Ken Priore
Legal and governance leader for enterprise AI. Twenty-five years in-house and as outside general counsel across law, product, and engineering, focused on making AI agents accountable, verifiable, and trustworthy.
The path ran through securities litigation, a New York Stock Exchange listing, a consumer platform serving 150 countries, privacy programs under GDPR and CCPA, and the partnerships and intellectual property behind enterprise software. Across all of it the same question: what did the system do, under what authority, and who answers for it.
That question is now the work itself. At Docusign it means product and AI governance for agreement software built on machine learning. Beyond it, published research on proving what an autonomous agent did and who authorized it.
Experience
Career ledger · 1995–2026-
- Deputy General Counsel, Senior Director · Product, Engineering, IP & Partner LegalSep 2025–Present
- Associate General Counsel · Product and Strategic PartnershipsSep 2023–Sep 2025
Lead legal for Product, Engineering, IP, and Partner Legal on the Intelligent Agreement Management platform. The team sits where the platform meets the law: responsible-AI governance across the ML lifecycle, legal-by-design and privacy-by-design embedded in the development process itself, stewardship of the global IP portfolio, and the platform, ISV, and channel transactions that extend the partner network. The through line is trust that survives scrutiny, from regulators, from partners, and from the agents now doing the work.
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- Director & Board Chairperson (advisory)Jan 2020–Present
Board chairperson and strategic advisor. Third Economy helps organizations analyze and improve their ESG performance and build sustainable-investing strategies, organized around the VIA3 framework. The seat draws on sustainability work inside operating companies: smart-grid infrastructure at Silver Spring, disclosure and procurement practices at Box, and program building at Atlassian.
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- Director of Privacy · Product & ComplianceOct 2021–Apr 2023
Directed privacy across product and compliance. Built the Global Privacy Program from shared principles and a risk-oriented methodology, meeting GDPR, CCPA, and CPRA across the full documentation stack, from DPAs and transfer assessments to retention schedules and incident response. Scaled privacy requirements across more than 5,000 marketplace app partners, and ran privacy impact assessments alongside product leadership so concerns surfaced during development, before launch. Led a team of four privacy attorneys and program managers.
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- Global Director of LegalOct 2019–Oct 2021
- Senior Managing Counsel · PartnershipsJun 2018–Nov 2019
- Senior Commercial CounselMar 2018–Jun 2018
Led counsel on the long-term Google Cloud agreement that moved Box's core infrastructure to the public cloud: months of negotiation, dozens of teams, Board and C-suite engagement. Ran partnership legal for technology integrations with Microsoft, Salesforce, Apple, Google, Slack, Zoom, and Okta; oversaw procurement legal for more than 2,000 vendors; and re-engineered the contract review process around a new CLM as the pandemic reshuffled priorities.
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- Director, Commercial CounselFeb 2014–Feb 2018
Lead commercial counsel for IoT hardware and software sold to utilities and smart cities. Structured and negotiated the full range of technology agreements, from software licensing and cloud services to manufacturing and supply, and drafted the NaaS and SaaS templates the business standardized on. Closed transactions across APAC and EMEA inside a matrixed organization, and ran recurring privacy and security audits of vendors and key partners. Itron acquired the company for $830M in January 2018.
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- General CounselOct 2009–Feb 2015
General counsel as the company grew from startup to a platform serving more than 10 million users across 150 countries. Built the legal function whole: privacy policies and terms of service for a category the law had not caught up with, content-moderation and takedown architecture, a trademark portfolio spanning the United States, Europe, Australia, and Canada, and the asset sale of Blendr with its cross-border IP and revenue-share provisions. Supported the private equity investment that led to the company's $93M acquisition by Beijing Kunlun Tech.
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- Commercial Counsel (secondment)Nov 2007–Nov 2009
Commercial counsel, on secondment, negotiating the agreements a payments platform runs on: the master payment processing agreement, software licensing and consulting MSAs, and co-marketing and seasonal campaign agreements for merchant services and business development.
