Team size:  60+

Career Biography

Harshdeep serves as the Senior Vice President – Contract Closure Group (CCG) at HCL Technologies Limited, bringing over 27 years of distinguished leadership across legal, finance, and global operations. As a seasoned legal strategist and qualified Chartered Accountant, Harshdeep has been instrumental in shaping HCLTech’s legal architecture across geographies, industries, and regulatory landscapes. With deep expertise in IT/ITES outsourcing contracts, Harshdeep has led the transformation of HCLTech’s legal function into a globally integrated, business-aligned powerhouse. His leadership spans the creation and scale-up of both the Corporate & Commercial Legal Team and the Global Legal Shared Services supporting transactions worth over $415bn annually.

Harshdeep is known for building high-performance legal teams that are multicultural, multilingual, and geographically distributed, delivering synchronised legal support for complex, high-stakes engagements. Under his guidance, the Contract Closure Group (CCG) has pioneered innovations like the Contract Authorization Tool (CAT), integrating AI and analytics to drive real-time risk scoring, clause intelligence, and contract velocity. His academic foundation includes a Bachelor of Commerce (Honors), Bachelor of Laws (LLB), and Chartered Accountancy, equipping him with a rare blend of legal, financial, and commercial acumen. Harshdeep’s strategic foresight, operational rigor, and commitment to excellence continue to position HCLTech’s legal function as a critical enabler of global growth and resilience.

What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?

Over the past year, HCLTech’s in-house legal team has been at the forefront of enabling transformative, high-value transactions and strategic partnerships that have directly contributed to the company’s accelerated global growth. The team successfully supported the closure of over 60,000 legal instruments, with a cumulative transaction value exceeding $15bn.

Among the standout engagements was a $657m strategic deal with a leading global forex remittance company. This transaction required intricate structuring across multiple regulatory regimes, including data localisation mandates and cross-border compliance frameworks. The legal team navigated these complexities with agility, ensuring airtight governance and commercial alignment.

Additionally, the team facilitated an over $100m managed services agreement with a top-tier European insurance provider and led the legal orchestration for the setup of Global Capability Center (GCC) in Bengaluru for a major client. These projects demanded bespoke risk allocation models, rapid turnaround, and seamless integration with client-side legal and procurement teams.

In the public sector domain, the team led negotiations for multiple government contracts across Europe and Rest Of World, including a confidential IP outsourcing agreement with a sovereign entity. These engagements required nuanced understanding of sovereign immunity, export controls, and jurisdictional sensitivities areas where the team demonstrated exceptional legal acumen.

Central to these successes is the Contracts Closure Group (CCG), a specialised legal-commercial function that embeds legal professionals directly into business units. Leveraging proprietary platforms like the Contract Authorisation Tool (CAT), the team achieved real-time clause analysis, automated risk scoring, and intelligent approval routing. These innovations reduced contract cycle times by 20 to 30%, accelerated revenue realisation, and enhanced compliance visibility across the enterprise.

These achievements reflect a legal function that has evolved from a traditional support role into a strategic business enabler driving commercial velocity, regulatory foresight, and operational excellence at a global scale.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience? 

In today’s regulatory climate, data privacy and AI governance have emerged as critical dimensions of legal risk, especially during periods of instability. At HCLTech, our legal team has proactively adapted to these evolving challenges by embedding resilience into our data governance and contract management frameworks.

A recent example involves navigating the implications of the EU AI Act and India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA), both of which introduced new compliance thresholds around data processing, algorithmic accountability, and cross-border transfers. These shifts coincided with a strategic review of our post-termination confidentiality obligations, particularly around the retention of anonymised confidential information.

In one high-stakes negotiation, a counterparty proposed retaining anonymised data post-contract termination, by passing the standard return/deletion clause. Our legal team conducted a multi-jurisdictional risk analysis, referencing global standards such as GDPR, UK ICO’s “motivated intruder test,” and Singapore’s PDPA guidelines. We demonstrated that anonymisation is not foolproof, citing real-world re-identification cases like the Netflix dataset and NYC taxi records and emphasised the residual risk of linkage attacks and inferential misuse. To ensure resilience, we developed a contractual framework that: mandates deletion of original confidential information prior to anonymisation; restricts retention to datasets anonymized per ISO 27001 or equivalent standards; and prohibits re-identification and secondary use Impose audit rights and indemnity clauses for breach. This approach not only safeguarded proprietary data, but also aligned with emerging global norms, reinforcing our reputation as a privacy-conscious enterprise. Simultaneously, our Contract Authorisation Tool (CAT) was enhanced to flag clauses involving data retention, anonymization, and AI usage. This allowed real-time risk scoring and escalation, ensuring that sensitive provisions were reviewed by privacy specialists and aligned with regulatory expectations.

AI has been taken seriously as a potentially revolutionary technological change in the legal world for a number of years now. Has it had a meaningful impact in how your legal team works in this time?

