Navigating the New Frontier: Practical Approaches to EU AI Act Compliance

Join BABC Northern California, and our members Simmons & Simmons and Venable for this enlightening panel discussion to gain valuable insights and practical advice on steering through the regulatory landscape of AI in the EU, with a special emphasis on the critical importance for US businesses.

As artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly influences our legal, social, and economic realms, the EU AI Act has emerged as a pivotal regulatory framework, setting a global precedent. This Act is particularly crucial for US businesses operating in the EU, underscoring the importance of understanding and adapting to its requirements. Business leaders are increasingly focused on not just the legal, but also operational and financial opportunities and risks as AI continues to evolve. Our panel discussion will provide insights from a business perspective on how to approach this fast paced technology as well as explore the practical steps for navigating, implementing, and ensuring compliance with the EU AI Act.

Business Perspectives on AI: Gain insights from business leaders about how they are seizing the opportunities emerging with AI as well as navigating the challenges.
Understanding the EU AI Act: Learn about the Act, its key provisions, objectives, and its significant impact on global AI governance, as well as the specific implications for US businesses operating in the EU.
Navigating Compliance: Receive expert insights into aligning with the EU AI Act, including identifying AI systems' risk levels, comprehending regulatory requirements, and adopting best practices for compliance, crucial for US businesses to avoid substantial penalties.
Implementation Challenges: Hear about the practical challenges which businesses, particularly those from the US, may encounter while implementing the EU AI Act and strategies to effectively overcome these hurdles.
Panel Discussion: Engage with a diverse panel of experts from legal, technology, and business backgrounds, offering their perspectives and actionable advice on managing the complexities of the EU AI Act, with particular insights for US businesses.

Who Should Attend:

Whether you're a seasoned AI professional, a business leader seeking to leverage AI solutions, or simply curious about the future of technology, this event offers unparalleled insights and networking opportunities.

Legal professionals, compliance officers, business leaders, technology developers, and anyone interested in the practical implications of the EU AI Act, especially those from US businesses seeking to understand and navigate this new regulatory environment.

MEET THE PANELISTS:

Emily Jones, Partner, Simmons & Simmons

Emily is a partner in the Digital Business team and head of the firm's US office. She is an English qualified lawyer and has worked in Silicon Valley for over five years advising fast growth technology, fintech and healthcare companies on data privacy, cyber security and technology laws as they grow their businesses internationally.

Her experience includes carrying out GDPR compliance health checks, advising on the launch of new products and services, responding to regulatory investigations, data security incidents and data subject requests, and negotiating with customers and vendors. She also helps clients to find commercial solutions to address evolving international data transfer issues.

Emily plays a key role for US clients by supporting them in time zone and connecting them with international experts across key practice areas, including corporate, commercial, employment, regulatory and tax, to advise clients on all aspects of their expansion, growth and operations outside of the US.

Emily qualified as a solicitor of England and Wales in 2004. Prior to joining the firm she was a partner at another international law firm. She is CIPP/E certified and regularly speaks at conferences on data privacy and security matters.

Minesh Tanna, Partner, Simmons & Simmons
Minesh is a Partner in the firm’s Disputes & Investigations team and is also the firm’s Global AI Lead.

Minesh’s practice focuses on contentious commercial and regulatory issues, principally in the telecoms, media and technology (TMT) sector. He has represented numerous TMT clients on litigation, arbitration and investigation matters (including tech regulatory and data privacy investigations).

Minesh has acted on complex disputes relating to technology equipment, telecoms equipment, IT services / outsourcing, software development, licensing and maintenance, cloud services, AI and media rights.

As a Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Courts Civil), Minesh appears as counsel in litigation and arbitration proceedings. He has experience of arbitration under the LCIA, ICC, HKIAC, SIAC, DIAC, ADCCAC and UNCITRAL rules, as well as expert determination. Minesh is an accredited mediator with the Society of Mediators and regularly advises clients on alternative dispute resolution.

Minesh is an industry-recognised leader in AI law. He is Chair of the Society for Computers and Law (SCL) AI Group, he has contributed chapters in Artificial Intelligence: Law and Regulation and is currently writing chapters for another forthcoming book on AI law, and he is regularly invited to speak at events on AI law (he has previously spoken on behalf of the United Nations). Minesh increasingly advises clients across all sectors on legal, regulatory and ethical issues relating to AI (including data privacy issues, contractual AI issues, responsible AI and AI disputes).

