Milagros left her role at Toyota del Perú while research was being conducted.

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

Women have undoubtedly made strides in achieving equality related goals. However, this is not enough; there is still a journey that we must make with hope, vision, and good attitude. This is especially important, as there are women who are still struggling in their workplaces because of their gender.

In some industries and cultures, the challenges that women face are more pronounced than in others. One of these challenges is a lack of mentoring. According to new research, in the automotive sector, most of the networking and mentoring is done by men, and with each other, which could be a disadvantage to the promotion of women in their careers and could cause feelings of loneliness. To solve this problem, it is important to remain authentic, seek mentorship from colleagues or friends who have experienced such challenges and learn how they overcame or dealt with them. Finally, and most importantly keep going, and keep fighting for your dreams.

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

I believe AI will impact the role of legal teams – not by substituting lawyers, but by boosting their management abilities.

Artificial Intelligence will improve productivity by allowing the legal teams focus on activities that generate value to the business which build them a reputation as innovative collaborators; reducing the time invested in gathering, reporting, and organising legal information.

It will also effectively reinforce the legal teams’ ways of teleworking (remote, hybrid or in person work), improving their work life balance.

The Peruvian Congress recently approved the first law on the use of AI. As this new law is declarative, it will not have immediate legal effects, and for some public sectors, its implementation would be risky. To mitigate such risks, experts have mentioned the importance of properly supervising this technology, using ethics and human intervention.

The likelihood of the utilisation of AI by Peruvian public entities in the short term is low as digital transformation is still ongoing. However, this new law is the first step to including modern technologies that will impact the entire world.

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

I care about diversity and inclusion in our organisations. Sometimes we can find diversity without inclusion. In dire cases diversity is poor, and inclusion non-existent. For example, at Harvard University in the 1950s, women were admitted for the first time in the Faculty of Law, However, these women did not find restrooms as they were not installed.

We could say the Faculty of Law had achieved diversity since there were men and women studying, however it is questionable if there was inclusion. That is why it is important to consider inclusion when discussing diversity. While they are different, they complement each other.

A Verna Myers quote sums it perfectly; “Diversity is being invited to the party; Inclusion is being asked to dance.” Indeed, in some organisations, we can find diversity; people with diverse backgrounds. However, all of them are not necessarily included, especially if they are part of minority groups – such as women in male dominated sectors.