Legal team size: 20

What projects are you most proud to have worked on over the past 12 months?

I played a central role in Hootsuite’s transformational acquisition of Talkwalker, a 400-person social listening SaaS platform based in multiple jurisdictions. This deal positioned Hootsuite as the leader in the social media management and listening space. I led the transaction from end to end, ensuring legal, regulatory, and operational integration across multiple jurisdictions. My leadership was instrumental in ensuring a smooth transition aligned with the company’s long-term vision.

I oversaw negotiation of mission-critical data access agreements with social networks and AI providers, and the negotiation of complex credit facilitates agreements.

I spearheaded Hootsuite’s cross-functional AI governance framework from inception, including policy development, collaboration with product/engineering teams, executive oversight, company-wide enablement, legal terms and compliance with evolving AI legislation

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?

Working first in restructuring and then in banking as a lawyer is a unique and interesting career path as it provides a holistic understanding of a company’s financial lifecycle. You learn how to help a business in distress, then apply that knowledge to advise healthy companies on how to grow.

Being CLO at a social media management company which is focused on AI-powered products/solutions requires a unique set of skills. This role operates at the intersection of rapidly evolving technology, privacy, IP and AI laws/regulations. This requires a deep understanding of several cutting-edge legal areas: data privacy and security; IP in a digital age; and platform-specific rules and policies.

How does your team contribute to the overall business strategy of the company?

My team champions modernisation within legal operations. We have implemented legal technology solutions, including AI tools, and embraced fractional legal services to boost scalability and efficiency.

My team is integral in Hootsuite’s most business-critical matters, from being an enabler of a Global revenue organisation, to being key advisors and partners relating to acquisitions, credit facilities, and data access agreements. My team is integral in helping align leadership on negotiation strategy and coordinating cross-functional teams.

My team’s proactive approach to privacy directly contributes to our company’s overall business strategy by building customer trust and unlocking new market opportunities. We have shifted the legal role from a simple compliance checker to a strategic enabler. As an example, by achieving HIPAA compliance, we have demonstrated our commitment to safeguarding sensitive health information, which is very important to healthcare customers. This accomplishment has allowed us to further enter the healthcare market, giving our sales and product teams a competitive advantage and a differentiator in the market.

Having a seat at the executive table allows my team to be a proactive strategic partner vs being viewed as a compliance cost center. This enables us to assess and identify legal risks before they become costly problems. This proactive risk management allows the business to innovate confidently, knowing that applicable legal guardrails are in place.