About
Zahed Ashkara
Freelance AI & Privacy Consultant and legal counsel
I am a legal counsel and freelance AI and privacy consultant. I work at the intersection of law, data and AI: at a major bank, an international education publisher, a drinking water utility and government bodies. I translate the GDPR and the EU AI Act into decisions, roles, controls and evidence that legal teams, management and the business can work with.
Recent assignments: AI & Privacy Consultant at Sanoma, AI Governance Consultant in the EU AI Act programme at Rabobank and Senior Legal Counsel Privacy & AI at PWN. Before that I advised central government and municipalities through EIFFEL on privacy, transparency and responsible data use, and large enterprises, SMEs and start-ups through PNO Consultants on privacy, GDPR and legal questions. Since July 2026 I have been a member of the NEN AI & Big Data standards committee, where the standards under the EU AI Act are developed. You can engage me for an interim assignment or a defined project.
Availability: by arrangement, hybrid, from 24 hours per week. Start date and duration are agreed at intake.
Recent assignments
Legal expertise in practice
Three assignments that show what you can expect from me.
- 01
Sanoma · AI & Privacy Consultant
Supporting the privacy team of an international education organisation: translating the EU AI Act and GDPR into workable controls for AI use cases, guiding AI and data protection impact assessments, and deciding on risk and human oversight together with legal, product and IT.
- 02
Rabobank · AI Governance Consultant
Supporting the bank-wide EU AI Act implementation programme in the Coverage & Completeness stream: assessed the completeness of governance and evidence and prepared the transition to business as usual, working with the CRO, Compliance, Privacy and Model Risk Management.
- 03
PWN · Senior Legal Counsel Privacy & AI
Legal adviser within critical infrastructure: GDPR, AI governance, data privacy, IT contracts and compliance. Inventory and assessment of AI applications, legal risk analyses and contractual frameworks for data and AI questions.
What I help with
- Interim support as an AI and privacy consultant
- Privacy advice, GDPR and contract reviews
- EU AI Act and AI risk classification
- DPIA and GDPR role allocation
- Technical documentation and governance frameworks
- AI literacy (Article 4) and evidence dossiers
Background
- CAICO, Certified AI Compliance Officer (Centre for Certified Legal and Tech Expertise)
- Certified AI Meets Law (TML Academy)
- Member, NEN standards committee AI & Big Data (since July 2026)
- Master of Public Law, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- LLB Law, Leiden University
- Embed AI is a training institution recognised by the NOvA (since 20 July 2026)
Discuss an assignment?
Tell me about your question, desired start date and expected commitment. We can then discuss how I could support your team.