Aaron Cooper serves as Vice President, Global Policy. In this role, Cooper leads BSA’s global policy team and contributes to the advancement of BSA members’ policy priorities around the world that affect the development of emerging technologies, including data privacy, cybersecurity, AI regulation, data flows and digital trade. He testifies before Congress and is a frequent speaker on data governance and other issues important to the software industry.

Cooper previously served as a Chief Counsel for Chairman Patrick Leahy on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and as Legal Counsel to Senator Paul Sarbanes. Cooper came to BSA from Covington and Burling, where he was of counsel, providing strategic guidance and policy advice on a broad range of technology issues.

Cooper is a graduate of Princeton University and Vanderbilt Law School. He clerked for Judge Gerald Tjoflat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Victoria Espinel is a global leader advancing the future of technology innovation.  

As CEO of BSA | The Software Alliance, Victoria has grown the organization’s worldwide presence in over 30 countries, distinguishing BSA as the leader for enterprise software companies on issues including artificial intelligence, privacy, cybersecurity, and digital trade. She launched the Digital Transformation Network and the Global Data Alliance, flagship BSA initiatives to further BSA’s collaboration with 15+ industry sectors globally. Victoria founded Software.org, the enterprise software industry’s nonprofit partner that educates policymakers and the public about the impact of software and careers within the industry. 

Victoria serves on President Biden’s National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (Chair of the International Working Group), served as a member of the President’s USTR Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN), and chaired the Future of Software and Society Group at the World Economic Forum. She is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 

Victoria has testified over a dozen times before the US Congress and the European Parliament. Victoria speaks frequently to groups about AI, cybersecurity, and STEM education, including Latinas in Tech, Girls Rule the Law, the Congressional Staff Hispanic Association, Women’s Congressional Staff Associations, Girls Who Code, EqualAI, CSIS, and numerous academic institutions. She has been featured in a wide range of media outlets, including New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Forbes, C-SPAN, BBC, Bloomberg Business, The New Yorker, and NPR. Victoria has also been named by Washingtonian magazine as one of their “Most Influential People” and as a “Tech Titan.”

Prior to BSA, Victoria was confirmed by the US Senate to serve as the first White House “IP Czar,” establishing a new office in the White House and advising President Obama on intellectual property. She also served in the Bush Administration as the first chief US trade negotiator for intellectual property and innovation, a role in which she created the office of Intellectual Property and Innovation at USTR and led negotiations with over 70 countries. 

Victoria launched Girls Who Code’s Washington, DC, summer program and serves on the Board of Directors for ChIPs, a nonprofit organization advancing women in technology law and policy. 

She holds an LLM from the London School of Economics, a JD from Georgetown University Law School, and a BS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She is a native of Washington, DC, and the proud proprietor of the James Beard Award-winning restaurant Jewel of the South in New Orleans. 

Hugh Gamble serves as Vice President of Federal Government Affairs for Salesforce where he manages the
company's Federal Government Affairs for the United States and Canada. Since joining the company in January of 2015, he has helped lead Salesforce's government relations and public policy for the company through a period of substantial growth and increased engagement with government. Prior to joining Salesforce, Hugh worked in several positions on Capitol Hill, including as Legislative Director & Chief Counsel for U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, as Counsel for U.S. Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi, and as General Counsel for U.S. Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi. 

Hugh holds both a B.S. in Computer Science from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, and a J.D. from the University of Mississippi School of Law in Oxford, Mississippi. He now lives with his wife and son in Alexandria, Virginia.
 

Aidan Gomez is Co-Founder & CEO at Cohere, the leading data security-focused enterprise AI company. Cohere’s world-class AI platform is uniquely suited to the needs of business, offering data-secure deployment options in companies’ existing cloud environments, customization, and customer support. 

Prior to Cohere, Aidan co-authored the paper “Attention is All You Need,” which introduced the groundbreaking Transformer architecture. He also collaborated with a number of AI luminaries, including Geoffrey Hinton and Jeff Dean, during his time at Google Brain, where the team focused their efforts on large-scale machine learning. 

Based in Toronto, Aidan holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Toronto, and is currently a doctoral student of Computer Science at the University of Oxford.

Ambassador Karen Kornbluh has helped shape policy as a public servant and diplomat since the early days of the commercial internet. The New York Times called her a “passionate and effective advocate for economic equality”, and she was named one of Washingtonian magazine’s top influencers. She leads GMF Digital (formerly Digital Innovation and Democracy Initiative) which works to ensure that technology supports democracies worldwide.

Kornbluh was confirmed unanimously by the US Senate to serve, during the Obama administration, as ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). While there, she spearheaded the first global internet policymaking principles, led the effort to provide open access to OECD data, and launched the OECD Gender Initiative.

She served in the Clinton administration as deputy chief of staff at the Treasury Department and director of the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Federal Communications Commission, where she negotiated early internet policies. She was policy director for Senator Barack Obama and the author of his 2008 platform.

Kornbluh began her career as an economic forecaster at Townsend-Greenspan and worked in the private sector at various times in her career, including as executive vice president at Nielsen, the global data firm, where she launched the Nielsen Foundation.

James Maroney was first elected to represent the 14th District (Milford) in 2018.

