From Gatekeeper To Architect: How General Counsel Are Shaping Innovation in the AI Era
About this episode
Smrithi Mohan discusses the evolving role of general counsel in the AI era and how they can become integral to product development.
Smrithi Mohan is General Counsel at Awesome, the parent company of SmugMug and Flickr, where she oversees all legal, IP, privacy, and compliance matters for two of the world's most recognized photo-sharing platforms. She previously spent a decade at Dun & Bradstreet, where she built the company's first global IP and innovation practice. An elected Board of Education member and recognized Top Woman Leader, she speaks and writes on legal operations, IP strategy, leadership, and building legal functions from the ground up. In this episode… When a new AI feature ships or a new product is designed, general counsel may not be looped in until after key decisions are made. This creates risk because most product decisions have legal implications, especially around data use, user rights, and consent. That changes when legal teams are brought into the product development cycle at the outset, helping design outcomes that align with legal obligations and business goals. How can general counsel and legal teams move from being seen as gatekeepers to business drivers? Shifting how general counsel and legal teams are viewed starts with building strong relationships across business teams. When…
People in this episode
Hosts: Jodi Daniels, Justin Daniels
Guest: Smrithi Mohan
Topics covered
- general counsel
- AI innovation
- legal operations
- product development
- data privacy
- business strategy
Keywords
- general counsel
- AI
- legal implications
- product design
- data use
- user rights
- compliance
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Awesome, SmugMug, Flickr, Dun & Bradstreet, Board of Education
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