Team size: Over 650

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

In recent years, our legal team has undergone a significant evolution—from a traditional transactional support role to a strategic partner that enables organisational resilience and growth. This transformation reflects a deliberate shift in mindset and capability, positioning legal as a critical enabler of business success rather than a reactive function. At the heart of this journey are two key levers: enhancing team capability and optimising internal and external resources to meet dynamic business needs. We have invested in upskilling our team to strengthen technical expertise, commercial acumen, and risk anticipation skills. Simultaneously, we have redefined engagement models with external counsel to achieve cost efficiency while ensuring specialised support for high-risk and complex matters. By adopting a strategic, balanced approach to resource allocation, we have created a legal structure that is agile, scalable, and future-ready. This evolution ensures that we are not just supporting the business—we are actively enabling its growth, safeguarding its resilience, and unlocking new opportunities for success.

Technology has been a cornerstone of this transformation, serving as a catalyst for efficiency and innovation. By embracing automation for routine, high-volume tasks—such as contract reviews, compliance checks, and document management—we have dramatically improved turnaround times and minimised operational risk. These advancements not only streamline processes but also enhance accuracy and consistency, reducing the likelihood of human error in critical areas. The real value, however, lies in what this enables for our people. Freed from repetitive administrative work, our legal professionals can now focus on high-impact strategic advisory roles—providing nuanced guidance, anticipating risks, and shaping business decisions that drive growth. This shift elevates the legal function from a cost center to a value creator, reinforcing our position as a proactive partner in the organisation’s success.

At the core of our approach lies integrity. We have earned trust by consistently upholding ethical standards and reinforcing stakeholder confidence. This commitment to doing the right thing—internally and externally—remains the foundation of our reputation.

Looking Ahead, our focus will remain on driving transformation through automation, innovation, and cultural resilience. By embedding strategic vision, collaboration, client-centricity, talent development, and operational excellence into our DNA, we aim to position the legal function as a true business enabler—future-ready, agile, and ethically grounded. The next chapter is about anticipating change, embracing technology, and continuing to deliver value that strengthens both governance and growth.

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

The legal function today transcends its traditional role of risk mitigation and has evolved into a proactive architect of organisational resilience. No longer confined to reacting to challenges, it now anticipates risks, shapes strategic decisions, and embeds compliance into the fabric of business operations. By leveraging data-driven insights, technology, and forward-looking advisory, legal ensures that resilience is not an afterthought but a core design principle—enabling the enterprise to adapt, thrive, and grow in an increasingly complex and volatile environment.

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?   

The role of in-house counsel is undergoing a profound shift. Over the past year, several forces have redefined expectations—demanding agility, foresight, and innovation to remain strategic partners.

Generative AI (GenAI) has moved beyond experimentation to become a core component of legal workflows. The mandate is clear: transition from pilots to full-scale adoption, embed AI seamlessly into existing systems, and establish robust governance frameworks. AI-powered tools are transforming contract lifecycle management, compliance monitoring, and legal research—delivering speed, precision, and cost efficiency. For legal teams, this means building AI literacy, mastering prompt engineering, and collaborating closely with IT to mitigate risks while unlocking new value. Those who fail to adapt risk falling behind in both capability and credibility.

Global regulations are evolving at an unprecedented pace. Mandatory ESG disclosures, stricter data privacy laws, and AI governance frameworks such as the EU AI Act are setting new benchmarks. Compliance can no longer be reactive; it must be proactive and predictive. Legal teams need real-time monitoring tools and harmonised strategies to manage cross-border regulatory divergence effectively. Anticipating these shifts early is critical to avoiding reputational damage and financial exposure. In-house counsel must position compliance as a strategic advantage, not a constraint.

With rising matter volumes and flat budgets, efficiency is no longer optional—it’s imperative. Legal Operations has emerged as a discipline focused on process optimisation, cost control, and technology adoption. Metrics-driven performance, alternative resourcing models, and automation are becoming standard practice. This evolution enables legal teams to deliver more with less while maintaining quality and responsiveness. Legal Ops is not just about operational excellence; it’s about creating capacity for strategic work that drives business outcomes.

