Skills

Skills I bring

Work at the intersection of technology, risk, regulation and organisational change.

My background spans two decades in environments where getting data governance wrong isn't an option: financial crime compliance at Swift, and before that leading data analytics and OSINT teams at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office on counter-terrorism and counter-proliferation work.

AI governance at scale

Building governance for the AI transition

Most organisations are still applying governance approaches designed for traditional technology to systems that learn, reason, act and increasingly make decisions. My focus is helping organisations bridge that gap without creating bureaucracy that slows innovation.

I lead AI governance at scale, designing the governance, assurance, model risk management, responsible AI and regulatory compliance capabilities that enable organisations to adopt AI safely while continuing to move quickly — translating emerging AI capabilities into practical operating models that leaders, engineers, risk functions and business teams can actually use.

In practice, this means establishing risk-based governance frameworks that increase oversight where autonomy, impact and consequence increase, whilst keeping low-risk use cases lightweight and easy to deploy. It means creating governance pathways, decision authorities, review models and assurance processes that allow AI use cases to be assessed consistently rather than relying on ad hoc judgement.

I have developed and scaled governance capabilities covering:

  • Enterprise AI governance frameworks and operating models.
  • AI risk assessment methodologies and controls libraries.
  • Responsible AI assurance and oversight mechanisms.
  • Model risk management and validation approaches.
  • EU AI Act and regulatory compliance programmes.
  • AI inventory and visibility capabilities.
  • Agentic AI governance frameworks.
  • AI incident management and response models.
  • Governance, risk and responsible AI literacy programmes.
  • Data governance capabilities supporting AI adoption.

My approach is deliberately practical. Governance only works when it is embedded into delivery. As a result, I focus on creating tangible mechanisms that teams use every day: governance intake processes, risk assessments, approval pathways, model inventories, assurance dashboards, control frameworks, governance standards, incident playbooks, governance councils and operating procedures. These artefacts provide traceability, accountability and evidence while remaining usable by delivery teams.

I also place significant emphasis on visibility. As organisations expand the use of large language models, agent platforms, orchestration technologies and bespoke AI solutions, visibility becomes essential for managing operational resilience, regulatory compliance, concentration risk, sovereign risk and financial exposure. Governance should provide leaders with a clear understanding of what AI exists, who owns it, how it is being used, what risk it creates and whether appropriate controls are in place.

Equally important is organisational capability. Governance does not scale through central teams alone. Sustainable governance emerges when risk, compliance, technology and business leaders develop sufficient understanding to make informed decisions themselves. A significant part of my work therefore focuses on building governance and AI literacy across leadership teams, risk functions and operational stakeholders, so that governance becomes a distributed organisational capability rather than a central bottleneck.

Ultimately, my work is about enabling organisations to capture the transformative value of AI whilst ensuring that governance evolves at the same pace as the technology itself. As AI moves from tools that assist humans towards systems that orchestrate, decide and act, I help build the structures, controls and organisational maturity required to make that transition sustainable.

Leading change

Leading change in complex environments

Complex transformation succeeds when people feel both challenged and supported. My leadership approach is grounded in collaboration, psychological safety and clear decision-making. I bring diverse stakeholders together, create common understanding across technical and non-technical communities, and help organisations move through ambiguity without losing momentum.

Culture and diversity have been central to how I lead that change. As Swift's Global Lead of Diversity and Inclusion I led the multi-year D&I roadmap across 27 locations, and I designed and ran the STAR Programme, a women's professional development programme at Sibos — an enduring legacy of my time leading D&I. That experience of bringing people with different backgrounds and perspectives along together is the same discipline I now apply to AI transformation: operationalising ideas, building trust and helping organisations move from strategy to sustained adoption with confidence.

Erin Thornton with a group of STAR Programme participants at Sibos
The STAR Programme at Sibos

Career

Where this comes from

  • 2025 – present

    Head of AI and Transaction Data Governance, Swift

    AI governance framework design, executive-level AI Governance Council, enterprise AI literacy, and workforce strategy for human-AI collaboration.

  • 2023 – 2024

    Senior Data Analyst — Customer Success, Swift

    Data standards and design best practice; analytics dashboards and end-to-end data pipelines supporting global product self-onboarding.

  • 2020 – 2022

    Global Lead of Diversity and Inclusion, Swift

    Led Swift's multi-year D&I roadmap across 27 locations. Designed and ran the STAR Programme, a women's professional development programme at Sibos — an enduring legacy of my time leading D&I.

  • 2016 – 2020

    Data Skills Lead — Financial Crime Compliance, Swift

    Led a multi-disciplinary data science, engineering and analysis team; defined screening policies and automated assurance frameworks for financial crime compliance products.

  • 2004 – 2016

    UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Head of Data Analysis, leading multi-disciplinary big data and OSINT teams on political, counter-terrorism and counter-proliferation work; earlier roles across data analytics, counter-terrorism and compliance.

Credentials: LSE Certificate in AI Law, Policy and Governance · ICA Specialist Certificate in Financial Crime Risk and New Technology · BA (Hons) Philosophy, First Class, Durham University.

Away from work: playing music, singing, hill walking and painting.

Let's talk

If any of this maps to something you're working on, get in touch.