Jean-Philippe Laligand has been the group general counsel for AKKA Technologies since 2008. He started his career as an engineer in the field of artificial intelligence. During his career he gained experience in the information technology services industry, he managed groups of small companies and had a stint as chief financial officer of a financial group, with €1.5bn market share value. He then went on to gain a master’s degree in corporate and tax law and decided to devote himself entirely to the legal industry, upon joining AKKA Technologies, he grew the legal team from two to 18 lawyers over five countries.

His strong experience in business operation and finance has helped him be able to successfully conduct dozens of acquisitions deals of all types and sizes. ‘My business knowledge taught me to develop legal agility and pragmatism in a more and more complex and unpredictable environment’ says Laligand. During his time at AKKA Technologies he has worked as a ‘conciliator’ and ‘emulsifier’ to explain to the operational function the purpose of legal topics for the group and to explain to the lawyers the necessity of assimilating the language of operational people, Laligand reveals, ‘I am really excited to act as a stimulator to make the legal team share and win my three top challenges of: reactivity, information to manage and complexity’. Laligand continues to act as a visionary for the group, able to anticipate group expansion in order to prepare legal tools and adequate answers to meet the business’s requirements.