Gina Nese is ahead of the curve and won CCO of the Year | Event

“Where are you today and where do you want to be tomorrow? Just take the leap and try,” said Nese, who was named compliance officer of the year at the 2024 Excellence in Compliance Awards.

Nese spent 3.5 years at Align Technology. He leads a team of over 12 compliance, legal and privacy leaders and doesn’t consider anything that doesn’t work out to be a failure. “It’s about what you learn from the experience that you can use,” she said.

Her signature talent is finding win-win solutions that turn regulatory compliance into a competitive advantage for the company, said Julie Coletti, executive vice president and chief legal and regulatory officer at Align Technology.

Nese is someone who regularly shares new ideas and ways to innovate, said Matthew Wetzel, a partner at the law firm Goodwin Procter and a former colleague who has known her professionally for about a decade.

“He likes to be at the front; is forward-thinking,” Wetzel said.

So it’s easy to see why Nese was chosen to co-lead Align Technology’s AI efforts and help build its internal AI center of excellence.

The Hub is an information and engagement hub where employees can view AI explanations, regulatory updates, and new applications of AI. The Center maintains guidelines to help manage the governance and risks associated with generative AI and track and implement AI regulations.

The team leaders are an interdisciplinary group from the fields of information technology, cybersecurity and law, whose goal is to restore value to the company by increasing efficiency and reducing costs through the use of AI.

“As a technology company, this is obviously very important to us,” Coletti said.

The company has cautiously applied generative AI behind the firewall for internal applications and to increase the efficiency of certain internal processes, such as drafting contracts. Any generative AI projects must be fully vetted by humans to ensure they are complete and accurate, Nese said.

While Nese stayed up to date on AI and its regulations, she worked with the legal and compliance teams to share this knowledge with other key personnel, including engineers and executives. As always, Nese was looking for a solution.

It hosted a series of “town hall” panels on artificial intelligence that included members of the regulatory, legal and compliance departments.

“We analyzed it through a risk lens” and showed that regulators care about how AI performs predictive modeling, Nese said.

Nese has an uncanny ability to make programs more efficient through better organization and eliminating clutter, just as she did after taking the lead on privacy compliance just over two years ago.

“Our company was growing very quickly,” including on a global scale, and people had just added new privacy notices to the mix, Coletti said. Before they knew it, they had hundreds of different notifications – for customers, patients, website, etc. Nese broke them down into categories and boiled them down to just six comprehensive privacy notifications.

“It’s a huge victory,” Coletti said.

The path to compliance

Nese’s time in the United States Coast Guard launched her legal career and continues to shape her career today, especially when it comes to discipline and the belief that after military service, “You can do anything, because nothing will be life and death.” death,” she said.

The military challenged her and others to “be the best versions of ourselves,” she said.

Despite her positive experiences in the military, she stated that she also encountered “not always the best examples of leadership.” She knew she wanted to make changes and adopt a different leadership style; after the army, she enrolled in law school.

She adapted to the rules early in her legal career, when she was still a “young lawyer” and when a predominantly male business environment was commonplace for her. When she walked into her first compliance team meeting, she was amazed by the diversity and display of teamwork.

“Everyone was receptive,” she said. “Then I found my community and never looked back.”

Nese is eager to learn about what’s new and “devours” webinars on compliance and privacy. But what also sets her apart is that she is a generous mentor, Wetzel said.

“He’s a person who really takes people under his wing and shares his knowledge,” he said. “She’s a teacher in that respect and people tend to look to her for guidance and advice.”

When they succeed in doing so, they find a leader who has a sense of personal responsibility for the people who work with her and report to her, Wetzel said.

Nese adds “a sense of fun and humor to what can sometimes be boring or dry,” he said.

Like many people who follow the principles, Nese is motivated by a desire to help his company by finding solutions to problems. In this task, her door is always open.

“Sometimes compliance officers can act as prosecutors and people are afraid of them. Gina is authentic and approachable,” Coletti said.

“What I like about following the rules is that people come to you and ask for help with a problem they have,” Nese said. “I listen and really try to understand what they’re trying to do.”

People come to her all day long with problems that need solving, and she is happy to help find a solution.

Compliance resources for customers

Align Technology’s customers include orthodontists and dentists around the world, many of whom are small businesses without in-house compliance officers or lawyers monitoring regulations. Nese’s division is meeting this need by creating direct customer resources and training on compliance, patient privacy and regulatory issues.

To stay abreast of implementing the company’s principles in practice, Nese prioritizes visiting customers while traveling and learning about suppliers and their innovations that can again add value to Align Technology.

“It’s important to meet people where they are and provide them with the right resources,” she said. “Then let them take those wins and deliver them to our customers.”

When reviewing compliance and privacy practices, Nese often wonders if there is a tool available or could be created to make the process more effective and enjoyable for owners, she added. He also leverages data and creates visualizations such as pie charts and dashboards to illustrate compliance and privacy trends at Align Technology, whether he’s presenting to management or his team.