Tasha (TC) Cooper, Esq., AIGP, ICF-PCC
President and Principal • UpwardAction® Advisory
Alexandria, Virginia, United States •
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About
I bring a rare combination of legal, regulatory, governance, and leadership experience to the stage. I am a 25-year attorney, former federal Chief Privacy Officer and Senior Agency Official for Privacy, certified AI governance professional, and credentialed executive coach. I understand the pressure leaders face to move quickly while protecting the organization, its people, and the integrity of its decisions. I translate complex AI risks into clear leadership questions, practical frameworks, and actionable next steps. Audiences leave prepared to govern AI without stifling innovation, preserve human judgment, and make decisions they can explain and defend.
Speaking Topics
Signature Programs (3)
Leaders in regulated industries are often presented with a false choice: move quickly with AI and accept greater risk, or slow innovation until every concern has been resolved. Neither approach is sustainable. In this signature talk, TC Cooper introduces “Protect the Yes,” a leadership approach to AI governance grounded in a powerful principle: responsible governance should create the conditions for innovation, not stand in its way. Participants will learn how to move from “no, because” to “yes, if” by establishing clear boundaries, decision rights, accountability, and oversight before AI is deployed. The result is faster, more confident adoption supported by decisions the organization can explain, justify, and defend.
Key Takeaways
- Participants will learn how to replace reflexive approval or prohibition with a practical “yes, if” approach to AI governance.
- Participants will learn how to identify the conditions, controls, and evidence required before an AI use case moves forward.
- Participants will learn how to clarify who has authority to approve AI use and who remains accountable for its outcomes.
- Participants will learn how to build privacy, risk management, human oversight, and escalation paths into adoption from the start.
- Participants will learn how to accelerate responsible innovation while creating a defensible record of how and why decisions were made.
Format
Employees are already experimenting with AI to work faster, solve problems, and meet rising expectations, often before approved tools, policies, and oversight have caught up. This is Shadow AI, and it can expose an organization to privacy, confidentiality, intellectual property, accuracy, cybersecurity, records-management, and regulatory risks. Simply banning unapproved AI rarely eliminates its use. It often pushes this use further underground. In this session, TC Cooper shows leaders how to uncover where and why Shadow AI is occurring, distinguish productive experimentation from unacceptable exposure, and create a practical “yes, if” path toward governed adoption. Participants will learn how to bring AI use into the open without stifling innovation or creating a culture of surveillance and fear.
Key Takeaways
- Participants will learn how to recognize the behaviors, business pressures, and governance gaps driving Shadow AI.
- Participants will learn how to identify the privacy, security, legal, regulatory, and operational risks hidden within everyday AI use.
- Participants will learn how to uncover Shadow AI without discouraging employees from raising concerns or sharing how they work.
- Participants will learn how to apply a “yes, if” approach to convert unauthorized experimentation into responsible, governed adoption.
- Participants will learn how to establish clear boundaries, accountability, monitoring, and escalation paths for workforce AI use.
Format
Delivery
As AI takes on more of the work people once performed, leaders and employees face a defining question: What should never be delegated? AI can process information, generate content, and identify patterns at extraordinary speed. It cannot assume accountability, understand organizational context as humans do, or replace the judgment, discernment, emotional intelligence, and lived experience strong leadership requires. In this session, TC Cooper introduces Unique Human Contribution™, a practical framework for identifying where human value must remain central as work changes. Participants will explore how to use AI to strengthen their performance without quietly surrendering the capabilities their organizations, colleagues, and clients rely on them to provide.
Key Takeaways
- Participants will learn how to identify the judgment, discernment, context, emotional intelligence, and accountability only people can contribute.
- Participants will learn how to distinguish between work AI should assist, augment, or never replace.
- Participants will learn how to recognize when efficiency is beginning to erode independent thinking or professional judgment.
- Participants will learn how to define their own Unique Human Contribution™ and connect it to how they work, decide, and lead.
- Participants will learn how to use AI intentionally while preserving the human capabilities their organizations need most.
Format
Delivery
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