Chile 2025
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
Vice president, associate general counsel, head of Latin America | Everest Insurance Chile
VP Legal,Regulation and compliance officer | AFP Capital
 General counsel and external affairs officer | SMU
Legal and compliance manager | Celeo Redes
Director, Legal, Sustainability, and Corporate Affairs | Softys
Legal Director | Hanseatic Global Terminals Latin America
General Counsel for Latin America | Air Products Group
General counsel Chile and Latam | Sodexo
Head of legal division | ENAMI – Empresa Nacional de MinerÃa
Co-Director of Legal Department | CompañÃa General de Electricidad- CGE
Chief legal officer and chief compliance officer | Grupo Sencorp
 Director for Legal and Regulatory Affairs | ISA Interchile
General counsel, sustainability and corporate affairs | Sierra Gorda SCM
Lead legal counsel, Andean and South Cone Region | FedEx
General Counsel and Compliance Officer | Sociedad Austral de Electricidad - SAESA
Senior manager, international legal affairs | SBA
General counsel, Chile and lead counsel for Latin America | EY
Director of Corporate and Legal Affairs | Nestlé Chile
Legal and corporate affairs director | Empresas Hites
Director, Legal, Sustainability, and Regulatory Affairs | Statkraft Chile
Human Ressources and Legal Manager | IANSA
Legal, Compliance and Sustainability Manager | ESVAL y Aguas del Valle
On behalf of The Legal 500, I am delighted to introduce the GC Powerlist: Chile 2025.
This edition recognises the general counsel and in-house legal teams who play an important role in shaping Chile’s legal and business landscapes. Through our research, we met with professionals who not only provide professional advice but also influence strategies, drive transformation, and help businesses thrive.
Today’s general counsel are stepping well beyond traditional roles. In Chile, they are central to business planning, navigation of complex regulations, supporting digital transformation, and guiding organisations with commercial foresight. The GC Powerlist: Chile 2025 celebrates those who pair deep legal expertise with the vision and leadership to create a lasting impact.
Paola Cifuentes, General Counsel at Anglo American, shares her perspective:
‘Legal work goes far beyond contracts; it can be a lever for transformation and impact.’ She also emphasises strength and adaptability: ‘It’s not just about reacting to events; it’s about shaping resilient pathways.’ For her, this extends to her team: ‘We often talk about diversity as a goal, but I see it as a condition for good leadership.’
Her words reflect a wider shift across the region. As Macarena Vargas Losada, Legal Vice President and General Counsel at Codelco, explains:
‘Remarkable lawyers need to think out of the box and shift from confrontation to collaboration, built on transparency, trust, and shared vision.’ She adds: ‘Empowering people to lead and thrive is a strategic imperative; because when individuals flourish, so do the organisations they belong to.’
We are proud to present this year’s GC Powerlist: Chile, a celebration of legal professionals who are redefining the future of corporate law and connecting local insight with global impact.
The recent news that elite US firm Sullivan & Cromwell had apologised to a judge over AI hallucinations in a court filing prompted a collective wince from the legal profession.
But while some lawyers remain wary of AI, others are striking a more open-minded note, and at the LexisNexis AI Forum hosted this Wednesday (20 May) by Legal 500 and Legal Business, panelists argued that the risks are far outweighed by the opportunities.
Barbara Zapisetskaya, principal technology counsel at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, made the case that hallucinations and other potential pitfalls can be overcome with a shift in mindset.
‘What makes a difference,’ she said, ‘is empowering your lawyers to take responsibility for AI output – helping them become active AI operators, not just passive AI users. You have agency to decide whether you agree with the output or not.’
Zapisetskaya was among a line-up of leading in-house figures speaking on two panels, which covered everything from practical steps for AI implementation to the key decisions GCs need to be making in the coming months.
Financial Times general counsel Dan Guilford began by stressing the importance of building the right culture for AI adoption. In addition to proactively upskilling himself, Guilford talked about how he had implemented a voluntary weekly ‘show and tell’ meeting for team members to share successful use cases – or an exercise that became a gratifying measure of progress.
Other panelists discussed how increased in-house productivity is altering the dynamic with their external counsel.
While some see the use of AI by law firms as a precursor for reduced fees, Russell Davies, head of global operations for legal and compliance at Dentsu, said that faster results – however they are delivered – are something to be valued.
GSK assistant general counsel Anthony Kenny agreed, saying that while there was an expectation that external counsel would be utilising AI, the focus should be on the value of the output, rather than an overemphasis on identifying AI use as a justification to reduce fees.
Speaking on the second panel, MUFG EMEA general counsel James Morgan stressed the critical importance of education, noting that educating the C-suite on the advantages and risks of AI is just as important as enabling large in-house teams to use these tools.
Shanthini Satyendra, vice-chair of the AI Committee, Society for Computers & Law, CEO and founder of Manisain, offered a reminder of the importance of making the connection between tasks and the purpose behind them, extolling the virtues of identifying use cases for AI that can solve a meaningful problem.
Zapisetskaya concurred, adding that one of the most important tasks for GCs across the next six to twelve months is to create AI playbooks and templates, noting that ‘it is easy for lawyers to see problems – much harder for lawyers to see opportunities.’
There was also broad agreement among panellists that GCs should focus on upskilling their junior lawyers on AI, rather than – as some may expect – cutting back their workforce. As Satyendra summarised: ‘Some people are replacing human capital with AI without thinking about what’s required to make AI work. Retain your people and train them up.’
The panels were moderated by Emma Millington, head of the UK Lexis+ Finance Group, and LexisNexis director of segment management Stuart Greenhill.
