What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

Last year, the Peruvian economy, which was beginning to recover from a pandemic-induced contraction, was hit by the global economic consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war and the impeachment of President Castillo. The latter event resulted in political and social turmoil that included violent protests across the country. Many of the protests took place at important mining projects, which led to the temporary suspension of their operations, which normally accounts for a large share of the country’s final energy consumption. This, coupled with rising inflation and interest rates, as well as political uncertainty, led to a difficult environment for new investment and business in general. On the other hand, we noticed that many clients are more committed to participating in the energy transition and achieving carbon neutrality in their operations, which bodes well for the future.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?

In my opinion, artificial intelligence will reshape the legal profession, including the work of in-house counsel. Some prominent foreign law firms already employ some form of AI-based extractive tool to perform certain tasks. I expect that recent significant advances in generative AI, especially in the field of language modelling, will lead to partial – and in some cases full – automation of certain legal work and increase the use of AI tools with a view to improving efficiency and reducing costs. Particularly, legal research, document drafting and review, due diligence and litigation preparation, among other activities, can benefit from both extractive AI and generative AI.

What is a cause, business related or otherwise, that you care about, and why?

I believe that human-driven climate change is the paramount issue of the day and is recognised as posing an unprecedented threat to societies and the environment. Although global warming and its effects have been the subject of controversy, it is widely accepted that the main culprits are certain human activities that generate greenhouse gas emissions, in particular the burning of fossil fuels; and that its effects are severe and widespread. Moreover, according to most experts, the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will continue to increase, and therefore the severity and scale of the effects of climate change will worsen, unless societies take immediate and far-reaching steps to reduce emissions and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Although many sectors contribute to climate change, the energy sector is considered to be one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. That is why we in the energy industry play a key role in the fight against climate change. By switching from fossil fuel power plants to renewable energy, we can assist our clients in reducing their carbon footprint and help societies achieve their goal of transitioning to a carbon neutral economy.