Coworking is a weekly segment where we spotlight Tech Brew readers who work with emerging technologies. Click here if you’d like a chance to be featured.
How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in tech?
The best way to describe what I do is that I help bring a CEO’s vision to life—whether that’s implementing a strategy to help grow the business or launching a new product into the market, I’m overseeing execution and making sure our two very technical co-founders are supported with top-notch business functions.
Transcend is the first-ever data governance infrastructure company (the platform empowers individuals to reclaim control over their data and helps companies comply with global data governance laws), so my job also involves ensuring that we’re effectively explaining to the world the problem we solve (navigating data governance across privacy and AI is a big undertaking!) and that we’re successfully solving it.
What's the most compelling tech project you've worked on, and why?
While I was at Uber on the Trust and Safety team, we rolled out a number of features designed to make the platform and riding experience safer for riders and drivers, especially women and marginalized communities—from cross-street pickups and a better taxonomy for reporting safety issues to location-sharing features.
These features weren’t just “nice to have”—they were vitally important to creating trust and ensuring physical safety. There are a lot of parallels to what we’re doing in the data governance world; the consequences of bad privacy practices can be severe for everyone, including vulnerable groups, where personal information can be used to drive tremendous harm. Working to launch products and features that help make the internet a safer place for these groups (and for everyone) feels both meaningful and interesting.
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What technologies are you most optimistic about? Least? And why?
I know “data governance” doesn’t sound very exciting, but that’s what I’m currently most excited about. We live in a data world. AI technologies are becoming increasingly integral to modern businesses, but with very little regard to the data going into and out of these models, and the privacy implications of those inputs and outputs. Policies alone aren’t enough to ensure companies are avoiding risk while unlocking all the value of AI—it has to be solved through technology, at the data layer. So I’m most optimistic about tools that will streamline AI governance and give companies the right guardrails.
What's the best tech-related media you read/watch/listen to?
The Fight for Privacy by Danielle Keats Citron is fantastic—it’s a close-up look on how our personal lives are increasingly becoming consumable data. It moves beyond the traditional Big Tech angle to look at how this rapid transition is impacting every company and every person.
What’s something about you we can't guess from your LinkedIn profile?
I’m a lifelong, team-oriented competitive athlete, including my days as an NCAA Division I lacrosse player and co-captain. On the side, I'm an invested board member and volunteer for social causes, including for one of the largest global AI and STEM nonprofits, Technovation.
What do you think about when you're not thinking about tech?
Three things are on my mind a lot: my two young children, how to keep my mind calm and centered, and what would happen to global society if/when they find proof of extraterrestrial activity in our lifetime.