Rob Sherman — CEO
For the past two decades, I've worked on one of the hardest problems in tech: how do you build global governance for products that move faster than any single regulator, legal system, or cultural norm can track? I came to this work with an unusual background for a policy executive: I studied Human-Computer Interaction before law school, which means I was trained to understand how people actually experience technology before I learned how to regulate it. That shapes how I think about governance: rules that don't account for how products work in practice don't protect anyone. At Meta, I've applied that lens at scale — across AI, privacy, encryption, and mixed reality, across six continents, and through some of the most consequential regulatory moments the industry has faced. I led the policy architecture for Meta's open-source Llama models, establishing safety benchmarks and a responsible release framework that became a reference point for the industry. We built the Llama Impact Grant program to support developers across the globe in deploying AI for public good and open sourced developer safety and security tools — because who gets to build with AI is itself a governance question. I drove policy execution for the world's largest deployment of end-to-end encryption across WhatsApp and Messenger, navigating sustained pressure from governments across dozens of jurisdictions while protecting the privacy of billions of people. I helped conceive "Why Am I Seeing This," one of the first global-scale algorithmic transparency tools, which set a standard for consumer-facing AI explainability. I've testified before the U.S. Congress, UK House of Lords, UK Joint Committee on Human Rights, and Canadian Parliament — not as a spokesperson, but as someone who has defended specific technical decisions under adversarial questioning and come away with the relationship intact. I serve on the Board of Directors of the Partnership on AI, alongside peers from Apple, Google, and civil society. I hold an IAPP Westin Emeritus Fellowship and a seat on the FPF Center for AI's Leadership Council. I believe technology is one of the most powerful forces for human empowerment — and that belief has only deepened over 20 years watching what connected, well-designed tools do for people's lives. The tension between building boldly and building responsibly is real, but not inevitable. When governance is thoughtful and baked in to both products and public policy, we don't have to choose between innovation and benefiting society. That's the outcome I've spent my career working toward.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a leader in AI governance and privacy policy within the tech industry.
Location: Washington, DC, United States
Experience: 20 yrs 11 mos
Skills
- Ai Policy
- Governance
- Privacy Law
Career Highlights
- Architected global AI governance frameworks at Meta
- Led largest end-to-end encryption deployment globally
- Pioneered algorithmic transparency tools for consumer AI
Work Experience
Partnership on AI
Member of the Board of Directors (3 mos)
Meta
Vice President, Policy & Deputy Chief Privacy Officer (7 yrs 1 mo)
Deputy Chief Privacy Officer (5 yrs 1 mo)
Manager, Privacy and Public Policy (1 yr 10 mos)
Covington & Burling LLP
Technology and Media Attorney (6 yrs 11 mos)
Education
J.D. at University of Michigan Law School
B.S. at University of Maryland
