Emerald de Leeuw

Emerald de Leeuw-Goggin helps leaders turn AI regulation and privacy obligations into practical, scalable systems that stand up to scrutiny.

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Ireland

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3 Client reviews

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Emerald was an exceptional addition to our Ecosystems 2030 Summit in A Coruña, Spain. Her insights during the ‘Redefining Reality: The Next Frontier of AI’ panel brought fresh energy and perspective to the conversation. She combined deep expertise with warmth and clarity, leaving our audience both inspired and curious for more.

Nadeen Shiha

Ecosystems2030

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Non-binding request for Emerald de Leeuw

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+1 347 223 5128 +44 20 3744 5675

Why book Emerald de Leeuw for your next event

Emerald brings board-level authority and hands-on experience, showing leaders how to govern AI and data responsibly while maintaining speed, accountability, and commercial focus.
With deep experience across 100+ markets, she translates complex regulation into decisions and systems executives can actually implement and defend under pressure.
As a former founder and global executive, she speaks with credibility on leadership, presence, and trust when organisational scrutiny is high.

Non-binding request for Emerald de Leeuw

Global executive and advisor on AI governance, privacy, and leadership under regulation

Emerald de Leeuw-Goggin is a globally recognised executive advisor and speaker working at the intersection of AI governance, privacy, and leadership in complex, regulated environments. She is known for helping organisations move beyond principles and policies, translating emerging regulation into operational systems that balance accountability, innovation, and commercial reality at scale. A founder turned global executive, Emerald combines legal, technical, and strategic expertise with real-world operating experience. Her work supports senior leaders, boards, and policy audiences who need clarity without oversimplification, and authority without noise, when decisions must hold up under regulatory, public, and internal scrutiny.

Emerald de Leeuw and practical AI governance

Emerald de Leeuw-Goggin specialises in the hard part of responsible AI: making governance real, measurable, and scalable inside organisations that cannot afford to slow down. In her role as Global Head of Privacy and AI Governance at a multinational technology company active in more than 100 markets, she has built and led enterprise-wide governance across products, data, and digital regulation. Her work focuses on embedding accountability into decision-making, ensuring that regulatory expectations are translated into systems leaders can rely on when challenged.

Rather than approaching AI governance as a compliance exercise, Emerald frames it as an organisational capability. She helps leaders understand how governance choices affect innovation, trust, and long-term value, and how to design structures that work in practice, not just on paper.

From founder to global executive

Before moving into senior global leadership roles, Emerald was a founder in privacy technology, building one of the first privacy-tech companies ahead of GDPR. This experience gives her a rare perspective: she understands both the pressure of building products and the realities of governing them at scale. Her credibility comes from having operated on both sides of the table, making trade-offs, managing risk, and standing behind decisions.

Her background sits at the intersection of law, technology, strategy, and organisational behaviour. She holds degrees in law and business information systems, with postgraduate education in E-Law and Intellectual Property, and executive education from Stanford Graduate School of Business. This blend allows her to bridge conversations between legal, technical, and executive audiences without losing nuance.

Book Emerald de Leeuw-Goggin for your event

Emerald de Leeuw-Goggin is frequently booked by boards, executive teams, and policy audiences who need clarity and authority in environments of high scrutiny. Her speaking focuses on governing AI and technology risk in practice, and on how leaders establish credibility, presence, and trust when expectations are rising and tolerance for failure is low.

She has spoken at Davos AI House, Reuters Momentum AI, the European Parliament, Nasdaq, UC Berkeley, SXSW, and TEDx, among others. Her sessions are valued for their directness, depth, and relevance, offering leaders frameworks they can apply immediately rather than abstract theory.

Leadership, presence, and trust under scrutiny

Beyond governance systems, Emerald addresses the human side of leadership in regulated and high-risk contexts. She explores how executives show up when decisions are questioned, how authority is built and maintained, and how presence and communication influence trust with regulators, boards, and the public.

She is the founder of Elevare, a platform focused on executive presence and strategic visibility, and co-founder of Women in AI Governance, a global initiative advancing women’s influence in AI regulation and policy. Through these initiatives, she works to shape not only how technology is governed, but who is seen and heard in the rooms where decisions are made.

Recognition and academic contribution

Emerald’s work has been recognised with honours including European Young Innovator of the Year, Privacy Executive of the Year, and inclusion in Forbes’ Top 100 Female Founders to Follow. She is a Visiting Fellow at Maastricht University’s European Centre on Privacy and Cybersecurity and serves on the AI Leadership Council of the Future of Privacy Forum.

