Early Inspiration: We’d love to hear about your journey to becoming a legal leader in the e-commerce sector. After your law degree, what initially drew you to working with corporates and eventually specializing in e-commerce law?
Firstly, It’s a pleasure to share my thoughts to the audience of LexDiscuss Cafe and thanks for considering me. I began my career as a litigating lawyer, and over time, I worked my way up the ladder to become a general counsel. During this journey, I have always strived to be sensitive to the needs of others and to build strong relationships with my clients and colleagues.
While my initial legal experience in practicing counsel was invaluable, it wasn’t until I transitioned in-house that I discovered a particular pull towards the corporate world. There, the focus shifted from handling individual cases to the bigger picture – the strategic legal needs of a company. This appealed to my desire to be a part of something larger and contribute to a company’s overall success. I went on to serve companies in the telecom retail and telecom services sector and during my stint there, which led to sharpening my solutioning skills.
However, the real turning point came when I witnessed the burgeoning e-commerce industry at Flipkart. This experience crystallized my legal focus. The legal landscape of e-commerce was dynamic and constantly evolving. It offered a unique blend of established legal principles applied in a completely new and exciting way, from data privacy regulations to consumer protection laws in the digital space. I saw an opportunity to not only be a legal expert but also a pioneer, contributing to shaping the legal framework for this rapidly growing sector. This is what propelled me to delve deeper into e-commerce law. It was a conscious decision to specialize in this sector, and it has proven to be an incredibly rewarding path.
Building a Strong Legal Function: Zepto has seen phenomenal growth. Can you tell us about the challenges and opportunities you’ve encountered in building a robust legal function to support such a dynamic company?
True that, Zepto is a dynamic company and has seen phenomenal growth. Building a robust legal function for a fast-growing company like Zepto presents both exciting opportunities and unique challenges. One key challenge is keeping pace with the rapid growth and its demand for delivery of legal services with stringent timelines. My approach has always been to focus on building a team of passionate and high-potential individuals. At Zepto, I specifically sought out individuals with high aspirations, a strong sense of empathy, and a solution-oriented mindset. These qualities, coupled with the clarity of vision from the founders and the impressive leadership team, made it easier to attract top talent and build a cohesive unit.
The Future of E-commerce Law: As technology and regulations evolve, how do you see the practice of e-commerce law changing in the next five years? What are some key trends you’re keeping an eye on?
The e-commerce legal and regulatory landscape is undergoing a rapid transformation fueled by technological advancements. Data privacy will remain a top priority, with the introduction of regulations like the DPDP Act. Aside, as artificial intelligence becomes more integrated within e-commerce, legal frameworks will need to adapt to address aspects like consumer protection, algorithmic bias, and potential liability concerns.
The meteoric rise of quick commerce, a space where customer satisfaction is king, perfectly exemplifies this need for change. Companies like Zepto, loved by consumers for their lightning-fast delivery, and are redefining the e-commerce experience. The legal landscape will need to evolve to accommodate innovative delivery models, including drone deliveries, autonomous vehicles, etc.
With the accessibility of the internet into tier 2 and 3 markets, e-commerce has great potential to expand its reach in these markets. While one can not predict what will change in e-commerce in the next five years with the advent of generative AI, I am sure that the shopping experience will definitely improve for good, with great convenience to the consumers. From the legal landscape standpoint, it has evolved in the last two decades, bit slowly though, starting from introduction of the Information Technology Act to Consumer Protection Act taking the center stage, beside the amendments to various laws to recognize e-ecommerce. Further, e-commerce as a sector has generated huge employment opportunities directly and indirectly and also helped to improve the supply chain efficiency and removed market entry barriers to the new brands. The future is looking more interesting with introduction of digital personal data protection laws and upcoming India’s National E-commerce Policy. I am also hopeful these changes will create a more conducive environment for growth and global competitiveness for the sector. Last few years have been encouraging for the fintech sector as most of the services are now available in digital form. I think Travel, Edu and Agritech could be worth watching in the same order.
Unglamorous Aspect of Your Job: If you had a genie that could grant you three wishes, but they all had to be related to AI taking over some boring and repetitive tasks in your work life, what would those three wishes be?