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- General Counsel (part-time)Dec 2007–Nov 2009
Part-time general counsel to a consulting firm with more than 90 employees and $20M in annual revenue. Strengthened the master service agreement's indemnification and liability protections, led a partnership negotiation that raised revenue 50 percent, guided the Board through a reduction in force, and led the strategic response to a breach of customer personal data.
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- General Counsel / COOJun 2004–Aug 2006
General counsel and COO of a debt-restructuring firm. Designed the compliance architecture for a heavily regulated business, from debt collection and telemarketing rules to consumer and commercial bankruptcy, while the firm grew past $5M under management within eighteen months. Led the earn-out sale to a market leader from first meeting to final documents.
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- Counsel / COO, founding partnerSep 2002–Jun 2004
Founding partner and counsel of an e-learning firm delivering heavily regulated products, including the California Online Traffic School. Served as the primary contact for every regulatory inquiry, negotiated the acquisition of the traffic school itself, and converted that regulatory footing into consulting engagements with Toyota Motors USA and WellPoint.
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- Senior Securities AssociateMay 2001–Jun 2002
Securities litigation handled from both plaintiff and defense perspectives, across law and motion, arbitration, and mediation. Represented an investment management firm through the acquisition of a competitor with $789M under management and its simultaneous sale to a third-party financial institution, and structured offshore ownership for a client holding more than 5,000 internet domain names.
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- Counsel / Director of Policy & ComplianceOct 1999–Apr 2001
In-house counsel for the venture fund that went public first. Drafted the N-2 registration and fund prospectus, built the compliance program from a blank page, and ran the NYSE listing of the meVC Draper Fisher Jurvetson Fund I, raising $330M through an unusual delayed listing and trading window. Stood on the NYSE podium on June 26, 2000, the first day of trading. Closed 17 financings in just over a year and lobbied through the Business Development Company Roundtable to modernize fund rules under the Investment Company Act.
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- Managing Attorney · Arbitration/LitigationSep 1995–Sep 1999
Managing attorney for arbitration, litigation, and third-party actions, running an active docket of 400 simultaneous matters covering more than $100M in customer assets. Built a document automation program that raised the department's capacity 300 percent while headcount fell by half, then moved to policy, advising business units on securities regulation under the 33, 34, and 40 Acts, including the firm's early e-commerce practices.
On the record
Papers · Speaking · In conversation · Credentials- 2026 Certificate of Action: A Trust Primitive for Verifiable Autonomous Legal AI Agent Workflows Accepted to ICML 2026; presented in Seoul, July 2026. A tamper-evident record proving what an agent did, under what authority, and whether a human reviewed it; mapped to EU AI Act and NIST AI RMF. ICML 2026
Exhibit · ICML · 2026 - 2026 The Fiduciary's Footprint: How Legal AI Agents Can Prove They Were Loyal Presented at NYU School of Law, "Fiduciary Duties and AI" workshop (Information Law Institute + GliaNet Alliance), 2026. Maps the four fiduciary duties to four verifiable layers. NYU School of Law
Exhibit · NYU School of Law · 2026 - 2026 Contributor, MIT FutureTech AI Risk Initiative Prioritizing the Risks from Artificial Intelligence, a Delphi study of 272 experts across 37 countries ranking 24 AI risks by severity, exposure, and responsibility; the structural gap between who carries AI risk and who can reduce it (airisk.mit.edu/priorities). MIT FutureTech
Exhibit · MIT FutureTech · 2026 - 2026 Attest Working Certificate of Action prototype built at the Legal Quants (LQ002) hackathon; live tamper-evidence across an agent pipeline. Legal Quants
Exhibit · Legal Quants · 2026
- 2026 "Governing Agents Before the Rules Are Written," on agent accountability, audit trails, and cross-disciplinary governance, San Francisco BSA
Exhibit · BSA · 2026 - 2025 "The Convergence of AI and IP: Policy Frameworks That Actually Work," with María José Cordero (ElevenLabs), Christopher A. Suarez (Steptoe), and Scout Moran (Superhuman); recurring faculty on AI governance and AI/IP PLI California
Exhibit · PLI California · 2025 - 2025 "AI Governance as a Driver of Innovation Amidst Regulatory Flux," presented with Bret Cohen (Hogan Lovells) and Saima Fancy (Adobe), San Diego IAPP P.S.R.
