Hate Crime Unit and AI Coordinator in the Anti-Discrimination and Inclusion Department of the Council of Europe. His Unit supports Council of Europe member states in implementing European standards on combating hate speech and hate crime. He has extensive experience in human rights education, anti-discrimination policy and international cooperation. Before becoming Head of Unit, he served as a Programme Manager in the Council of Europe’s No Hate Speech and Anti-Discrimination Cooperation Unit. He was part of the secretariat supporting the expert committee that drafted Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)16 on combating hate speech.

Jo Goodey (PhD) is Head of research for ‘Justice, Digital and Migration’ at the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). She is responsible for overseeing the Agency’s EU-wide research and activities in the field of Artificial Intelligence with respect to fundamental rights, which ranges from work on online content moderation through to the use of remote biometric identifiers. Among other roles, in 2019 she chaired the EU Agencies’ Network on Scientific Advice, and in the same period was a member of the European Commission’s High Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence. Prior to joining FRA, she was a research fellow at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and in the 1990s held lectureships in criminology and criminal justice at the Universities of Sheffield and Leeds in the UK. In the 1990s-early 2000s she was also a regular study fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the study of Crime, Security and Law in Freiburg. She is the author of an academic textbook on victims of crime, and has published widely in academic journals, as well as several book chapters, on a range of criminological and fundamental rights-related themes. 

Sebastian Hallensleben is the Chair of CEN-CENELEC Joint Technical Committee 21 (JTC 21) on Artificial Intelligence, the European standardisation body responsible for developing harmonised AI standards that support the implementation of the EU AI Act. He also serves as Chief Trust Officer at Resaro, an independent third-party AI assurance provider, where he focuses on evaluating the capabilities, quality and trustworthiness of AI systems. He also co-chairs the OECD’s work on AI risk and accountability. With extensive experience at the intersection of technology, regulation and standardisation, Hallensleben previously led Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence at the VDE Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies in Germany. His work has centred on operationalising AI ethics, developing trustworthy AI governance frameworks, and advancing privacy-preserving digital trust infrastructures. Beyond his leadership of JTC 21, he contributes to international AI governance through expert roles with the OECD, UNESCO and other global initiatives.

Rainer Hiltunen is the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman. He started in the office on 1 August 2025. Rainer Hiltunen, Master of Laws, has a long career in promoting fundamental and human rights. Before his post as the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman, Hiltunen worked as the Ombudsman for Equality and before that he worked for more than 20 years at the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman’s Office.

Louise Hooper is an AI Expert at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and an internationally recognised expert in artificial intelligence, equality and non-discrimination. A barrister at London’s Garden Court Chambers for over two decades, her work focuses particularly on human rights and equality impacts of AI and algorithmic decision-making.  Louise served as an expert on the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on Artificial Intelligence, Equality and Discrimination (GEC/ADI-AI), contributing to the drafting of Recommendation CM/Rec(2026)1 on equality and artificial intelligence, adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 4 March 2026. She is also a member of the European Commission’s expert advisory group on AI. Within the project, Louise co-authored the European assessment methodology on algorithmic discrimination and is one of the authors of the project’s training course on artificial intelligence and non-discrimination.

Anna-Kaisa Ikonen is Finland’s Minister of Local and Regional Government at the Ministry of Finance. As a minister, she is responsible for governance policy, local government affairs, wellbeing services counties, public sector digitalisation and ICT, and public administration reform. She also oversees urban development matters and serves as the Government’s employer representative for the public sector. Minister Ikonen has extensive experience in local and regional governance, having served twice as Mayor of Tampere, one of Finland’s largest cities, and previously held the positions of Deputy Mayor for health and social services and Chair of the Tampere City Council. She has also served as State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Professor of Practice at the University of Tampere, and held leadership roles in the Association of Finnish Municipalities and Keva, Finland’s public sector pension institution.

Laura Lazaro Cabrera is the Deputy Director of the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) Europe and Director of its Equity and Data Programme. She leads CDT Europe’s work on ensuring that digital technologies, artificial intelligence and data-driven systems respect fundamental rights, with a particular focus on equality, non-discrimination, privacy and accountability. Before joining CDT Europe, Lazaro Cabrera worked as a legal and policy expert on human rights and digital technologies, advising public institutions and civil society organisations on issues including AI regulation, biometric surveillance, automated decision-making and data protection.