I don’t believe in a genie, but by virtue of characteristics and utility factor, I can comparatively expect AI to also be a genie and my wishes would be on the following three aspects.
- I wish for an AI that can meticulously review and analyze contracts with superhuman speed and accuracy. It would be able to identify potential risks, inconsistencies, boilerplate language, and may be flagging the areas that require my legal expertise. More Importantly help with analyzing data summary of all contracts.
- I wish for an AI that can stay updated on all relevant legal and regulatory changes. It would proactively monitor and identify potential compliance gaps, and help with corrective measures.
- I wish for an AI that can analyze vast amounts of legal precedents and case law. Using this knowledge, it could generate comprehensive legal briefs with relevant citations and arguments, tailored to the specific case at hand.
Best resource for staying updated: Besides legal publications, what’s your go-to source for keeping up with the latest trends in e-commerce and technology law?
Besides legal publications I would often discuss the latest trends with sectoral experts and attend conferences to learn perspectives and analyze them at my end. At times speaking to sectoral experts can be more useful as to understand what’s new and what is coming.
Now a fun question: Do you think having a law degree helps you win arguments at home? Let me also add that it has helped me a lot!
No, it wont. IMHO, the skillset of winning arguments has to be inherent, trained lawyers will likely take shelter with the precedents and hence it is not a level playing field. For those whose spouse is also a practicing lawyer, my pennywise advice would be to weigh their odds before they take chances. Lol
The most rewarding aspect of your work: What gives you the most satisfaction in your role as General Counsel at Zepto?
As a team, we could deliver things much faster and ensure work backwards from the GTM timelines. We strive hard to improve our efficiency and for my satisfaction is when such timelines are met.
I am invested in people and look forward to meeting people and taking every opportunity to help a junior colleague and nurture them to bigger roles. Also learning from others’ experience and sharing my experience with others is more satisfying.
Your Leadership Mantra: What guiding principle helps you navigate challenges and lead your team effectively?
I keep it Simple. I focus on fundamentals of the challenge by meticulous analysis of the facts, ensuring a clear understanding of the situation. I gather data and evidence that are crucial for making informed risk based decisions. Sometimes, navigating complex legal issues requires taking calculated risks. I don’t micromanage, my expectation from my team is simple, solving a problem with empathy and going the extra mile to do so.
I trust my team and empower them to solve problems. This means understanding the perspectives of all stakeholders and finding solutions that are not only legally sound but also fair and considerate. I encourage my team to go the extra mile, not just to complete tasks but to deliver exceptional results with a client-centric approach.
GenAI and Legal Processes: What role do you think generative AI can play in facilitating tasks performed by corporate legal departments? Is there any potential for improvement in some specific areas?
The GenAI IMO is not yet there, but it is very useful. I use various GenAI often and am very happy with the results specific to writing certain documents. It serves as a personal assistant so that you don’t have to waste time writing general communications. While I agree GenAI can help drafting notices, it is not dependable. Maybe GenAI can be useful in providing a first cut draft which eventually has to be reviewed and finalized by a trained lawyer.
I understand GenAI will learn faster and if more lawyers use them, they will be trained better. It is also important that the instructions provided also make a lot of difference, GenAI is capable of what the user can extract out of it. Interesting days.
A Pivotal Moment: Reflecting on your career, can you share a specific instance that shaped your approach to legal problem-solving or leadership?
When I transitioned my career from practicing counsel to in-house, I had spent a lot of time, even days before I made a decision. It was tough for me when I had to make a choice between either of them. My consideration to in-house always based on the bigger picture and I was thinking like general counsel from the day one. Thankfully most of my managers did not micromanage, always made me part of decision making and at times allowed me to experiment. The drafting of deeds could look simple and routine, considering my initial corporate stint, where I had to spend most of my time in real estate due diligence and drafting of deeds, I realize now that it has taught me perseverance and attention to detail. Also, I keep empathy at the center of my approach, due to an instance where a junior colleague traveled far for a contract I forgot to send. That person had traveled about fifteen Kilometers under the scorching sun to a cyber cafe at a remote location only to take a print of the contract I was supposed to send. That incident affected me and made me realize that empathy is fulfilling your commitment on time.