Team size: 14

What are the most significant cases or transactions that you have been involved in over the past year?

The key activities we were involved in were public procurement, disputes and compliance management. Some of the large public procurement projects for urban infrastructure which are funded by multilateral development banks or federal programmes, have a strong focus on governance, sustainability and performance evaluation. I have worked closely with the business to help submit and negotiate the offers as well as to start the contract for such projects. The legal team has also been able to secure good outcomes in disputes ranging from environment to licensing. For compliance management, apart from the internal resources, we have also effectively deployed an online tool for a comprehensive view on the topic.

Based on your experience, what is the key to collaborating successfully with business partners?

At SUEZ, we have a strong focus on collaboration. Indeed, one of the pillars of our leadership model is “collaborate to elevate”, and, we have seen its discernible impact on business performance. The key to a successful collaboration is transparency and a common purpose – the raison d’être. It helps teams build trust and identify synergies. Business partners bring to the table respective core competences and soft skills. It is sometimes a challenge to find alignment among divergent views. The idea is to leverage this difference and, with an eye on the North Star – our raison d’être, to create the best outcome. This is when transparent, respectful communication works wonders. In-house legal teams invariably play an important role in this, as the lawyers bring to the table articulation, and a spirit of rapprochement. They help build bridges through dialogue, on a strong foundation of trust.

India is an economy that is rapidly growing and expected to be one of the economic powerhouses of the 21st Century. How do you see the role of GCs there changing in this environment?

The rapid economic growth brings with it opportunities for businesses to multiply and diversify. GCs are almost invariably a part of the discussion on business growth beyond the obvious, whether it is mergers and acquisition, technical collaboration, business reorganisation or diversification. As a result, we see more and more company hiring GCs. Moreover, as Indian economy marches on at a fast pace, the regulatory and legal risk profile of business is also evolving, and GCs are not just the first port of call but also the spokespersons, and often the thought leaders. Another trendline is the increasing involvement of GCs in areas managed by the in-house finance teams, such as taxation, insurance, commercial banking, budgeting and reporting, at al and we see close collaborations. Lastly, I feel that in the coming years, India will see a regime for anti-bribery regulatory compliance on the lines of FCPA, UKBA and SAPIN-II, and GCs will play a vital role in setting up or strengthening the ethics compliance programmes of businesses.

Are the effects of AI on the legal world overplayed, or underplayed?

Spread of any new technology, howsoever disruptive, is never even. It takes its own time. Desktop virtualisation is one such example. Some adopted it more than a decade ago and others either took some time or simply did not take to it. Al is no different. On the one hand, there has been a sense of circumspection due to personal experiences or widely publicised cases of LLM hallucinations, as lawyers loathe inaccuracy, and then take time to repose trust. And on the other end of the spectrum, there is the uncanny valley of dislike for Gen AI as it becomes almost life-like. Nonetheless, lawyers are not just warming up to Al, some of them are increasingly becoming Al champions. We have seen some leading law firms deploying Al tools. In-house teams are also exploring Al. The legal issues related to Al, such as IP, data protection, ethical Al etc are also being discussed and debated. I personally see a lot of promise in AI, as an ally, as well as a practice area. In fact, Al is also good training ground as we get ready for quantum computing, a much bigger disruption waiting round the corner.