Francesca Romana Pesce

Member of the Milan data and technology team, Francesca advises on technology and data-related matters across the EU.

Francesca is an associate with experience in privacy, AI and digital regulation, supporting organisations in navigating legal and governance challenges across an evolving regulatory environment. Her expertise includes data protection compliance, data breach management, AI governance, regulatory risk assessment and the development of proactive compliance strategies. She is also Italy Chapter Chair of Women in AI Governance a worldwide community that fosters an inclusive environment, collaboration and shared expertise in AI governance.

Before joining Freshfields, Francesca earned a PhD in Legal Informatics from the University of Milan, awarded with the Doctor Europaeus distinction, a European-level certification granted alongside the national doctorate. Her doctoral research focused on the use of foresight and AI to achieve anticipatory compliance. During her PhD she was a visiting researcher at the European Data Protection Supervisor, working within the Tech & Privacy Unit on AI, data protection and future studies.

Francesca is fluent in Italian and English and proficient in French.