General Manager Legal | Grasim Industries Limited
Lucky Popli
General Manager Legal | Grasim Industries Limited
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?
Three key trends are reshaping the in-house legal landscape. Firstly, regulatory convergence around ESG and sustainability disclosures. Multinationals must now prepare for cross-border ESG audits, carbon reporting, and supply chain due diligence. Secondly, digital compliance and data localisation laws. Countries are strengthening controls on how data is stored, transferred, and used, requiring legal teams to embed data governance within business models.
Lastly, AI governance and ethical technology adoption. As AI becomes embedded in decision-making, ensuring transparency, accountability, and fairness is emerging as a new legal frontier.
In-house counsel must therefore evolve from being reactive risk mitigators to strategic foresight partners who anticipate regulatory shifts before they crystallise.
How can general counsel foster a corporate culture that supports ESG principles and compliance across all levels of the organisation?
Embedding ESG is about moving from policy to purpose. I focus on three levers. To begin with, toning from the top. Partnering with leadership to integrate ESG commitments into Board charters, business KPIs, and supplier contracts.
Secondly, practical empowerment. Translating legal ESG requirements into simple, actionable checklists and training for operations and procurement teams. And, finally, Accountability through governance. Building ESG-linked compliance dashboards, risk registers, and vendor due diligence protocols.
We operate at the intersection of sustainability and innovation, and legal plays a catalytic role in ensuring that every initiative from renewable energy sourcing to circular textile partnerships is legally compliant, transparent, and value-creating.
Looking forward, what trends do you foresee in the legal landscape over the next 5–10 years that companies should prepare for?
The next five to ten years will redefine the in-house legal role and I foresee following key trends. Firstly, ESG and climate accountability becoming enforceable law, beyond disclosure-based compliance. AI regulation and digital ethics emerging as a new compliance domain and integrated risk and compliance ecosystems where legal, sustainability, and cybersecurity merge will be also on my top priorities. I will also focus on cross-border dispute evolution, with increased emphasis on mediation and arbitration reforms and purpose-driven governance where companies are measured as much by trust and transparency as by profit.
Legal teams that invest in foresight, technology, and collaboration will lead this transformation from the front.