Peter Vinh Quang Nguyen

SVP Legal, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Compliance Officer

The Descartes Systems Group Inc.

Legal team size: 15

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

This past year has been one of both growth and resilience at The Descartes Systems Group. Since July 2024, I helped oversee 5 acquisitions involving targets in the U.S. and Bulgaria. These transactions not only expanded our geographic footprint but also strengthened our ability to serve customers globally while supporting our growth thesis.

Another highlight was the launch of our ethics-focused compliance program, which I now oversee as Compliance Officer. This initiative establishes clear standards of conduct across the organisation and serves as a foundation for building out a broader, global compliance program in the future.

A key focus for the legal team has been increasing automation to drive efficiency. In January 2024, 67% of contracts were automated; by mid-2025, nearly 73%, while manual drafting fell from 33% to 27%, freeing capacity for higher-value advisory and strategic work.

To further drive innovation, I appointed leads within the legal team to guide the responsible use of AI tools. Their mandate covers both improving efficiency within our department and helping ensure that the company adopts AI responsibly in its broader operations and product offerings.

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

What stands out most is the variety of experiences. I’ve overseen more than 20 acquisitions as General Counsel, including complex antitrust reviews, while also defending against shareholder activism and guiding companies through sensitive investigations. Over the course of my career, I have also helped organisations expand into new jurisdictions including China, India, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.

I’ve enjoyed building community as well, having founded and led the GC Forum, a peer network for General Counsel that ran from 2017 to 2020 and was ahead of its time in fostering shared learning and collaboration. Recognition along the way has also been gratifying; I have been named to the Legal 500 GC Powerlist (2016, 2019 Teams, 2020) and Canadian Lawyer’s Top 25 Most Influential (2019), and received awards for compliance innovation, technology adoption, and change leadership. While those accolades are rewarding, the most satisfying part has been helping businesses grow responsibly.

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

Our team contributes in two critical ways: by negotiating and closing customer contracts to drive organic growth, and by completing acquisitions that expand the company’s scale and reach. Alongside this, we manage risk through our ethics-focused compliance program, provide practical legal advice, and support innovation. In doing so, we help Descartes deliver record financial results while operating with integrity worldwide.