Legal team size: Over 100

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

My longtime manager taught me that when things seem to be moving fast, you need to go slow. In a crisis, things often get blurry and it’s easy to lose focus. When facing fast-moving, high-pressure situations, I think it is crucial to pause. This doesn’t mean delaying action but rather taking the time to ask the right questions, understand the full context, and create space for teams to breathe and think clearly. By doing so, we can avoid reactive decision-making and instead develop thoughtful, smart solutions that align with the broader business strategy and manage legal risk in a responsible way. The legal team plays a key role in ensuring resilience by being a steady partner, helping the organisation navigate uncertainty with clarity and confidence.

In your opinion, what are the main trends affecting your work now?

We’re seeing a growing interest from regulators around the world in areas that were previously unregulated, which creates a complex and dynamic environment; we need to comply with the different local laws we’re currently subject to and also anticipate regulatory developments that could impact our operations. In my region, regulators are taking note of global developments, especially in Europe, and are looking to introduce their own versions of regulations, which can sometimes be different from what has been implemented in other jurisdictions. For a company operating at scale, this is of course challenging; we are present in over 180 markets, so implementing a unique regulatory compliance framework for every single market is not possible. For us, it’s important to move with a principled approach, so we’re able to think strategically about new regulations, and evolve our standards while maintaining our innovative edge.

What strategic priorities are guiding your legal team into 2025?

Looking ahead to 2025, one of our team’s key strategic priorities is to develop robust processes to monitor and respond to regulatory developments. This involves not only tracking new laws and proposals but also analyzing their potential impact on the business.

Another priority is to continue being a strategic partner for business teams. Our business teams are eager to innovate and provide our users with amazing and unexpected experiences. My priority is to keep fueling that innovation responsibly, by early identifying and mitigating challenges, and ensuring that legal considerations align with broader business objectives.