Phil Strauss

Director, Privacy & AI Governance at Fortinet, Inc.

Phil Strauss is a technology legal executive specializing in product counseling, data protection, cybersecurity, AI governance and regulatory compliance for software, cybersecurity, gaming, digital health and e-commerce companies. 

 He currently serves as Director of Privacy & AI Governance at cybersecurity company Fortinet, where he advises product, engineering, security and executive leadership teams on AI governance, cybersecurity incident response, privacy, product counseling and regulatory risk management. 

 Previously, Phil held senior legal, privacy and compliance leadership roles at Sony PlayStation, StockX, Rakuten and other Silicon Valley technology companies.  Earlier in his career, Phil served as general counsel of two public business intelligence enterprise software companies, product counsel at Adobe, Director in the forensic advisory practice at KPMG, and an associate at Shearman & Sterling and Jones Day. 

 He holds a B.A. from Emory University, a J.D. from Duke University School of Law and an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, where he has also served as adjunct faculty teaching business law. He is admitted to practice in California and holds multiple privacy and AI governance certifications, including AIGP, CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CIPM, FIP and PLS.  Phil is a regular speaker and moderator on privacy, AI governance, cybersecurity and technology law topics. 

 Phil lives in San Francisco with his family and dogs and, outside work, can usually be found playing guitar in classic rock cover bands, reading thriller novels or pretending he still enjoys tennis, weightlifting, and his Peloton.