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

The legal department and I worked on several projects in a range of areas.

Enable: we unlocked new supply chain capabilities, for example Choice channel on Lazada; and financial solutions, for example BNPL.

Protect: we strengthened assortment, compliance and content management to tackle fraud or scams; and managing various regulatory audits across SEA.

Influence: we have built AI governance thought leadership through industry consultation and regulatory guidance

In terms of compliance, we have worked on a range of innovative projects. As well as improving privacy operations’ efficiency, we ramped up awareness on anti-bribery and sanctions, worked on the deployment of Gen AI to improve legal efficiency, and built a brand new ESG Compliance framework.

We also worked on a Group-wide restructuring which was a multi-jurisdictional and multi-stakeholder exercise involving various regulators across SEA

What innovations have you made to the way your legal team works in the past year?

Our legal team and organisation laid the groundwork for GenAI integration.

Enabling: As the legal team of a major technology company, we spearheaded the exploration of opportunities, risks, and challenges across the organisation by developing an AI policy for rapid and efficient GenAI experimentation and implementation for both our user and internal facing features. For instance, GenAI now handles content creation and product reviews, with robust screening being conducted internally to ensure consumer protection remains at the forefront of our mission.

Experimenting: We experimented with Ali Baba’s own LLM through the Idea Lab to explore development of GenAI solutions for our legal team. On top of that we were also able to explore legal GenAI solutions ourselves as well as through PwC’s Global GenAI GC Think Tank program. We now have a clear idea of the right GenAI solutions for the right task.

Embedding: As a result, we have also developed our own Legal GenAI assessment framework to identify, quantify, and qualify solutions that are best fit for our legal team’s requirements, this ranges from contract redlining to policy drafting. We also used this opportunity to assess how Legal GenAI could help us navigate the more for less challenge.

How do you motivate and manage the other members of your legal team well?

In the earlier part of 2024, the Lazada team went through challenging times, and managing a team during such times required a combination of effective communication, empathy and strategic decision-making.

Maintaining clear and transparent communication was key, keeping the team informed about situation, challenges and decisions being made. I communicated regularly, providing a forum to address any concerns and provide context to help them to understand the rationale behind decision. I fostered a supportive environment – acknowledging the difficulties and stress the team members may be experiencing, showing empathy, listening to their concerns and offering support where possible.
Constant prioritising and refocusing is important during challenging times, as it’s essential to focus on the most critical areas at all stages. Identify key priorities and allocate resources accordingly – including intentionally stopping doing certain tasks, as this helps to maintain productivity and momentum.

I fostered a sense of purpose, helping to connect the team’s work to a larger purpose and mission and reminding them of the importance of their efforts. I regularly sought feedback from the team and was open to adjusting the approach based on their insights, as challenging times require agility and continuous improvement.

I encouraged flexibility and adaptability, and for the team to be open-minded to embrace new ways of working or adjusting processes as needed.

Through the above, we focused on cultivating resilience, fostering a supportive culture, and guiding each other through challenging times while maintaining productivity and morale.