In today’s legal landscape, digital transformation is a necessity for legal departments. However, such transformation must be undertaken with precision and foresight in heavily regulated jurisdictions like the UAE. At IHC, our strategy has always been rooted in building internal capabilities rather than relying entirely on off-the-shelf solutions. This inspired us to take the deliberate step of designing and developing Aleria, our proprietary AI-powered legal platform, built in-house for in-house use.

Aleria is not just a contract review tool or a case management system. It is a foundational layer that connects our legal data, workflows and risk frameworks across the entire Group. From contract automation and clause libraries to legal entity management and regulatory mapping, Aleria helps reduce inefficiencies and remove bottlenecks.

What makes Aleria special is how we have embedded data protection and compliance into its core infrastructure. We decided to deploy Aleria on local servers hosted within the UAE, under a private cloud environment we manage ourselves. This strategic choice aligns with our internal compliance policies and the UAE’s data protection law.

We treat legal data with the same level of care as financial or personal data. Every contract, draft, legal opinion or entity record stored in Aleria is encrypted, access-controlled, and stored in a UAE-based environment. This gives us the confidence to scale digital workflows across subsidiaries and regions without risking data sovereignty or breaching regulatory thresholds.

Aleria also tracks document versioning, enables audit logs and assigns permission layers to ensure legal confidentiality. When a team member accesses a file or triggers a workflow, we know exactly who, when, and what has changed. These are simple but essential controls that allow us to move faster without sacrificing governance.

Aleria was not imposed from the outside; our lawyers helped shape it. That has driven higher adoption and allowed us to continuously refine the platform based on how we actually work. We did not want digital transformation to mean learning a new language; we wanted to amplify how we already operate.

In my view, the future of legal departments lies in creating custom digital infrastructure that reflects the organisation’s complexity while upholding its legal and ethical obligations. With Aleria, we have taken a bold step in that direction, placing data protection, usability and strategic alignment at the centre of our legal transformation.

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive work environment?

For me, diversity and inclusion are not just concepts to implement; they are values we have always consciously lived by. As Head of Legal at IHC, I have always believed that a strong legal department does not come from hiring the same type of people but from building a team that reflects different perspectives, backgrounds and ways of thinking.

We have, what I believe, a very balanced and capable team. Out of seven members, three are women, each playing a critical and active role in the day-to-day functioning of the legal department, whether in structuring transactions, managing compliance, or overseeing entity governance. I do not assign tasks based on experience level or background alone, but on capability and potential. Our team thrives because we challenge each other and support each other equally.

Beyond our legal team, IHC as a group has made real progress in representation at the leadership level. We have female representation on our board, and many of our portfolio companies are also bringing female voices to the decision-making table. This is something I am proud of because it shows that inclusion is not just a checkbox for us but has become embedded in our structure.

Culturally, our team is diverse. We come from different parts of the world and different legal systems. That diversity matters because it shapes how we interpret risk, approach negotiation, and understand the jurisdictions in which we operate.

We are also careful to maintain an inclusive environment where everyone feels heard, whether in team meetings, deal debriefs, or one-on-one conversations. I try to ensure that every team member, regardless of role or background, feels they have a stake in what we are building. That includes being flexible with working styles, encouraging ongoing learning, and making sure credit is given where it is due.

We may not have perfected it, but our approach is intentional, and we take diversity and inclusion seriously. Inclusion is not about initiatives or slogans; it is about how you treat people day to day, and whether they feel seen, valued and supported.