What does it mean to be the person responsible for AI ethics inside a 30,000-person company? Shelby Tallent lives this every day. As the leader of AI ethics, responsibility, and compliance for Alaska Airlines, Shelby works at the intersection of technology, governance, and human trust. Her career across Amazon, Nordstrom, and TeleSign has shaped a perspective that blends policy rigor with product execution. In conversation with host Shannon Peavey, Shelby shares why AI ethics is not about slowing innovation but about guiding it. She explains how ethical value systems become practical decision frameworks, how individuals can hold their ground when goals conflict, and why keeping humans in the loop is not optional. AI should not be looked at as a way to “get us out of things,” she said, rather, we should let it expand our capacity to do what once felt impossible.

00:00 Introduction

01:49 How Alaska Airlines structures the AI Safety & Compliance role

02:18 The ways responsibilities map to company values

04:45 Where foundational principles for AI implementation originate

05:50 Navigating different AI rules per country

07:32 The “9-to-5” of AI Responsibility

13:02 Types of risk and how we mitigate

16:30 A path of many hats23:00 Keeping humans in the loop

29:30 Why we should be optimistic

33:00 Shelby’s challenge to your thinking and approach

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AI Ethics in Action: Alaska Airlines’ Shelby Tallent