Susanna Lindroos-Hovinheimo is the Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman of Finland. In this role, she oversees the legality of the actions of public authorities and the implementation of fundamental and human rights, ensuring that courts, government agencies and other public bodies comply with the law and uphold good administration. Lindroos-Hovinheimo previously served as Professor of Public Law at the University of Helsinki, where her research focused on constitutional law, digitalisation, European Union law and legal theory.

Gianclaudio Malgieri is a Full Professor of Law, holding a Chair in AI, Data Governance and Fundamental Rights at Maastricht University (the Netherlands), where he conducts research at the European Center on Privacy and Cybersecurity. He serves as the Honorary Director of the Brussels Privacy Hub, as the Managing Editor of Computer Law and Security Review, and he coordinates "VULNERA", the International Observatory of Vulnerability in Data Protection. He was the Project Leader of RESOCIAL, a research project funded by the Dutch Research Agenda (NWA-NWO) on Vulnerability and Resilience on Social Media, involving a consortium of 4 Universities and 11 cooperation partners, and he is now the project leader of VaROS, the follow-up project.  Gianclaudio has authored more than 100 publications, including articles in leading international academic journals, a monograph, "Vulnerability and Data Protection Law" (Oxford University Press, 2023) and a co-edited Commentary on the AI Act (The EU AI Act - A thematic Commentary, Hart, 2026).

Vanessa Matz est née à Liège le 12 août 1973. Avocate de formation, elle a débuté sa carrière en tant que conseillère juridique au Sénat belge et au sein d’une administration locale, avant d’occuper des fonctions de conseillère politique aux niveaux fédéral et régional. Élue au Sénat en 2008, elle siège au Parlement fédéral depuis 2014, où elle participe activement aux commissions de la Justice, de l'Intérieur et des Affaires publiques. Depuis février 2025, elle occupe les fonctions de ministre fédérale belge chargée de l'Action et de la Modernisation publiques, chargée des Entreprises publiques, de la Fonction publique, de la Gestion immobilière de l'Etat, du Numérique et de la Politique scientifique.

Sandra Maximiano, Chairwoman of ANACOM's Board of Directors since 15 December 2023, holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Amsterdam. She is an Associate Professor of Economics at ISEG - School of Economics & Management, University of Lisbon, where she is co-coordinator of XLAB - Behavioral Research Lab and of the Master's Degree in Economics program. She was previously an Assistant Professor at Purdue University and a Research Fellow at the University of Chicago in the United States. She has also taught at Amsterdam School of Economic, Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics, Nova School of Business and Economics and Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra. 

Her academic research spans several areas: experimental and behavioral economics, organizational and labor economics, public policy, and information management. Her research explores issues related to social and moral preferences in individual decision making and in strategic and competitive environments, gender differences in economic decisions and the dynamics of information in competitive and co-operative situations. Maximiano primarily uses laboratory and field experiments to study human economic behavior and to collect data. Her work has been published in journals such as Review of Economic Studies, Economic Journal, Experimental Economics and Games and Economic Behavior. He is currently the Associate Editor of the Portuguese Economic Journal.

From 2006 to 2023, she was the author of opinion columns in the Portuguese press, most notably the column “A Economia somos nós” (The Economy is Us) in the Expresso newspaper.

Carl Mörch is co-director of FARI – AI for the Common Good Institute (ULB-VUB) and a member of the AI Ethics & Law Board of the Federal initiative AI4Belgium. He is also a member of the Ethics Special Interest Group of CLAIRE and a co-chair of CLAIRE Brussels office. Carl aims at fostering high-quality applied projects related to AI, Data and Robotics that could serve the Brussels Region and its inhabitants. With FARI, he wants to support initiatives that can reinforce education around these technologies, and could help bridge the gap with civil society. He was in 2020-2021 a postdoctoral fellow at the Université de Montréal and Mila – Québec artificial Intelligence Institute. He was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship by the International Observatory on the Societal Impacts of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies (OBVIA) in 2020. He is also a lecturer and adjunct professor at UQÀM (Montréal, Canada). His personal research work is oriented towards the concrete application of high-level ethical principles in applied domains. In general, he is interested in the responsible development of technologies in society, health care (Psychology and Dental Medicine in particular).

