Member since January 2026
Marian Newsome is the Founder of Ethical Tech Matters, an AI governance advisory firm specializing in defensible governance for high-consequence systems. She is a SXSW 2027 speaker, leading the Core Conversation "Who Approved the Test? Inside AI's Accountability Gap" on the Tech & AI track.
She is one of fewer than 100 IEEE CertifAIEd Lead Assessors worldwide, a credential that requires demonstrated technical competency in AI ethics and risk assessment. A three-time independent delegate to the UN Science Summit, she brings policy foresight to boardroom AI governance conversations.
Marian spent 18 years at Dell Technologies across finance, global operations, and security and resiliency, and earlier worked in gas field SCADA operations. She advises eight AI startup boards across healthcare and consumer technology and is a member of the IEEE Standards Association.
Her Triangle of Trust framework, which combines certified competence, policy foresight, and vendor objectivity, is the foundation of Ethical Tech Matters' approach to AI governance in regulated industries.
I help leaders make AI decisions they can explain and defend. My focus is the moment before deployment: who owns the decision, what evidence supports approval, what limits apply, and who has authority to intervene. Boards and executive teams need more than reassurance. They need a clear basis for deciding whether to proceed, impose conditions, or stop.
I’ve been working in technology since DOS. The technology has changed every few years. The question at 2 a.m. has not: who approved this?
I learned to ask it in gas operations at Cross Timbers Oil Company, later XTO Energy, where SCADA systems monitored wellheads, pressure, and flow. The rule was simple: don’t take anyone’s word for what the system is doing. Instrument it, set thresholds in advance, and escalate when a reading crosses one. In AI, I keep seeing that rule skipped. A demo or a single sign-off stands in for evidence. I bring the field rule into the boardroom with three questions: Who authorized it? Who can stop it? What evidence shows the boundaries hold?
For eighteen years at Dell Technologies, across finance, global operations, and security and resiliency, I watched enterprises react to AI, privacy, and security failures instead of preventing them. The pattern repeated: the governance conversation started after the incident, when the options were fewest and the cost was highest.
I founded Ethical Tech Matters to move that conversation earlier, to the moment before deployment, while the decisions about authority, limits, and evidence can still be made deliberately. My talks are built for the people who answer for those decisions: boards, general counsel, and the leaders who sign off.
I’ve been working in technology since DOS. The technology has changed every few years. The question at 2 a.m. has not: who approved this?
I learned to ask it in gas operations at Cross Timbers Oil Company, later XTO Energy, where SCADA systems monitored wellheads, pressure, and flow. The rule was simple: don’t take anyone’s word for what the system is doing. Instrument it, set thresholds in advance, and escalate when a reading crosses one. In AI, I keep seeing that rule skipped. A demo or a single sign-off stands in for evidence. I bring the field rule into the boardroom with three questions: Who authorized it? Who can stop it? What evidence shows the boundaries hold?
For eighteen years at Dell Technologies, across finance, global operations, and security and resiliency, I watched enterprises react to AI, privacy, and security failures instead of preventing them. The pattern repeated: the governance conversation started after the incident, when the options were fewest and the cost was highest.
I founded Ethical Tech Matters to move that conversation earlier, to the moment before deployment, while the decisions about authority, limits, and evidence can still be made deliberately. My talks are built for the people who answer for those decisions: boards, general counsel, and the leaders who sign off.
