Human Rights Assessment of the AI Data Supply Chain

Authors

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  Lale Tekişalp

  Director, Responsible Tech, BSR

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  Lale Tekişalp

  Director, Responsible Tech, BSR

  

  New York

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  Lale advises companies on the responsible design and deployment of technology, helping them navigate emerging risks and strengthen practices that protect people across technology value chains. Her work focuses on Responsible AI, end-use risks of technology products and services, online platform governance, and integrating human rights-based approaches into technology governance.

  Lale leads BSR's Tech Against Trafficking collaboration, which brings together some of the largest tech companies in the world to advance the use of technology to fight human trafficking and modern slavery, and to address human trafficking on online platforms and in global supply chains. Lale also leads BSR’s multi-company working group focused on Labor Rights in the AI Data Supply Chain, which promotes labor rights for data enrichment workers preparing datasets and training algorithms that underpin AI systems. 

  Prior to BSR, Lale worked at Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise division, where she played a key role in establishing the company's cloud business across Turkey, the Middle East, and Africa. She also worked with the Partnership on AI to help build its AI for Social Good strategy.

  Lale holds an MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, where she focused on responsible business practices. She received a BA in Political Science and International Relations from Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey.

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  Recent Insights From Lale Tekişalp

  • Responsible AI in Practice / May 13, 2026 / Audio
  • Taking a Responsible Approach to AI: A Guide for Business / March 5, 2026 / Insights+
  • From Innovation to Impact: Key Takeaways from the 2025 Tech Against Trafficking Summit / November 19, 2025 / Blog
  • Harnessing AI in Sustainability: Emerging Use Cases / September 17, 2025 / Reports
  • Protecting Children in the Digital Environment: The Role of Impact Assessments / February 26, 2025 / Blog

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• 

  Salah Husseini

  Managing Director, Human Rights and Inclusive Business, BSR

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  Salah Husseini

  Managing Director, Human Rights and Inclusive Business, BSR

  

  Paris

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  Salah leads BSR’s global human rights and inclusive business practice, supporting companies in implementing human rights due diligence programs across industries and sectors. His work includes developing human rights strategies and governance models; aligning company due diligence programs with regulatory, investor, and other stakeholder expectations; and executing field-level Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIAs).

  Salah brings significant experience in supply chain engagement across a range of sectors, including consumer goods, mining and minerals, information and communications technologies (ICT), artificial intelligence (AI), and data center-related supply chains. Salah is a regular contributor to the Human Rights Working Group, the Labor Rights in the AI Data Supply Chain collaboration, and Action for Sustainable Derivatives (ASD), among others.

  Prior to joining BSR, Salah worked at a major media conglomerate where he oversaw alignment with international human and labor rights standards across the company’s manufacturing supply chain. He also worked with a standard-setting organization that developed the first auditable program for labor standards enforcement in manufacturing. Additionally, he practiced as an attorney in New York City, focusing on civil rights issues.

  Salah holds a JD from the American University Washington College of Law, and a BA in Political Science, Spanish, and Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Michigan.

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  Recent Insights From Salah Husseini

  • Partnering with Suppliers to Advance Human Rights Due Diligence / September 9, 2025 / Blog
  • What’s Next? Building on a Corporate-Level Human Rights Assessment / September 3, 2025 / Blog
  • CSDDD: Using a Risk-Based Approach to Address Human Rights and Environmental Impacts in Supply Chains / February 6, 2025 / Blog
  • Embedding Human Rights from Boots to the Boardroom / April 26, 2023 / Blog
  • Inside BSR: Q&A with Salah Husseini / May 27, 2021 / Blog

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• 

  Margot Thompson-Wells

  Associate, Human Rights and Inclusive Business, BSR

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  Margot Thompson-Wells

  Associate, Human Rights and Inclusive Business, BSR

  

  New York

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  Margot supports BSR member companies across industries in advancing human rights and sustainability throughout their value chains. She also supports BSR’s Human Rights Working Group, helping companies around the world implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and navigate emerging trends and best practices.

  Before joining BSR, Margot worked in partnerships and public affairs at the United Nations Foundation, managing initiatives and relationships with civil society, corporate partners, and UN agencies to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Prior to this, she worked at a Colombian foundation in Bogotá and at a Geneva-based NGO focused on children's rights.

  Margot holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Exeter and is fluent in English, French, and Spanish.

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  Recent Insights From Margot Thompson-Wells

  • Partnering with Suppliers to Advance Human Rights Due Diligence / September 9, 2025 / Blog
  • Mining and the Just Transition: Putting People at the Center of the Energy Transition / August 26, 2025 / Blog
  • Five Ways Companies Can Help Smallholders and SMEs Prepare for Upcoming Regulations / March 19, 2024 / Blog

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• Faraz Ansari

  Former Associate, Responsible Tech, BSR

AI systems depend on large-scale human labor throughout the AI lifecycle. Behind model development, alignment, evaluation, and deployment is a global workforce performing data annotation, reinforcement learning from human feedback, red-teaming, content review, model monitoring, and more. While AI is often framed as autonomous, these systems remain fundamentally reliant on human workers to ensure quality, reliability, and safety.

Awareness of labor rights issues in the AI data supply chain is growing, along with emerging good practices, resources, and examples for addressing them. However, companies have not sufficiently integrated these issues into their broader human rights programs, responsible sourcing policies, or AI governance efforts—and the field lacks a coherent, industry-wide approach to addressing them.

This Human Rights Assessment, conducted by BSR with a group of technology companies, examines labor and human rights impacts across the AI data supply chain and identifies actions companies can take individually and collectively to strengthen governance and responsible sourcing practices. The assessment was informed by stakeholder engagement with worker representatives, unions, civil society organizations, academics, buyers, and vendors, and is grounded in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.