Legal team size: 10

What country you are based in? Kenya

Looking forward, what trends do you foresee in the legal landscape over the next 5–10 years that companies should prepare for?

   I believe the next decade will demand legal teams to operate at the intersection of technology, trust, and transformation. First, AI regulation and digital ethics will (and has already) become a mainstream concern. As companies increasingly automate decision-making, legal teams must help define governance models that balance innovation with accountability.

   Second, data privacy and cross-border data flows will grow even more complex especially for multinationals operating across fragmented regulatory environments like Africa. The challenge will be developing cohesive data strategies that honour both compliance and consumer expectations as well as ambitious corporate goals.

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

   I count myself as quite adventurous and so my career has been something of a mixed bag! My legal journey has been defined by a mix of global exposure and hyper-local nuance. A particularly formative moment was working in Washington DC at Holland & Knight, where I supported a nuclear decommissioning project (which is a form of energy we don’t particularly use in Africa). This was a stark contrast to my later work navigating music royalties and A&R in Nairobi. This wide spectrum shaped my appreciation for stakeholder engagement, regulatory enforcement and the role of legal in very human outcomes.

   In private practice, I had the chance to advise on the African entry of tech giants like SpaceX, Google, and Meta, helping them navigate everything from ISP licensing to digital tax frameworks. Now, in-house at Coca-Cola, I’ve gone from advising disruptors to becoming one – embedding privacy, competition, and marketing compliance into a legacy brand’s transformation journey. I am currently serving a secondment at Coca-Cola Beverages Kenya Limited, which allows me to see and execute the business goals from end to end. Never a dull moment.

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

   We position legal as an enabler, not a gatekeeper or ‘policeman’. Our role is to help the business move at speed while making confident, compliant decisions. We play an active role in understanding the desired business outcomes and working with the business to create a compliant roadmap to that outcome. In moments of uncertainty, we do not just mitigate – we lead proactively in creating solutions all while vigorously defending the company’s license to operate.

How are you bringing the legal department closer to your business colleagues?

   Gone are the days when legal was seen as “the department of no”. We pride ourselves as business partners and that means showing up early, often, and with a problem-solving mindset. That also means ensuring proximity to business discussions by sitting in on cross-functional business planning meetings and proactively educating the team on legal issues that are relevant to the business to demystify risk.

 Currently, as a seconded legal lead to our bottler (Coca-Cola Beverages Kenya Limited), I now sit on the country management team, and I am excited to embed legal thinking directly into operational decisions. It’s a real-time masterclass in walking alongside business, not behind it.