Nahid Farhady Ghalaty is a Principal Software Engineer at Microsoft, where she leads privacy and security initiatives for Copilot and other ML-integrated products. With over a decade of experience in AI product development, cybersecurity, and privacy engineering, her work spans both applied research and enterprise-scale deployment. Previously at Google Cloud and Capital One CyberML, Nahid has driven innovation in threat modeling, privacy-preserving machine learning, and synthetic data evaluation. Her technical leadership is grounded in deep expertise across ML pipelines, differential privacy, and adversarial testing, bolstered by a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech.
Beyond industry, Nahid is an active educator and thought leader. As an instructor at the University of San Diego, UC Berkeley School of Information and previously at institutions like George Mason and George Washington University, she has taught courses in algorithms, computer architecture, and ethical AI, Cryptography and Cybersecurity. She’s passionate about bridging the gap between academic rigor and real-world systems, empowering the next generation of engineers and researchers. Her dedication to equity and global collaboration is reflected in both her community engagement and her efforts to develop responsible AI systems at scale.