Exhibit · IAPP P.S.R. · 2025 - 2025 In-house AI governance panel, moderated by Cynthia Cwik (JAMS), with Matt Samuels (Anthropic), Roy Wang (Eightfold AI), and Belinda Luu (Kaiser Permanente) ABA AI & Robotics
Exhibit · ABA AI & Robotics · 2025 - 2025 "Where AI Autonomy Meets Legal Reality," agentic AI program Stanford Law School
Exhibit · Stanford Law School · 2025 - 2024 "Developing AI Policy and Governance for IP": building a practical AI governance framework, from mission and KPIs to interdisciplinary committees and internal controls PLI
Exhibit · PLI · 2024 - 2024 Privacy KnowledgeNet with Loyola Law School and the Loyola Privacy Rights Association, Los Angeles IAPP KnowledgeNet
Exhibit · IAPP KnowledgeNet · 2024 - 2023 Co-hosted a breakout session on generative AI: risk assessment, tool onboarding, and governance strategies for in-house counsel DeputyGC Summit
Exhibit · DeputyGC Summit · 2023 - 2022 Guest lecturer, privacy concentration taught by Amy Gajda, Tulane Law School Tulane Law
Exhibit · Tulane Law · 2022 - 2022 Risk-strategy presentations at the first post-pandemic National Deputy GC conference, New York TechGC Summit
Exhibit · TechGC Summit · 2022 - 2012–2015 Startup Policy Lab: Crowdfunding; a discussion series on equity crowdfunding and SEC rulemaking for the startup community Startup Policy Lab
Exhibit · Startup Policy Lab · 2012–2015 - 2012 "Privacy and the Many Layers of Mobile Platforms," Conference on Mobile and Location Privacy (Information Law Institute + Princeton CITP), roundtable moderated by Julia Angwin NYU School of Law
Exhibit · NYU School of Law · 2012 - 2011 Participant, SEC Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation SEC
Exhibit · SEC · 2011
- 2025 "The Art of Decision Ownership": decision ownership, embedding legal upstream, and psychological safety in legal teams. Co-hosted with Jessica Nguyen. In-House Podcast
Exhibit · In-House Podcast · 2025 - 2025 "Harnessing AI to Elevate Legal Talent," with Sandy MacDonnell and Krysta Johnson of Docusign, on legal ops as a strategic function In-House Podcast
Exhibit · In-House Podcast · 2025 - 2025 "AI is getting very good at acting like a lawyer. It isn't one," with Jenny Hamilton, Chief Legal Officer of Exterro In-House Podcast
Exhibit · In-House Podcast · 2025 - 2024 "Developing an AI Use Policy," a three-part series on moving from principles to guardrails teams use Briefly
Exhibit · Briefly · 2024
- Tulane University Law School · JD, Law JD
- Tufts University · BA, History & Political Science BA
- IAPP · CIPP/E CIPP/E
- 2026 UC Law SF / LexLab · Law and Artificial Intelligence Certificate Certificate
Capabilities
Three columns of practiceCounsel & product
- Product and AI governance across the ML lifecycle
- Responsible-AI, legal-by-design, and privacy-by-design
- Global privacy programs (GDPR, CCPA, CPRA)
- IP portfolio stewardship and open-source compliance
- AI and IP policy frameworks
Platforms & agents
- Platform, ISV, and channel transactions
- Partner programs and GTM frameworks, US and international
- Marketplace privacy at 5,000+ partner scale
- Board-level public-cloud migration (GCP)
- IoT hardware/software and complex technology agreements
Records & proof
- Certificate of Action: a tamper-evident record of agent conduct
- Fiduciary duties mapped to verifiable layers
- Agent accountability and audit trails
- Live tamper-evidence across an agent pipeline (Attest)
- EU AI Act and NIST AI RMF mapping