What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

Siemens’ new North Star is to become ONE Tech Company. This vision emphasises the importance of aligning all divisions and business units under a unified goal, fostering collaboration, and leveraging technology to drive innovation across the organisation. Combining the real and digital worlds involves integrating its real-world industrial and infrastructure expertise with its digital capabilities, including software, AI, and immersive engineering, to deliver innovative solutions like the industrial metaverse and Digital Twins to customers. This unified approach empowers businesses to accelerate their digital transformation, optimise entire lifecycles, and create more sustainable products and operations. In this context, the role of General Counsel and Legal has been pivotal in enabling this vision, and this has been our strategic priority for the last year as regards our operations.

Siemens has been a pioneer in “reshaping” the role of legal counsel from “service provider” to “business partner”. In today’s dynamic legal and business landscape, the role of the in-house legal counsel has further evolved to that of a strategic partner, digital enabler, and ethical steward. An in-house counsel must possess a deep understanding of the business and its strategic priorities. At Siemens, Legal is embedded in initiatives like the ONE Tech Company strategy, ensuring that legal strategy aligns with innovation, digitalisation, and sustainability goals. Furthermore, an in-house counsel must champion ethical conduct, foster a speak-up culture, and ensure compliance frameworks are not just followed but internalised. This is especially critical in ESG integration, where legal plays a central role in embedding Siemens’ DEGREE framework across operations. An in-house counsel must be digitally fluent, leverage technology across legal operations, maintain effective communication and cooperation with all relevant stakeholders, be resilient, adaptable, and solution-oriented, foster inclusive environments, and invest in personal and team development.

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

As General Counsel at Siemens, I view the integration of ESG principles not merely as a compliance obligation but as a strategic imperative that shapes our corporate identity and long-term resilience. Fostering a culture that embraces ESG begins with embedding ethical leadership and transparency into the daily operations of the legal and business functions. At Siemens, our commitment to ESG is reflected in the DEGREE framework, which guides our actions across Decarbonisation, Ethics, Governance, Resource efficiency, Equity, and Employability. A General Counsel at Siemens actively promotes this framework by championing cross-functional collaboration to ensure ESG considerations are integrated into decision-making processes, risk assessments, etc., driving proactive compliance including, among other things, embedding ESG into governance structures and operational frameworks.