Legal Voices: Vinaya Ganesan - General Counsel

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The Centre for Legal Leadership

Interviews: Legal Voices Series on 07/10/24

Vinaya is Europe General Counsel and Head of Legal and Compliance at Firstsource Solutions.

During our discussion with Vinaya we delved in to her motivations, legal challenges and opportunities that have shaped her career so far.
 

Technology law expert Vinaya has over 17 years of experience working for top tech companies.

She currently heads Legal and Compliance, Europe for Firstsource Solutions, which is at the forefront of digital and AI transformation in the Customer Experience space.

Vinaya started her career at Infosys which gave her the foundation of a commercial contracting background on Outsourcing, Licensing and SaaS solutions.

Read on to discover her views on how generative IA is impacting the role of the in-house lawyer and her advice to those looking at going in-house.

Since joining Firstsource, what have you implemented that you are most proud of?

I was brought in as Regional GC for Firstsource with several key objectives, including setting up a team, consolidating compliance and company secretarial tasks, implementing our Contract Legal Management Tool in the region.

I am most proud of having set up the team from scratch in a short span of 6 months who have helped me materialise all the above-mentioned objectives within the year. A leader is only as good as the team they have, and in my case, this has been so true. 

One of the biggest projects we delivered was the Consumer Duty Compliance in August 2023, a watershed FCA regulatory programme. It is key to our success within retail banking and insurance sector. 

What do you enjoy most about your current role?

No day or week is similar to another- a range of matters and queries come to my desk and each matter; however minor is an insight into the drivers and pain points of our organisation. 

Looking back at your career, how did you find working your way up through an in-house team?

I have had the good fortune of having amazing managers in most of the organisations I have worked for, and they have each have taught me a great deal. I absolutely credit my managers in Infosys for setting me on this path. They operated with intelligence, empathy and integrity which has become my North Star.

Technical skills apart, being proactive and intuitive about how the legal team can add value to the business has really helped me land additional roles and responsibilities which have been critical for working up the ladder. 

I would also recommend constantly advocating for yourself, which is something I am learning to do more of.

You started your career in India and were given the opportunity to transfer to the London office – how did you find the transition on top of your new responsibilities?

I started my career in 2007 with Infosys Legal Team, a leader Tech Outsourcing & Consulting. This was in Bangalore, India. Infosys was a MNC and that meant the work I started doing had a very international flavour from the very beginning. I was negotiating large contracts with corporations in the US, Australia and UK and worked with international colleagues.

In 2010, when I got the opportunity to move to London to be the SPOC for EMEA Legal for an Infosys subsidiary, I grabbed that. The transition was made easy by the fact that I had a great working relationship with a lot of the colleagues already.

It was amazing to build on the relationships and leverage that to hit the ground running once I moved. Infosys was a very friendly place as well and I definitely owe it to my colleagues in Legal and Business who welcomed me with open arms and showed me the ropes. 

What advice would you give to anyone starting in-house?

In-house is quite the different ball game to private practice. It is a fine balance between being an approachable business partner, yet defending your time very carefully so you are not sucked into every matter.

My advice would be to choose your move well and be open to learning from a seasoned in-house lawyer where you can. Succeeding in an in-house team is as much about the strategic value-add as it is about the technical prowess. 

Did you always want to be an in-house lawyer or is this something you fell into?

I would like to think I specifically moved away from Private Practice early on after I did a summer placement in a great in-house team.

In India, where I qualified, we study Law for 5 years and long vacation placements are part of the curriculum. I had done many Private Practice internships by that point where the bulk of my time was involved in admin tasks.

The in-house placement came as a breath of fresh air- I was asked to review contracts, research on topics, contribute to group discussions. I immediately fell in love with the in-house culture of being valued even when you are a junior. That has shaped my thinking and I expect everyone in the team, Paralegal upwards to be involved in value driven activities for the bulk of their time. 

How do you think generative AI is impacting the role of the in-house lawyer?

This is such a huge topic! In short, legal teams have huge amounts to gain from embracing GenAI. There are such simple tools available which easily enhances the work we do- write ups and research. Legal leaders must keep an eye on development in the Legal AI tools sector. Early adopters will lead the way in streamlining the sector. 

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

It is something a lot of people professionally may not know about me- I am a trained Indian Classical dancer. There is a lot of dance practice when I am free. I turn to YouTube clips of Stand-Up comedy and reading for light entertainment.

What was the last film/book you watched/read?

Amp It Up by Frank Slootman. I highly recommend this if anyone is interested in books on Leadership. It has given clarity in successful hiring, stakeholder management and Board management. It is written for CEOs but translates so well to other Heads of teams.  

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