Short Bio

Dr. Rachel M. Gillum built and leads Salesforce's global responsible AI and platform safety policy function across Salesforce and Slack. Before Salesforce, she served as an intelligence analyst and senior director at RiceHadleyGatesManuel, advising governments and multinationals on geopolitical risk. She holds a Stanford PhD in Political Science and is a published author on national security, AI, and technology policy. She serves as a Commissioner on the Atlantic Council GeoTech Commission on AI.

Medium Bio

Dr. Rachel Gillum built and leads Salesforce's global responsible AI and platform safety policy function, setting the standards by which one of the world's largest software companies deploys AI to millions of users across Salesforce and Slack. Her team operates globally, covering AI governance, content policy, trust and safety, and the safe deployment of AI agents.

Before Salesforce, Rachel served as Senior Director at RiceHadleyGatesManuel LLC, the geopolitical advisory firm founded by former Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates, where she advised technology companies and investors on international risk. She previously served as an intelligence analyst in the U.S. government. Rachel holds a Stanford PhD in Political Science and is the author of Muslims in a Post-9/11 America (University of Michigan Press) and has forthcoming research on AI governance with Cambridge University Press and in peer-reviewed journals including PNAS. Her work has been covered in Forbes, The Washington Post, and Essence.

She serves as a Commissioner on the Atlantic Council GeoTech Commission on AI and formerly on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's bipartisan AI Commission. She is an affiliated scholar at Stanford University.

Long Bio

Dr. Rachel Gillum is a technology policy executive and scholar whose career spans AI governance, national security, and global regulatory strategy. She built and leads Salesforce's responsible AI and platform safety policy function, setting the standards by which one of the world's largest enterprise software companies deploys AI to hundreds of millions of users across Salesforce and Slack.

As Vice President of Ethical and Humane Use of Technology, Rachel established Salesforce's ethical use policy practice from the ground up, defining its strategic vision and scaling operations across the company's acquisitions and product lines. Reporting to the Chief Ethical and Humane Use Officer, she oversees a global team covering AI governance, content policy, trust and safety operations, and the deployment of AI agents. She manages Salesforce's Ethical Use Advisory Council, which convenes international experts from the United Nations, Freedom House, and leading academic institutions.

Rachel serves as a Commissioner on the Atlantic Council's GeoTech Commission on Artificial Intelligence, engaging bipartisan policymakers, industry executives, and technology leaders on AI's implications for U.S. global competitiveness. She previously served as a Commissioner on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's bipartisan AI Commission on Competition, Inclusion and Innovation. She also advises the Institute for Security and Technology's Trust and Safety Advisory Group and serves on CareMessage's Technical Advisory Board.

Before Salesforce, Rachel served as Senior Director of the Silicon Valley Office at RiceHadleyGatesManuel LLC alongside former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. She advised CEOs and senior executives from Fortune 50 companies to early-stage startups on geopolitics, regulatory risk, and market expansion. Earlier in her career, she served as an intelligence analyst in the U.S. government, assessing threats and policy implications in complex international environments.

Rachel's academic work sits at the intersection of technology, democratic institutions, and national security. She chairs the American Political Science Association's Task Force on AI and Race and Ethnic Politics. She is an affiliated scholar at Stanford University's Immigration Policy Lab and the author of Muslims in a Post-9/11 America (University of Michigan Press), which examines how counterterrorism and surveillance policies can undermine the national security objectives they are designed to serve. Her research on AI governance includes a forthcoming chapter with Cambridge University Press and peer-reviewed publications in PNAS and Perspectives on Politics. Her work has been covered in Forbes, The Washington Post, and Essence.


Highlights

Dr. Rachel Gillum speaks on AI governance, technology policy, and the intersection of emerging tech, upskilling and the future of work. She has delivered keynotes and moderated panels at venues including SXSW, the World Economic Forum, AfroTech, Stanford University, MIT, UC Berkeley.

Keynotes

Ethical AI Agent Management

Prompt Engineering for Busy Professionals

Responsible AI 101

Fireside Chats & Panels

World Economic Forum | AI Agents Symposium

Stanford HAI | Congressional AI Bootcamp

Council on Foreign Relations | Foreign Policy in the Age of AI

Media

World Economic Forum | The Future of Responsible Technology

Black Enterprise | Portraits of Power

Aspen Institute | What AI Can Do for Your Country

Moderation

Stacey Abrams | AfroTech 2025

Condoleezza Rice | Salesforce 2020

Allyson Felix | Salesforce Ventures 2025