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Funda Gunes
Funda Gunes

Funda Gunes

Founder & CEO
Walu AI
Bio

Dr. Funda Gunes is Founder and CEO of Walu AI, an AI governance consulting firm and platform. With 20+ years spanning AI development, academic leadership, and Fortune 500 governance roles, she served as Head of Responsible AI at MetLife, assessing 300+ AI use cases and training 50,000+ professionals. Previously, she spent a decade at SAS Institute as Principal Data Scientist, building machine learning systems, and directed Duke University’s Master’s Program in Statistical Science. She holds a PhD in Statistics, is AIGP certified, and chairs Women in AI Governance in RTP, NC. Her technical-to-governance career path enables her to bridge data science, business strategy, and compliance.


From Silos to Systems: Building AI Governance That Connects Technical Excellence with Business Value and Regulatory Compliance

Organizational alignment—not technology or regulation—is the primary barrier to effective AI governance. Data scientists optimize for performance, business leaders demand ROI, and compliance teams focus on risk mitigation. These groups speak different languages, compounded by widespread AI literacy gaps that prevent effective collaboration and decision-making across all levels.

This keynote explores why AI governance urgently needs technically-grounded practitioners who can translate across disciplines while building organizational AI fluency. Drawing on experience implementing responsible AI across 300+ use cases and training 50,000+ employees, this session examines how data science, business strategy, ethics, and compliance converge into a unified governance practice.

Through the GIVE methodology (Govern, Implement, Validate, Educate), attendees will discover how to operationalize governance at scale—creating systems that connect technical excellence with business value and regulatory compliance, transforming governance from bottleneck to enabler.

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