Indian legal eagles fly high as global roles come calling

Mumbai: Indian general counsels, once focused on navigating the country's regulatory maze, are increasingly stepping onto the global stage. Multinational corporations are tapping India's top in-house legal talent not just for local compliance but to lead regional and, in some cases, global legal functions spanning Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Last month, Heineken NV announced the elevation of Shelly Kohli, director, legal at United Breweries, to regional legal director for Asia Pacific. She will move to Singapore in January.

Similarly, TikTok owner ByteDance named Mekhla Basu regional compliance officer for Asia Pacific, also based in Singapore. She will also be supporting the Europe/UK region in the interim, as mentioned by Basu in her LinkedIn post.


Shama Gupta, executive director at global executive search and advisory firm Russell Reynolds Associates, said multinational clients are increasingly seeing India as a sandbox for global roles.

"They are interested in candidates' willingness to relocate overseas for regional or global roles as part of their growth journey," said Gupta. "Furthermore, legal leaders in India are now more empowered than ever. They have a seat at the table and are increasingly viewed as strategic partners, akin to their international counterparts, rather than merely operational executives."

As more and more MNCs look to India to expand manufacturing, global shared services and engineering R&D centres, the number of regional legal roles based there is expected to grow.

Also, consumer goods, technology and manufacturing companies, particularly those where India contributes significantly to regional revenue or growth, have been tapping the Indian talent pool more aggressively, feel sector experts.

"India's regulatory landscape is one of the toughest to navigate," said Karl Fernandes, senior partner and head of corporate practice group at Vahura, an executive search and consulting firm, "If you have led legal function in India, you have automatically built the muscle to handle cross-border regulatory environments. That's attractive for companies looking to strengthen governance and compliance globally."

In June, London-headquartered visual effects and animation studio DNEG appointed Zameer Nathani as their global general counsel, leading legal strategy across all markets. "We do expect to see the migration of GC talent to nearshore destinations over the near term," said Arjun Erry, partner at executive search firm Hunt Partners.