Team size: 17

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

Since early 2022, I have worked as president legal at Pidilite, leading legal, secretarial and compliance verticals, while providing strategic advice regarding board related matters, business drivers, both organic and inorganic, growth within the framework of sustainability, governance and compliance, and ensuring enterprise risk management.

My constant endeavour has always been to focus on providing best in class and proactive legal support, through functional leadership with in-depth business understanding, a mind-set focused on compliance and governance, and an alignment between legal and business objectives, to strike the correct balance between governance and profitability. My strength lies in the ability to build and manage largescale complex businesses, adopt pace and simplicity, through strategic, collaborative and inclusive approaches with an innovative problem-solving ability. This helps me as an individual to act as an efficient business enabler.

I have been recognised by different bodies and organisation, including that of Forbes India top general counsel for 2021, and among several achievements, important contributions to the business, in last few years, such as strategic support to our growth agenda, through M&A, business purchase agreements, equity sales, joint ventures, capital infusions, and others. Also, I have led complex high-stake litigations and arbitrations with significant financial exposure, and cases having reputational, personal liabilities and business continuity implications. Lastly, I have led a transformational agenda, including that of post-merger integration to achieve consolidation and synergy benefits.

Have any recent political, economic or regulatory changes impacted your work? How are you dealing with this?

In the past two years, business has seen unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic and to geopolitical tensions. The role of legal and compliance vertical has become demanding, through emergency response, negotiation of commercial contracts, ensuring compliances, including that of sanction regulations. For the in-house legal function to deliver, it required paradigm mind-set changes, being agile, resilient, proactive with business partners and IT prone.

There have been significant changes in business, particularly in the legal and regulatory environment in India. Some of the new regulatory changes that impact the business were the competition bill, the energy conservation amendment bill, and the withdrawal of data protection bill. Additionally, for investments in start-ups, which has synergies with the mainstream business, corporate ventures started playing an important role, which required different skills and competencies from in-house lawyers.