Absolutely. At HCLTech, AI has evolved from a promising concept into a strategic enabler at the heart of our legal operations. Our proprietary Contract Authorisation Tool (CAT) exemplifies this transformation, integrating GPT-4-powered capabilities to streamline clause analysis, deviation detection, and risk scoring. The CAT system now processes SOW and NDA documents in real time, extracting metadata and key clauses such as termination provisions. It also compares these with parent MSAs to identify deviations. CAT evaluates critical clauses like liability, payment terms, and benchmarking against HCL’s preferred positions, enabling faster and more consistent contract reviews. These tools are currently in Pilot and UAT phase, with demos scheduled to showcase their capabilities. Additional agents are in development to support risk reporting, vendor flow-down analysis, and CLM tasks.

Beyond contracts, AI supports automated approval routing, legal query assignment, and dynamic Power BI dashboards, resulting in a 30% reduction in contract turnaround time and improved visibility across 60,000+ annual transactions.

AI also empowers our legal team with real-time regulatory tracking and legal research, surfacing enforcement trends and jurisdictional nuances. This enables proactive counsel on emerging issues like algorithmic liability, cross-border data transfers, and ESG disclosures. Importantly, AI is not replacing legal judgment, it’s amplifying it. By automating routine tasks and surfacing insights, our lawyers can focus on strategic alignment, stakeholder engagement, and risk calibration.

Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on that you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful of?

Yes, several emerging trends are reshaping the legal and business landscape, and in-house lawyers must remain agile and forward-looking to navigate them effectively. Firstly, regulatory acceleration in AI and data privacy. The pace at which jurisdictions are introducing AI-specific regulations such as the EU AI Act and India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) is unprecedented. These frameworks are not just compliance mandates: they also redefine how businesses handle algorithmic accountability, data governance, and ethical AI deployment. At HCLTech, our legal team has proactively embedded risk filters and governance protocols into business workflows to stay ahead of these changes. In-house lawyers must now be fluent in both legal and technical dimensions of AI to advise effectively.

Second is ESG integration into contractual obligations: Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles are no longer peripheral, they are becoming central to how contracts are structured, especially in global supply chains and public sector engagements. We’ve seen increased demand for ESG disclosures, sustainability-linked clauses, and ethical sourcing commitments. Legal teams must be equipped to translate ESG strategy into enforceable contractual language while ensuring compliance across jurisdictions.

Thirdly, the rise of legal technology and automation: legal tech is evolving from support tools to strategic platforms. AI-powered contract review, automated compliance dashboards, and integrated lifecycle management systems are now essential for scale and speed. Our CAT platform processes over 5,000 transactions monthly, with GPT-4-assisted analysis reducing turnaround times and improving risk visibility. In-house lawyers must embrace these tools not just for efficiency, but to elevate their strategic value.

Another trend is cross-border complexity and geopolitical risk. With growing uncertainties around international trade, data sovereignty, and digital taxation, legal teams must anticipate geopolitical shifts and their impact on business models. Our decentralised legal structure with senior counsels embedded in key geographies has been critical in providing real-time insights and ensuring regulatory coherence. In-house lawyers today must be more than legal experts: they must be strategic advisors, technologists, and risk forecasters. These trends demand a mindset of continuous learning, cross-functional collaboration, and proactive engagement with the evolving legal ecosystem.

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

General Counsel (GC) plays a pivotal role in embedding ESG principles into the corporate DNA – not just through policy, but also through culture, contracts, and collaboration. At HCLTech, our legal leadership has taken a multi-pronged approach to ensure ESG is not a siloed initiative but a shared responsibility across the enterprise.

First is translating ESG strategy into legal frameworks. Our legal team has developed ESG-aligned contract templates and negotiation playbooks that incorporate sustainability-linked clauses, ethical sourcing commitments, and data governance obligations. These tools ensure that ESG principles are reflected in day-to-day business engagements, making compliance a natural outcome of commercial activity.

Cross-functional collaboration is also key. Legal works closely with Risk, Finance, HR, and Sustainability teams to align ESG goals with operational realities. This includes joint training sessions, policy reviews, and audit mechanisms that reinforce ESG accountability across departments. By embedding legal counsel into ESG governance structures, we ensure that compliance is both strategic and actionable.

GCs also need global regulatory foresight. With evolving ESG mandates across jurisdictions, our decentralised legal structure, with senior counsels in key geographies enables real-time adaptation to local requirements. We proactively monitor regulations such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and India’s BRSR framework, ensuring that our ESG commitments remain globally coherent and locally compliant.

A culture of ethical leadership is essential. Our legal team champions ethical decision-making through internal masterclasses, mentorship programs, and thought leadership initiatives. We encourage lawyers to lead conversations on responsible AI, privacy by design, and social equity, reinforcing ESG as a value system, not just a compliance checklist.

Last is technology-enabled ESG monitoring. Through platforms like CAT, we track ESG-related obligations, flag deviations, and generate compliance dashboards. This ensures transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement in how ESG commitments are made. By integrating ESG into contracts, culture, and compliance systems, General Counsel can foster resilient, responsible, and future-ready organisations where legal leadership drives both purpose and performance.