New challenges and threats are emerging as AI evolves. Learn how Azure AI’s advanced responsible AI tooling, including Azure AI Content Safety and built-in safety tools in Azure AI Foundry like evaluations and monitoring, can help mitigate these risks. This session covers responsible AI tooling announcements from Azure and will equip you with essential strategies and tools for deploying responsible AI applications.
Sarah Bird
Chief Product Officer of Responsible AI
Responsible AI innovation requires three pillars — forward-looking innovation, clear governance, and of course, the technology must work in practice.
That’s where engineering comes in. Sarah Bird leads Microsoft’s responsible AI engineering effort, working to accelerate the adoption and positive impact of AI by bringing together the latest innovations in research, product and policy. She helps to create and apply responsible AI principles, standards and tools across the company, and has led the cross-company group of experts to build Microsoft Copilot and Github Copilot, among other key Microsoft products.
Bird has been in the field of responsible AI since its inception. She is one of the founding researchers of the first responsible AI group at Microsoft, an active member of the Microsoft AETHER committee and contributed to the creation of the Microsoft Responsible AI Standard.
She received her Ph.D. in computer science from Berkeley, where her advisor was Turing Award winner Dave Patterson. Before joining Microsoft, Sarah was also a founding member of the AI ethics group at Facebook.
She is also the New York site lead for engineering and research at Microsoft and is passionate about New York as a place for technology development and innovation. Bird’s team is lighting the way in terms of what’s possible in responsible AI, showing real examples of AI that works safely and responsibly that are moving the field forward.
Bird was first introduced to engineering when two women engineers came to speak to her fourth-grade class. Seeing how that one small experience may have changed the trajectory of her life has made Bird passionate about mentorship and encouraging more women to get into the field of Responsible AI.
Bird’s passion for responsible AI is driven by her belief in the potential of AI and her recognition that we cannot realize its full potential unless we are able to have AI that is safe, responsible, fair and robust. This is the driving force behind her work.
“I’m so excited about the future and how AI can change the world. But the responsible AI part is critical. I see this as essential work in making AI a reality, and for me, this is really a labor of love.”.
That’s where engineering comes in. Sarah Bird leads Microsoft’s responsible AI engineering effort, working to accelerate the adoption and positive impact of AI by bringing together the latest innovations in research, product and policy. She helps to create and apply responsible AI principles, standards and tools across the company, and has led the cross-company group of experts to build Microsoft Copilot and Github Copilot, among other key Microsoft products.
Bird has been in the field of responsible AI since its inception. She is one of the founding researchers of the first responsible AI group at Microsoft, an active member of the Microsoft AETHER committee and contributed to the creation of the Microsoft Responsible AI Standard.
She received her Ph.D. in computer science from Berkeley, where her advisor was Turing Award winner Dave Patterson. Before joining Microsoft, Sarah was also a founding member of the AI ethics group at Facebook.
She is also the New York site lead for engineering and research at Microsoft and is passionate about New York as a place for technology development and innovation. Bird’s team is lighting the way in terms of what’s possible in responsible AI, showing real examples of AI that works safely and responsibly that are moving the field forward.
Bird was first introduced to engineering when two women engineers came to speak to her fourth-grade class. Seeing how that one small experience may have changed the trajectory of her life has made Bird passionate about mentorship and encouraging more women to get into the field of Responsible AI.
Bird’s passion for responsible AI is driven by her belief in the potential of AI and her recognition that we cannot realize its full potential unless we are able to have AI that is safe, responsible, fair and robust. This is the driving force behind her work.
“I’m so excited about the future and how AI can change the world. But the responsible AI part is critical. I see this as essential work in making AI a reality, and for me, this is really a labor of love.”.
Anna Maria Brunnhofer-Pedemonte
Founder and CEO
Anna Maria Brunnhofer-Pedemonte is a serial founder and the CEO of Impact AI. For over a decade she has been focused on her "Northstar": creating AI that truly aligns with and understands humans. She is passionate about real-world evals, HCAI and AI Value Alignment. Anna Maria also actively engages in discussions about the opportunities and challenges for the AI sector in US and Europe.
Markus Mooslechner
Executive Producer
Award-winning science communicator Markus Mooslechner specializes in making space science accessible through his "Space Café Podcast" and acclaimed works like "Collider Diaries." His innovative storytelling has earned Cannes recognition while advancing space sustainability. With Terra Mater Studios, he created the groundbreaking Planetary Defense Companion App, offering unprecedented public engagement with ESA and NASA's HERA mission.
Mehrnoosh Sameki
Principal Product Lead
As a Product Lead at Microsoft, I oversee initiatives in responsible Artificial Intelligence and evaluation tools, focusing on quality, safety, interpretability, fairness, reliability, and governance of AI systems within Azure AI platforms and Open Source. Currently, I lead the Generative AI Evaluation area and tools within Azure AI Studio. I have co-founded several AI ethics open-source tools, including Fairlearn, Error Analysis, and Responsible-AI-Toolbox, and I am also a contributor to the InterpretML offering. I am honored to be recognized in the 2024 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics (womeninaiethics.org/the-list/of-2024).
Beyond my primary role, I work as a curriculum developer and lecturer with "Break Through Tech," actively driving underrepresented women toward fulfilling careers in data science.
I earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Boston University and have served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor since 2020.
Beyond my primary role, I work as a curriculum developer and lecturer with "Break Through Tech," actively driving underrepresented women toward fulfilling careers in data science.
I earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Boston University and have served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor since 2020.
Paul Shealy
Principal Group Engineering Manager
Paul leads the developer platform team in Azure AI. His team builds the SDKs and CLIs to manage and consume Azure AI services, including Azure OpenAI.