When you book Emerald de Leeuw-Goggin, you bring to your audience a speaker who understands the realities of modern organisations and the pressures leaders face. Her insights help decision-makers move forward with confidence, govern emerging technology responsibly, and lead with credibility when it matters most.

Customer Reviews

Nadeen Shiha Ecosystems2030

I’ve booked Emerald for multiple international events over the years, and she’s consistently one of the strongest voices on stage. She brings depth without jargon, challenges audiences in the right way, and always leaves people thinking differently. If you’re looking for a speaker who brings real substance to complex topics like AI and governance, she’s it.

Siobhan Human Dublin Tech Summit (now Stripe)

Emerald was a fantastic addition to Momentum AI San Jose 2025, offering thoughtful insights on proactive AI governance and the need for ethical frameworks that move faster than legislation. Her keynote, panel contributions, and leadership at the Women in AI Breakfast made a meaningful impact on the audience and were key to the overall success of the event.

Kamran Samii & Erika Musso AI Portfolio, Reuters Events

Keynotes

Keynote by Emerald de Leeuw:

Terms & Conditions May Apply: Regulating AI Without Killing Momentum

AI regulation is accelerating, often outpacing corporate adaptation. This session offers a critical breakdown, distinguishing essential compliance from distracting noise. It is designed for leaders seeking to maintain both control and velocity, guiding them on how to construct AI governance programs that meet evolving regulatory requirements without impeding innovation.

Building on this foundation, the keynote explores how leaders can assess regulatory risk without defaulting to over-control or paralysis. Emerald unpacks where organisations tend to over-interpret obligations, where underestimation creates exposure, and how to design governance that supports decision-making rather than slowing it down. The session focuses on prioritisation, ownership, and executive judgment, offering practical insight into how governance can become an enabler of scale, trust, and speed rather than a drag on momentum.

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Keynote by Emerald de Leeuw:

The Trust Dividend: Privacy, AI, and the Business Case for Getting It Right

Investing in robust privacy and AI governance early on is key to achieving efficiency and resilience. This session will explore how proactive governance minimizes friction, prevents expensive rework, and establishes enduring trust with both regulators and customers.

Emerald expands the discussion beyond risk avoidance, showing how trust compounds over time when governance is designed into products, processes, and culture from the outset. The keynote examines how organisations that treat privacy and AI governance as strategic infrastructure gain operational clarity, smoother approvals, and stronger external credibility. Leaders leave with a clearer understanding of how trust becomes a tangible business asset, influencing growth, reputation, and long-term resilience in regulated markets.

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Keynote by Emerald de Leeuw:

Polish & Power: The Strategy Behind How Women Show Up

Explore the subtle cues; from your speaking style to your physical presence, that determine who is perceived as credible and who is not. Drawing on both research and practical experience, Emerald deconstructs how authority is often assessed visually before it is communicated verbally. Learn how leaders can intentionally manage these non-verbal signals without resorting to performance or pretense.

The session goes further by examining how these signals operate differently for women in senior and visible roles, particularly in high-stakes or male-dominated environments. Emerald offers language, frameworks, and real-world examples that help leaders navigate expectations without diminishing authenticity. The focus is not on conformity, but on strategic choice, enabling women to align presence, influence, and leadership intent in ways that support long-term authority and confidence under scrutiny.

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Keynote by Emerald de Leeuw:

From Framework to Function: Making Privacy and AI Governance Actually Work

Many governance models sound good on paper but collapse under pressure. This talk breaks down how to design systems that hold up in real operations; clear roles, practical processes, and accountability that scales.

Emerald builds on this by addressing why governance often fails during moments of speed, crisis, or innovation. She examines common design flaws, unclear ownership, and unrealistic controls that undermine execution. The keynote offers insight into how leaders can embed governance into everyday workflows, decision forums, and incentives, ensuring it remains functional as organisations grow, diversify, and face increasing regulatory and public scrutiny.

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Keynote by Emerald de Leeuw:

Signals of Sovereignty: Building a Brand That Outlasts Your Job Title

Influence that comes from a specific role is fleeting. This session is designed for senior leaders, especially women, to learn practical strategies for building enduring visibility and trust that will last beyond any single position. The focus is on developing long-term credibility, professional mobility, and brand equity to sustain leadership throughout a career.

The keynote extends into how leaders can consciously shape how they are perceived across transitions, organisational change, and moments of uncertainty. Emerald explores the signals that create perceived authority independent of hierarchy, and how visibility, narrative, and consistency contribute to lasting professional sovereignty. Participants gain tools to strengthen their personal leadership brand in a way that supports influence, optionality, and resilience across an evolving career.

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