Gerasimos Mylonas is a Legal and Policy Officer at the AI Office of the European Commission. He has previously held various roles in the European Union Agency for Asylum, including extensive field work in refugee camps at the EU borders, and has also worked in the European Parliament. His main focus is fundamental rights, migration, border management and foreign affairs and, as of recently, their intersection with artificial intelligence. He holds a Bachelor of Laws from the Law School of the University of Athens, a Master of Public Administration from Leiden University and a Master in Artificial Intelligence for Public Services from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

Mário Serra Pereira has been a Legal Advisor at the Portuguese Ombudsman since 2005, where he also serves as Data Protection Officer (DPO) since 2018. Having initially focused on public employment and social security law, his practice transitioned to digital rights and emerging technologies. He represents the Portuguese Ombudsman in the AI Working Group of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI). Author of several publications on AI, copyright, and fundamental rights, his work explores the legal and social impacts of artificial intelligence on equality and human rights.

Ana Carla Pereira is Director for ‘Equality and non-discrimination’ in DG Justice&Consumers where she is responsible for policies combating discrimination on the grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, or sexual orientation. Previously she served as Cabinet Expert and employment&social policy adviser to Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights. As Cabinet Expert, she steered flagship initiatives such as the minimum wage directive, the platform work directive or work on social dialogue. Prior to that, she was Head of Unit in Directorate General Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission, firstly being responsible for skills and qualifications policies and later on for social protection policies. She graduated in Economics at University of Coimbra (PT) and holds a MA in European Human Resources Studies from the College of Europe (BE). She speaks Portuguese as a mother tongue and is fluent in English, French and Italian.

Carina Quaresma is the President of the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG), the Portuguese national body responsible for promoting policies on citizenship and gender equality. The CIG coordinates the implementation of national strategies regarding gender equality, the prevention and combating of domestic and gender-based violence, and human trafficking. In this role, the CIG works closely with government institutions, civil society, and international organizations to promote human rights and public policies on equality. Prior to her appointment as President of the CIG, she served as a specialist advisor in several Cabinets of Portuguese government members, namely in the context of the Ministry of Home Affairs - working on issues such as human rights, equality, domestic violence, human trafficking, racial discrimination, and the protection of vulnerable groups, and worked as a civil servant (senior advisor) since 2007. Graduated in Psychology, with a master’s degree in management and public policies and a PhD in Law and Security.

Ylja Remmits is an AI governance expert specialising in the responsible development, auditing and regulation of artificial intelligence systems. She is one of the authors of the training on artificial intelligence and non-discrimination and the European assessment methodology on algorithmic discrimination developed under the project. She currently serves as a Policy Adviser on AI and algorithms at the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security, where she works on the responsible use of AI by translating legal and policy requirements into practical implementation within the public sector. Prior to this, she was Head of Projects at the non-profit organisation Algorithm Audit, supporting governments in assessing algorithmic systems, preventing algorithmic discrimination, and practical frameworks and standards. Earlier in her career, she worked on responsible AI at KPMG, advising public and private organisations on AI governance, algorithm auditing, and compliance with emerging European AI regulation.

Jarmo Riikonen is Head of Unit at the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom), where he leads work on the implementation and supervision of the European Union’s digital regulatory framework. His responsibilities include coordinating the introduction of new EU legislation on digital services, data governance and artificial intelligence, and ensuring its effective application within Finland. In his role, he contributes to national and European policy discussions on digital regulation, platform governance and emerging technologies, supporting the development of a secure, innovative and rights-based digital environment.

Judit Rózsa is Director in the European Commission’s Task Force for Reforms and Investments (SG REFORM), where she leads the implementation of the Technical Support Instrument (TSI), the EU programme for supporting capacity-building for structural reforms across Member States.

Before taking up her current position, she served as Director and Acting Director-General of SG REFORM, overseeing the implementation of the Technical Support Instrument, and the Commission’s support for the Cyprus settlement process and the EU Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot Community.

Since joining the European Commission in 2007, she has held senior leadership positions in DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and DG Regional and Urban Policy. Her work has focused on helping Member States design and implement reforms and investments that advance the EU’s strategic priorities. She has extensive experience in programme management, policy development, negotiations and cooperation with national authorities and international partners.

