The editor
Written and edited by Zola Valashiya
Zola Valashiya is a legal and AI governance professional whose work connects technology law and policy with the practical questions of building and running a legally defensible AI governance program. As a Strategic Advisor at Coopersmith Law + Strategy, he leads the firm's AI governance advisory capability. His experience with healthcare clients spans provider-side contracting, privacy and data protection, and AI governance. He works with organizations on regulatory analysis, risk and readiness assessments, and AI impact assessments, drawing on the EU AI Act, state AI legislation, the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, and ISO/IEC 42001.
His background also includes in-house corporate legal work at a global fintech company. His work covered international corporate governance, regulatory coordination, and entity maintenance across multiple jurisdictions.
His legal training spans technology and international development: an LL.M. in Innovation and Technology Law from Seattle University School of Law and an LL.M. in Sustainable International Development from the University of Washington School of Law, where he was a Barer Scholar. He earned his LL.B. at the University of the Free State in South Africa, where he was a Mandela Rhodes Scholar. He also completed the AI Ethics, Regulation and Compliance Programme at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School.
His work in AI policy includes fellowships with Convergence: Technology Policy Institute and Black in AI Safety & Ethics (BASE). He holds IAPP certifications as an Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional (AIGP) and a Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT), and is a PMI Certified Professional in Managing AI (PMI-CPMAI). He also holds the PECB Certified ISO/IEC 42001 Provisional Implementer credential, covering the implementation of artificial intelligence management systems.
These experiences inform AI Lex's attention to both the legal argument and the organizational decisions behind it.
