Team size: Three

Can you tell us a little about your significant accomplishments over the last few years, as a team or by yourself?

We have been undergoing extensive work on expanding our digital businesses while taking into account FDI compliance, tax considerations, complex contracts, and supply chain management challenges.

I also led a project for transforming legal and regulatory compliance management through the introduction of automation and a digital compliance management platform providing comprehensive coverage of laws applicable to our business, comprehensively listing compliance actions flowing from such laws and identifying specific employees/roles responsible for such compliance actions. The platform involved significant investment from a time and resource perspective but has set us up for a much more evolved approach to risk management in the long term.

I have been leading the legal workstream on multiple transformational business projects including integrated facilities management and captive renewal energy solutions for our manufacturing sites.

How has the increasing consciousness of climate change and sustainability affected your company and the team’s priorities?

Mars has committed $1bn globally to becoming ‘Sustainable in a Generation’ and this has been reflected in multiple initiatives undertaken by our India businesses. Our manufacturing sites are implementing a mix of models and strategies that aim at reducing our carbon footprint, replenishing ground water levels and a 100% transition to renewable energy sources. We have a ‘Shubh Mint’ program through which we have been making a positive impact on the lives of tens of thousands of small and mid-sized farmers, including through training them in Good Agricultural Practices. Our R&D teams are also constantly working on ways to reduce plastics in our packaging.

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this?

The understanding and alignment with our values is critical – Mars is a multinational company with diverse businesses that have interests in manufacturing and services. We are still, however, a privately held, family-owned business and we prefer to work with a small panel of firms who have been associated with us as advisors for a long time and have a deep understanding of not just our business but also, critically, our values and culture.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most? Which have you found most useful in your legal team?

The evolution that is coming, is in improving user interfaces. Many of the current tools are complicated to use and far from fool-proof when it comes to data security. As vendors improve their products and the UI becomes smoother, their adoption by legal teams will accelerate. Technology allows us to do more, at a faster pace and a more economical cost. Embracing the change is the only way to survive and thrive in the rapidly changing business environment that we are in.