Her areas of expertise include structural reforms, public investment, regional and urban development, employment and social policy, territorial cohesion and public sector modernisation.

Marja Ruotanen, Director General Democracy and Human Dignity, Council of Europe.
Over 35 years of professional experience in several intergovernmental sectors of the Council of Europe, involving standard-setting, monitoring and cooperation, as well as in the Parliamentary Assembly. She has notably worked in the field of legal cooperation, judicial reform, efficiency of justice, minority rights, gender equality and children’s rights, as well as sport.  During her career she provided political advice to the Council of Europe leadership (Director of SG Private Office), led intergovernmental cooperation, developed and implemented multi-disciplinary and multi-annual strategies, as well constructed thematic cooperation platforms with other international organisations. Presently Director General of Democracy and Human Dignity, her areas of responsibility include children’s rights, trafficking in human beings, gender equality, violence against women, addressing intolerance and discrimination, freedom of expression, media, civil society and youth participation, education, culture and cultural heritage. Of Finnish nationality, she studied international relations (law, political science, economics) at McGill University (Canada). 

Massimiliano Santini is Project Lead and Policy Officer at the European Commission’s Reform and Investment Task Force (SG REFORM). He works with EU Member States to design and implement structural reforms aimed at improving public-sector performance and private-sector competitiveness, including the impact of AI on citizens and the workforce. Massimiliano has over 20 years of international experience in sustainable economic growth and green industrial policies. Before joining the European Commission, he was a Senior Economist at the World Bank, where he led policy dialogue and reform programmes with countries across Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. He is a graduate of Harvard Kennedy School.

Kris Shrishak is an expert in AI and privacy and has served as a Council of Europe international consultant specialising in artificial intelligence governance, data protection and digital rights. He has co-authored the European policy guidelines on AI and algorithm-driven discrimination for equality bodies and other national human rights structures,, developed under the project. His expertise includes the governance of AI systems, biometric technologies, surveillance, and the implementation of European digital legislation, including the EU AI Act. Formerly, he was a Senior Fellow at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), where he led research and advocacy on AI, privacy and surveillance technologies. Over the years, he has advised policymakers on AI governance, algorithmic accountability and digital rights, regularly engaging with European institutions and international standard-setting processes.

Tiina Valonen is Head of Unit and Chief Specialist at the Office of the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman of Finland.  As part of her role, she is responsible for the Ombudsman’s work on artificial intelligence within its statutory mandate to oversee and promote non-discrimination. She heads a unit responsible for monitoring compliance with the rights of foreign nationals and for national reporting mandates on violence against women and trafficking in human beings. A lawyer by training, she has extensive experience in non-discrimination oversight and in human rights work more broadly.

Sandra Wachter is Professor of Technology and Regulation at the University of Oxford at the Oxford Internet Institute and is Humboldt Professor of Technology and Regulation at the Hasso Plattner Institute. At the Oxford Internet Institute, Professor Sandra Wachter leads and coordinates the Governance of Emerging Technologies (GET) Research Programme that investigates the legal and ethical implications of AI, Big Data, and robotics as well as Internet and platform regulation. Professor Wachter also serves as a policy advisor for governments, companies, and NGOs around the world on regulatory and ethical questions concerning emerging technologies. Wachter publishes widely in top journals, including Science and Nature and focuses on legal, ethical, and technical aspects of AI and inferential analytics, explainable AI, algorithmic bias, platform regulation, profiling, as well as emotion- and facial-recognition software. The societal impact of generative AI and hallucinations in areas such as the future of work, misinformation, free press, and human rights is also at the heart of her research agenda.

Raphaële Xenidis is an Assistant Professor of European Law at Sciences Po. Her research focuses on European equality and non-discrimination law, with particular attention to algorithmic discrimination, bias in automated decision-making, and data-driven inequality. She co-authored the Council of Europe’s 2023 study on the impact of AI systems, examining both their potential to promote equality (including gender equality) and the risks they pose to non-discrimination. In the context of the project, she has authored the publication  Legal protection against algorithmic discrimination in Europe: current frameworks and remaining gaps,  and is one of the authors of the training on artificial intelligence and non-discrimination.