In this episode of The Sunny Ray Show, host Sunny Ray talks with Leila Golchehreh, founder of Reliance AI, a privacy, AI governance, and cybersecurity platform. Leila traces her path from Allen and Overy's Paris office, where she became an early data privacy lawyer almost by accident, to roles at Workday, Adaptive Insights, and GM Cruise, where she was the first cybersecurity and privacy lawyer for autonomous vehicles. She shares surprising lessons from that work, including how microphones on self driving cars collect sound for safety reasons like detecting sirens. Leila explains how watching manual, form based compliance processes struggle to keep up with fast moving AI development convinced her that AI itself must be used to govern AI. The conversation covers what AI governance actually means day to day, the three questions every CEO should ask about AI systems in their company, and why investing in guardrails early is cheaper than fixing problems later. Leila closes with an optimistic vision for AI in education, healthcare, and climate, grounded in human centered design and honest confrontation of bias.
Reliance AI founder Leila Golchehreh explains why AI governance, from Cruise's self driving cars to modern enterprises, can't wait.
Can you tell us a bit about Reliance AI and the work you're doing there?
Reliance AI is a privacy, AI governance, and cybersecurity platform. We started AI native because we saw what was happening in the world with AI and knew we needed a better way to govern the information being processed, understand what's there, secure it, and help companies get their arms around everything happening at this pivotal moment in technology.
You started your career in big law at Allen and Overy. What drew you to that world initially?
I saw the writing on the wall for technology and thought practicing law was a way to use my degree to make a difference in areas I found fascinating, like privacy, IP, and tech. I worked out of the Paris office. Back then privacy wasn't even its own legal function, but since I understood tech, the IP litigation team started throwing that work at me, which became my foray into data privacy.
What was the moment you realized privacy and data protection would be defining themes for your career?
I saw that regulations coming out of the European Union had an extraterritorial effect, meaning they didn't just stay in the EU, they touched Silicon Valley and the rest of the world if you wanted to do business with Europe. Europe was much more consumer focused, while the US tends to prioritize business growth and regulates less. That contrast made clear how important protecting people's information would become.
As the first cybersecurity and privacy lawyer for GM's autonomous vehicles, what did day one look like for you?
Overwhelming. Joining GM Cruise was incredible because they were trying to make the car drive itself, and there were collection points everywhere. It took a lot of technical understanding and navigating a huge organization to figure out who was doing what. As the cybersecurity and privacy lawyer, understanding where and how the vehicle was collecting and processing information was a key priority.
What were some of the most surprising, non-obvious data collection points in a modern autonomous vehicle?
The microphone was something I hadn't really considered but quickly realized was important. Beyond the obvious cameras, lidar, and radar sensors, most autonomous vehicles also collect sound. That matters because you might hear a first responder siren before you can see the vehicle, so the car needs to know to pull over. It raised real privacy questions alongside genuine safety needs.
At what point did you decide there was no good tech for this problem and you needed to build it?
That realization built throughout my career, across Workday, Adaptive Insights, Cruise, healthcare tech, and hundreds of private practice clients. Legal and security teams were still using manual workflows, interviewing engineers about what they were building, while companies built some of the most advanced technology in the world. I couldn't reconcile that gap, so the only solution was to use AI itself to understand and govern AI.
If a CEO asked you the first three questions they should ask about AI in their company, what would you say?
First, what AI systems do we have in our environment, both built and procured. Second, what data is that AI relying on to make decisions, and how are we processing it. Third, how is that information flowing through the organization, since it's rarely a single model. I'd also add asking who is actually overseeing all of this internally.
Looking five to ten years out, what's your optimistic vision for AI?
More people gaining access to education, improved healthcare, and more time to focus on what matters most instead of administrative work. I hope we keep building human centered AI rather than AI that just displaces people. AI has also surfaced our own biases, and once we identify them we can actually solve for them. Healthcare and climate use cases feel like some of the biggest opportunities to do real good.
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