Embed AI

Embed AI is a Netherlands-based freelance AI and privacy consultancy operating through the website embedai.nl. It is a one-person practice led by Zahed Ashkara, a legal counsel and freelance AI and privacy consultant who works at the intersection of law, data and artificial intelligence. The practice positions itself as a source of practical, directly applicable advice rather than abstract legal theory, and it serves clients through interim assignments or defined projects, typically on a hybrid basis from 24 hours per week. The consultancy's core service lines are privacy advice and practical GDPR implementation, data protection impact assessments (DPIAs) and assessment of privacy and AI risks, AI governance including policies and responsibilities, supplier and contract reviews, and practical support for legal teams and the business. It also offers a combined 'Privacy & AI scan' that produces an action plan covering privacy, AI or both. Scope, duration and rate are agreed upfront based on the assignment. Embed AI's founder brings sector experience from financial services, education and publishing, critical infrastructure, central and local government, the social domain, and innovation and SMEs. Named assignments include work at Rabobank, Sanoma, PWN, central government and municipalities. Ashkara has served as AI Governance Consultant in the bank-wide EU AI Act implementation programme at Rabobank, as AI & Privacy Consultant supporting the privacy team at Sanoma, and as Senior Legal Counsel Privacy & AI at the drinking water utility PWN. Earlier in his career he advised central government and municipalities through EIFFEL on privacy, transparency and responsible data use, and large enterprises, SMEs and start-ups through PNO Consultants on privacy, GDPR and legal questions. A distinguishing feature of the practice is its involvement in standards development. Ashkara is a member of the NEN AI & Big Data standards committee, where the standards that give the EU AI Act practical form are developed. This standards work complements the consultancy's client-facing focus on translating the GDPR and the EU AI Act into decisions, roles, controls and evidence that legal teams, management and the business can work with. Embed AI is a small, privately held professional-services brand rather than a product company or a venture-backed platform. Its market is primarily the Netherlands and the wider European Union regulatory environment, and its value proposition rests on direct access to a senior practitioner: clients work directly with the consultant rather than through layers of a larger firm.

Embed AI is a Netherlands-based freelance AI and privacy consultancy built around the practice of Zahed Ashkara, a legal counsel and freelance AI and privacy consultant. The brand operates through the website embedai.nl and is described in its own materials as a freelance consultancy focused on privacy and AI governance. The practice was built on Ashkara's career at the intersection of law, data and AI. Before establishing Embed AI as his consulting brand, he advised central government and municipalities through EIFFEL on privacy, transparency and responsible data use, and large enterprises, SMEs and start-ups through PNO Consultants on privacy, GDPR and legal questions. These roles gave him experience across public-sector and private-sector privacy and data-protection work. He subsequently took on senior in-house and programme assignments that now form the core of Embed AI's track record. At Rabobank he worked as AI Governance Consultant in the bank-wide EU AI Act implementation programme, specifically in the Coverage & Completeness stream, where he assessed the completeness of governance and evidence and prepared the transition to business as usual. At Sanoma, an international education publisher, he served as AI & Privacy Consultant supporting the privacy team, translating the EU AI Act and GDPR into workable controls for AI use cases, guiding AI and data protection impact assessments, and deciding on risk and human oversight together with legal, product and IT. At the drinking water utility PWN he was Senior Legal Counsel Privacy & AI. He has also worked with central government and municipalities. Embed AI's service portfolio reflects this experience: privacy advice and practical GDPR implementation; DPIAs and assessment of privacy and AI risks; AI governance, policies and responsibilities; supplier and contract reviews; and practical support for legal teams and the business. The consultancy offers a combined 'Privacy & AI scan' that produces an action plan covering privacy, AI or both. Engagements are structured as interim assignments or defined projects, with scope, duration and rate agreed upfront, and availability by arrangement on a hybrid basis from 24 hours per week. A notable development in the practice's history is Ashkara's membership, since July 2026, of the NEN AI & Big Data standards committee, where the standards under the EU AI Act are developed. This places the consultancy close to the standard-setting process that shapes how the EU AI Act is operationalised in practice. The practice's stated approach is to make risks visible, fix responsibilities and take decisions together with legal, IT and the business, and to translate the GDPR and the EU AI Act into decisions, roles, controls and evidence that legal teams, management and the business can work with. Embed AI remains a small, privately held professional-services brand. It is not a product company, platform or venture-backed enterprise; its market is primarily the Netherlands and the wider EU regulatory environment, and its model is direct client access to a senior practitioner.

• Zahed Ashkara advises central government and municipalities through EIFFEL on privacy, transparency and responsible data use.

• Zahed Ashkara advises large enterprises, SMEs and start-ups through PNO Consultants on privacy, GDPR and legal questions.

• Ashkara serves as Senior Legal Counsel Privacy & AI at drinking water utility PWN.

• Ashkara serves as AI Governance Consultant in the bank-wide EU AI Act implementation programme at Rabobank (Coverage & Completeness stream).

• Ashkara serves as AI & Privacy Consultant supporting the privacy team at Sanoma.

• Since July 2026, Ashkara is a member of the NEN AI & Big Data standards committee developing standards under the EU AI Act.

Freelance, senior-practitioner-led AI and privacy consultancy delivering directly applicable GDPR and EU AI Act advice, with standards-committee involvement.

• Privacy & AI scan

  A combined scan covering privacy, AI or both, producing an action plan shown immediately.

• Privacy advice and practical GDPR implementation

  Advice and implementation support for GDPR compliance.

• DPIAs and assessment of privacy and AI risks

  Data protection impact assessments and assessment of privacy and AI risks.

• AI governance, policies and responsibilities

  Support for AI governance frameworks, policies and responsibility allocation.

• Supplier and contract reviews

  Review of supplier arrangements and contracts from a privacy and AI perspective.

• Practical support for legal teams and the business

  Temporary support for privacy or governance teams.

1. 1AI & privacy consultancy | Freelance & interim | Embed AIembedai.nl
2. 2Zahed Ashkara, AI & Privacy Consultant | Embed AIembedai.nl
3. 3Embed AIwikidata.org