Senator Maroney currently serves as the Co-Chair of the General Law Committee.  In his time as co-chair of the committee, he has passed comprehensive consumer data privacy laws, children and consumer health data privacy laws, a law governing state government use of AI, laws modernizing and expanding the practice of pharmacy in Connecticut, among others.

Recently Senator Maroney was named to the inaugural Leadership Council of the Future of Privacy Forum Center for Artificial Intelligence. Senator Maroney’s work on tech legislation has been recognized nationally.

Prior to politics, Sen. Maroney founded and ran an educational consulting business in Milford.  In addition, he was a past president and founding member of the Milford Education Foundation and served on the Milford Board of Education. A proud and active participant in the community, he is a member and past president of the Devon Rotary, where he chaired the scholarship committee for years.

Prior to a successful career in public service, State Senator Maroney attended Yale (Class of 96), where he was a 3-time varsity letter winner in both track and field and cross-country. In his senior year, he was elected captain of the track and field team and was awarded the Yale Men’s Cross-Country Award for Performance and Dedication. He graduated from Jonathan Law High School of Milford in 1992.

Senator Maroney lives in Milford with his wife Jennifer and his son Jay.

Jovita Neliupšienė became the Ambassador of the European Union to the United States on January 1, 2024. Before that, she was a Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania from September 2022, where she was responsible for the coordination of European Affairs, European bilateral and regional issues, as well as national sanctions coordinator.

From 2020-2022, she was Vice Minister of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania, tasked with investment and export promotion, international cooperation, including policy coordination of state-owned enterprises, as well as chairing the interagency commission for export control.

In 2020, she held the post of Chancellor and State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania. This position included responsibility for staff coordination, legal and consular affairs. Between 2015-2020, she served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the EU. These years were marked by the migration crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

From 2009-2015, she worked as an advisor and chief foreign policy advisor to the President of the Republic of Lithuania Ms. Dalia Grybauskaite. She was responsible for foreign policy coordination, inter-institutional relations, as well as the role of sherpa/EU advisor, and in this respect took a leading position in preparing and coordinating the Lithuanian presidency of the EU Council in 2013. In 2014, she was awarded the State Decoration Order "For Merit to Lithuania" Commander's Cross.

Jessica Nguyen is the Deputy General Counsel of AI Innovation and Trust at DocuSign, the market leader in e-signature and intelligent agreements. Her role at DocuSign focuses on building AI technology that actually solves pain points and ensuring that the technology is built responsibly. She’s formerly the Chief Legal Officer of Lexion, the AI-powered legal intake and contract lifecycle management system, which was acquired by DocuSign in May 2024.

She has an extensive in-house legal career at innovative tech companies of various sizes and stages and has been the first legal hire that built out the legal function of a company 3 times. Prior to DocuSign and Lexion, she was the General Counsel and first in-house attorney of PayScale, a Microsoft Office 365 attorney, and the first in-house attorney at Avalara.

Jessica is a graduate of the University of Washington School of Law and is an award-winning General Counsel, including, the: 2023 Washington State Bar Association Legal Innovation Award, 2020 “Startup GC of the Year” by Corporate Counsel magazine, 2019 Top 100 Legal Influencers by The Business Journals, 2019 Best Under 40 by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and 2018 Puget Sound Business Journal 40 Under 40.

Miriam Vogel has extensive experience working with C-suite, board of directors and other key stakeholders to establish best practices for legal and regulatory compliance, as well as establishing responsible AI governance practices within Fortune 100 companies across multiple industry sectors. Miram is the President and CEO of EqualAI, a non-profit created to reduce bias and other harms in artificial intelligence (AI) and promote responsible AI governance. She also serves as Chair of the National AI Advisory Committee (NAIAC), mandated by Congress to advise the President and White House on AI policy. Miriam cohosts a podcast, In AI we Trust and has taught Technology Law and Policy at Georgetown University Law Center, where she served as chair of the alumni board. Miriam also serves as a senior advisor to the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT).

Miriam has served in a variety of leadership positions across the U.S. government. Most recently, she served as Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice (DOJ), where she advised the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General (DAG) on a broad range of legal, policy and operational issues. Under the direction of DAG Sally Yates, Miriam led the creation and development of the Implicit Bias Training for Federal Law Enforcement. Miriam also spearheaded the DOJ’s Intellectual Property (IP) efforts to identify and dismantle IP theft domestically and internationally and worked with the DAG to manage DOJ divisions’ multibillion-dollar budgets, resolve high-level challenges, and represented DOJ in meetings with the White House, Congress and other officials on high level policy initiatives and oversight matters.

Miriam served in the White House in two Administrations, including as the Acting Director of Justice and Regulatory Affairs. She led the President's Equal Pay Task Force to promote equality in the workplace. She also advised White House leadership on initiatives ranging from women, LGBT, economic, regulatory and food safety policy to criminal justice matters.

Miriam served as General Counsel to West Exec Advisors and Associate General Counsel at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Prior to that, she practiced entertainment/corporate transactional law at Sheppard Mullin in Los Angeles, CA. Miriam began her legal career as a federal clerk in Denver, Colorado after graduating from Georgetown University Law Center and is a third generation alumna from the University of Michigan.