What are the key projects that you have been involved in over the past twelve months?

Following the MBO, we carried out a restructuring of businesses within the group. In addition, we worked on defining the legally permissible scope for the use of AI, which is a new business area, based on the current legal framework. We also responded to new legislation and legal amendments, including the Proper Transactions Act and the Freelance Protection Act.

Please describe a situation where your advice had a significant impact on business outcomes or objectives.

Regarding AI utilisation in particular, legal interpretations remain unsettled. However, by exchanging views with relevant stakeholders to establish our current permissible boundaries, I believe this has brought significant positive outcomes for our business.

Furthermore, regarding strict compliance with the Proper Transactions Act and the Freelance Protection Act., supervisory authorities have shown a tendency to conduct rigorous investigations. By thoroughly institutionalising compliance measures, we were able to strengthen legal compliance, which also contributed greatly to the safe and stable operation of the business.

AI remains at the forefront of conversations about the future. How can in-house counsel ensure the successful integration of legal tech, while maintaining the human element?

While the utilisation of AI in legal operations is inevitable, addressing the issue of hallucination remains a challenge in a field where errors are not tolerated. Given this issue, I believe it is more practical to focus first on identifying specific areas where AI can be safely applied. In addition, rather than limiting ourselves to commercially available legal tech solutions, we should also consider the potential for AI to enable the in-house development of a wide range of business support functions.

How can general counsel foster a corporate culture that supports ESG principles and compliance across all levels of the organisation?

In an environment of rapid change where legal frameworks struggle to keep pace with reality, establishing compliance while also taking ESG considerations into account, it is important not to limit ourselves to the strict enforcement of traditional rules based solely on legal compliance. Rather, grounding our approach in our MVV and positioning fairness as an important value within the corporate culture are likely to contribute to raising the overall level of compliance across the organisation.