Fenwick’s Down the Gradient

Building AI responsibly isn't just about what a product can do; it's about anticipating potential risks and building the infrastructure needed to address them. 
In this episode, Fenwick’s Melanie Jolson and Adine Mitrani continue the Women Shaping the Future of AI panel discussion with Dr. Allison Mishkin, child safety + wellbeing product policy lead at OpenAI; Dr. Gal Noyman-Veksler, partner at Lionbird Ventures; and Stacey Matlen, senior vice president of innovation at Partnership for New York City. 
Recorded during New York Tech Week, part two of the panel discussion explores designing AI literacy into products, safety standards in health tech, why safety should be viewed as a core product consideration, the intersection of FemTech and AI, and the future of agentic AI. 
Missed the first half of the discussion? Check out part one, Getting It Right: AI Safety, Trust, and Adoption  

AI safety isn't just a technical challenge; it's a human one shaped by developmental science, civic infrastructure, and the people building at the frontier. 
During New York Tech Week, Fenwick hosted Women Shaping the Future of AI, a cross-sector panel exploring how women are shaping the next phase of AI across platforms, capital, safety, and public infrastructure. 
Fenwick’s Melanie Jolson and Adine Mitrani were joined by Dr. Allison Mishkin, child safety + wellbeing product policy lead at OpenAI; Dr. Gal Noyman-Veksler, partner at Lionbird Ventures; and Stacey Matlen, senior vice president of innovation at Partnership for New York City. 
This episode is the first part of the conversation and explores building AI safety protocols for children, New York City’s framework for evaluating civic technology, safety and equity in health tech investing, and the role women are playing in AI adoption. 

AI is everywhere in life sciences, forcing hard questions about ownership, value, and collaboration. 
In this episode of Down the Gradient, Fenwick’s Adine Mitrani and Toney Jacobson sit down with Andrew Whitehead, associate general counsel at Genentech, to discuss: 
The evolving role of AI in the life sciences industry, and what has and hasn’t changed over the last five years 
The realities of securing “meaningful” patent protection for AI-related inventions in life sciences 
Key implications of USPTO Commissioner John Squires’ revised Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions 
What makes a good AI partnership and red flags that might kill a deal 

Fenwick’s Down the Gradient podcast cuts through the noise around AI to take a thoughtful look at the real decisions shaping the AI ecosystem, one topic at a time. Instead of headlines or hype, we're focused on practical conversations about how AI is actually being developed, governed, and commercialized, from regulation and trust and safety, to investments, exits, and open-source strategy.