Minesh’s expertise in AI law has been recognised through various awards, including ‘Rising Star: Private Practice’ at the British Legal Awards 2022. His work on AI explainability – including advising on the world’s first AI Explainability Statement to receive input from a regulator – was shortlisted at the Legal Innovation Awards 2022 and the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards Europe 2022.

Minesh has a first class degree in Law from the University of Oxford. He has previously worked in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Paris, and has also spent time working in-house in the regulatory investigations team of a ‘big tech’ company.

Christopher Gotz, Partner, Simmons & Simmons
Christopher is a partner in our Munich office who specialises on IT and dataprotection law. He advises with a focus on complex IT - outsourcing and cloud computing projects, on cross - border data transfers between (group) companies, on IT security matters, on projects relating to (big) data and Artificial Intelligence, as well as on software licensing agreements (including Open Source Software). Christopher has carried out numerous GDPR compliance projects since 2016.

Christopher’s legal expertise plays a vital role for any technology or data driven M&A transaction. His clients belong to various sectors, particularly Telecom Media and Technology, Financial Industry and Asset Management. His clients include, amongst others, worldwide operating telecom and IT service providers, DAX 30 listed companies and start-ups.

Christopher has absolved various client secondments in the past, namely 6 months at Vodafone (Düsseldorf) and 6 months at Accenture (Frankfurt/Kronberg). He studied law at Ludwig Maximilians-University, Munich and the Benjamin N Cardozo School of Law, New York City (LL.M. IP). Following his admission as a lawyer in Germany in 2006 and New York in 2007, he worked in international law firms in Munich and Cologne.

Christopher has been listed as a “top IT-lawyer” in various legal rankings, such as IFRL 1000 (2017; quotes clients who say Christopher is “very competent, easily accessible at all times and solution focussed”), the leading German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche (2018), as well as in the “Best Lawyers” ranking of Handelsblatt (2023).

Christopher speaks regularly about AI, data protection and IT related topics, e.g. at the renowned “Beck- Akademie”.

Since 2017 Christopher organizes the annual Simmons & Simmons Digital Day in Munich, where the “stakeholders of digitalization” provide insight into their activities and where relevant legal issues in the context of digitalization are discussed.

Davis Hake, Senior Director, Cybersecurity, Venable LLP

A nationally recognized thought leader in the cybersecurity space, Davis Hake leverages his significant private sector and government experience to help his clients navigate the changing information technology (IT) risk landscape. Davis advises a variety of organizations on cyber risk, technology policy, and go-to-market strategies. He is a key player in prominent artificial intelligence (AI) coalitions, with extensive experience developing cybersecurity products that address safety, trust, and risk concerns.

Prior to joining Venable, Davis co-founded a cyber insurance startup with operations across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Launching the company, he grew the team, product, and brand to record-breaking sales offering new innovation around risk quantification and cyber resilience.

Before that, Davis managed cybersecurity product marketing for a prominent multinational cybersecurity company. As a business leader, Davis guided the brand’s go-to-market strategy, messaging, sales operations, and marketing tools, and was responsible for aligning global sales and marketing teams in establishing market leadership.

Davis gained transformative experience in cyber risk through a number of prominent a number of government roles early on in his career. He served as a director on the National Security Council, where he led cyber incident responses for both classified and unclassified federal IT networks. In this position, he developed strategy for strengthening federal IT security benchmarking and reporting requirements across all federal agencies.

Davis is regarded as a leading author of early cybersecurity legislation in the U.S. Congress. In his role within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, he gained crucial insight by managing cyber operations, interagency coordination, and policy for high-ranking government officials. He is credited with being a key communicator educating members of Congress on cybersecurity and federal capabilities. In his prior role on Capitol Hill, Davis drove policy work on a variety of topics, including Department of Defense budgeting, judiciary issues, veterans’ affairs, homeland security, and cybersecurity.

Davis is currently an adjunct professor of Cyber Risk Management at the University of California, Berkeley, and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Davis is a part of the Washington, DC, team and lives in San Francisco, CA.

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