Michelle Finneran Dennedy is a trailblazer in privacy engineering and data ethics, currently serving as Chief Data Strategy Officer at Abaxx Technologies following its acquisition of PrivacyCode, the company she founded and led as CEO. Prior to her work at PrivacyCode and Privatus, Michelle was Vice President and Chief Privacy Officer at Cisco, where she spearheaded the development and implementation of enterprise-wide data privacy policies, collaborating across business units to embed privacy excellence throughout the security continuum.
Her career includes leadership roles as CEO of DrumWave, Inc., Chief Privacy Officer at McAfee/Intel, and Vice President for Security & Privacy Solutions at Oracle Corporation. Before Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems, she served as Chief Data Governance Officer in Sun’s Cloud Computing division and was also Sun’s first Chief Privacy Officer.
With a JD from Fordham University School of Law and a BS from The Ohio State University, Michelle has authored The Privacy Engineer’s Manifesto and The Privacy Engineer’s Companion, and created the Wicked Privacy™ methodology to guide ethical data practices in the age of AI. Her contributions have earned her prestigious honors including the Goodwin Procter–IAPP Vanguard Award, CSO Magazine’s Woman of Influence, and a Gold Stevie Award for Woman of the Year in Technology. Through her strategic leadership, writing, and speaking, Michelle continues to shape the future of privacy and responsible innovation.
