Deniz Çelikkaya graduated with honours from Kadir Has University Faculty of Law, where she completed a thesis on the Legal Responsibilities of Digital Service Providers, and earned her Master’s degree in European Union Law from Marmara University with a thesis focusing on the Ethical Concerns of Artificial Intelligence in the Criminal Justice System under EU law. She is dual-qualified as a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales and a lawyer in Turkey and she advises companies and individuals on both English and Turkish laws.

She specialises in AI governance, including AI risk management under the EU AI Act, algorithmic bias mitigation, and the ethical governance of emerging technologies, as well as commercial and corporate law and GDPR compliance. Deniz has significant experience in sanctions and trade, with a particular focus on technology transactions involving EU and US sanctions on defence technologies. She has successfully helped startups establish themselves in the UK, secure investments, navigate funding rounds up to Series A, obtain UK government grants, and gain entry into leading accelerator programmes.

Deniz has collaborated on strategic partnerships with academic institutions such as Imperial College London and King’s College London, and she has contributed to initiatives like the Euroconsumers and Google consumer empowerment project. She is an active member of the International Association of Algorithmic Auditors (IAAA) and ForHumanity.