Collectively, these trends signal a fundamental shift—from legal as a risk mitigator to legal as a catalyst for business transformation. The future-ready legal function will be tech-enabled, compliance-smart, and operationally agile. Embracing this change will not only mitigate risk but also unlock strategic value, positioning legal as a true business enabler in an increasingly complex and digital world.

  
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?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has moved from being a theoretical disruptor to a practical enabler in the legal function. Over the past year, its impact on our team has been both transformational and measurable, reshaping workflows, enhancing efficiency, and elevating our strategic role within the organisation.

 Initially, AI adoption was cautious—focused on pilots and proof-of-concept exercises. Today, it is embedded in our core processes. We leverage AI-powered contract lifecycle management tools to automate first-pass reviews, flag deviations from playbooks, and generate clause suggestions. This has reduced turnaround times for routine agreements like NDAs by up to 70%, freeing lawyers to focus on complex negotiations and strategic advisory work.

Legal research, traditionally time-intensive, has been revolutionised by AI. Tools using natural language processing now deliver summaries of lengthy statutes and case law in minutes, enabling faster risk assessments and better decision-making. Similarly, AI-driven compliance platforms monitor regulatory changes across jurisdictions, providing real-time alerts and tailored checklists. This proactive capability ensures we stay ahead of evolving obligations, particularly in areas like data privacy and ESG disclosures.

AI has become a cornerstone of legal operations optimisation. Automated intake systems categorise and route requests, reducing manual triage and improving response times. Integrated dashboards powered by AI convert everyday activity into structured data, enabling accurate reporting on matter volumes and cycle times—metrics that were previously difficult to capture. These insights have strengthened our ability to forecast workloads and allocate resources effectively. 

Beyond routine tasks, AI has supported high-stakes projects such as entity mergers and organisational restructuring. By automating document review and risk flagging, AI tools have accelerated due diligence and contract harmonisation, critical for meeting compressed timelines in transformational initiatives.

The adoption of AI has required a mindset change. We invested in AI literacy and prompt engineering training for our team, ensuring lawyers understand both the potential and limitations of these tools. This has fostered confidence in using AI responsibly, with human oversight to maintain ethical and professional standards.

Looking forward, what trends do you foresee in the legal landscape over the next 5–10 years that companies should prepare for?

The Legal Horizon is preparing for the Next Decade and the legal landscape is entering a period of profound transformation. Over the next 5–10 years, businesses must anticipate trends that will redefine risk management, compliance, and governance. Five themes stand out:

Artificial Intelligence will move beyond being a productivity enhancer to becoming the backbone of legal operations. AI-driven platforms will manage contract lifecycles, deliver predictive analytics, and enable real-time compliance monitoring. Legal teams will evolve into multidisciplinary units, blending lawyers with technologists, data scientists, and prompt engineers. The rise of agentic AI—capable of autonomous decision-making within defined parameters—will require robust governance frameworks to ensure ethical and accountable use. Early investment in AI literacy and governance is critical to avoid regulatory and reputational risks.

Regulatory environments will become increasingly fragmented and dynamic. Expect heightened ESG mandates, stricter data privacy laws, and AI-specific regulations such as the EU AI Act setting global benchmarks. Businesses operating across borders must prepare for jurisdictional divergence, requiring harmonised compliance strategies and advanced monitoring tools to manage risk effectively.

As digitisation accelerates, cybersecurity compliance will rise to a board-level priority. Regulations will mandate robust data governance, incident reporting, and contractual safeguards with third-party vendors. Legal teams must collaborate closely with IT and risk functions to implement frameworks that address both regulatory obligations and operational resilience. 

Legal departments will undergo a structural shift, evolving into hybrid teams that integrate lawyers, technologists, and project managers. Legal Operations will mature into a discipline focused on process optimisation, cost control, and technology adoption—driving efficiency, scalability, and measurable performance. Metrics-driven decision-making and alternative resourcing models will become standard practice.

Legal is moving from reactive support to proactive business enablement. Companies that embrace technology, embed ESG principles, and build agile compliance frameworks will not only mitigate risk but unlock strategic value. The next decade will belong to legal teams that innovate boldly while safeguarding ethics and accountability—future-ready, resilient, and indispensable to business transformation.