Summary
Overview
Work history
Education
Skills
LANGUAGES
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
Timeline
Manager
PREETHI GOPALAKRISHNAN

PREETHI GOPALAKRISHNAN

Dubai,UAE

Summary

  • Head of Legal & Global PMO with 12+ years of continuous international in-house legal experience across IT, ITES, AI, and engineering sectors. Trusted advisor to C-Suite executives (CEO, CFO, CHRO, CSO, CTO, CMO), specializing in structuring and negotiating high-value cross border technology transactions across the UAE, US, UK, EU, and APAC.
  • Recognized as a solutionist problem solver and strategic negotiator, with a record of closing contracts up to USD 35M, designing AI governance and employment policies, and preventing 100% of potential litigation through proactive dispute resolution. ISO 42001:2023 AIMS Lead Implementor certified, with hands-on expertise in AI ethics, data protection, incident management, and digital transformation of legal operations.

Overview

13
13
years of professional experience

Work history

Head – Legal & Global PMO

VL Consulting DWC-LLC (ValueLabs Group)
Dubai, UAE
07.2017 - 09.2025
  • Led global legal team and advise C-Suite across commercial, corporate, HR, and compliance.
  • Structured, negotiated, and closed multi-million-dollar outsourcing, SaaS, and AI contracts across US, UK, EU, India, and UAE.
  • Drafted bespoke contracts for BAU IT transactions, AI solutions, and employee rebadging across multiple jurisdictions.
  • Led employment law compliance in UAE (MOHRE, Emiratization) and designed global people policies.
  • Partnered with DPOs/CISOs to manage data incidents, audits, and certifications.
  • Spearheaded CLM automation, AI legal tools adoption, and digitized legal processes.
  • Managed SaaS, licensing, and outsourcing contracts.
  • Negotiated employee rebadging and enterprise IT agreements in UK, India, and Middle East.
  • Head additional functions: Global Mobility and Market Research teams (20 staff).

Lead – Contract Management

KeyPoint Technologies
Hyderabad, India
02.2016 - 07.2017
  • Managed end-to-end contract lifecycle for IT products/services, including drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and executing MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, and other agreements with partners, clients and IT OEMs.
  • Ensured compliance and governance by liaising with clients and internal stakeholders, monitoring deliverables/financials, maintaining records, and advising on policies and data protection.
  • Trained business teams in contract playbooks and compliance.

Contracts Specialist

Cyient Limited
Hyderabad, India
12.2013 - 01.2016
  • Negotiated high-value contracts with engineering, heavy construction, and aerospace clients.
  • Advised on internal restructuring and corporate rebranding.

Legal Associate

I&A International Pvt. Ltd. (Brewer Attorneys & Counsellors)
Hyderabad, India
03.2013 - 11.2013
  • Drafted, reviewed, and negotiated US commercial contracts.
  • Supported multi-jurisdictional corporate and litigation matters.

Education

ISO 42001:2023 AIMS Lead Implementor - AI Governance & Compliance

BSI Training Academy
Dubai

Master of Laws (LLM) - Corporate Laws

Osmania University
Hyderabad

PG Diploma - Patent Laws

NALSAR University
Hyderabad

Bachelor of Laws (BA LLB) - Company and Securities Law

Osmania University
Hyderabad

Skills

  • International Commercial Contracts (AI, ITES, SaaS, Cloud, Outsourcing)
  • AI Governance, ISO 42001:2023, GDPR, UAE PDPL
  • Contract Lifecycle Management (AI-powered CLM, Legal Tech)
  • Employment Law, UAE Labour Law, Emiratization Policies
  • Employee Dispute Management & Litigation Prevention
  • Corporate Governance, Internal Restructuring, Board Advisory
  • Risk Management & Incident Response
  • Leadership: Built, scaled & optimized global legal other support teams
  • Stakeholder Management & C-Suite Advisory
  • Negotiation Strategy
  • Problem-solving
  • Strategic planning

LANGUAGES

English
Native
Hindi
Fluent
Tamil
Fluent
Telugu
Fluent
French
Elementary (A2)

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

  • Consistently promoted each review cycle from 2017 to 2021 in recognition of exceptional performance, leadership, and contributions to contract management and legal operations.
  • Negotiated and closed global technology contracts worth USD 500M+, including contracts related to deal valued at USD 35M.
  • Delivered zero litigation globally for 8+ years by designing dispute-preventive policies; reduced potential costs by 70–80% compared to litigation.
  • Structured contracts and GTM models for AI-powered solutions suite, embedding ethical AI, IP, liability, and service-level protections.
  • Core team SME & GTM advisor for building agentic AI tools for the legal fraternity; led AI adoption in legal operations.
  • Designed global employment policies (remote work, DEI, rebadging, flexible contracts) across 10+ jurisdictions.
  • Rebuilt and scaled legal team from scratch (to 15 lawyers) and later optimised to 6 with digitisation, automation, and improved workflow efficiency, while also heading Marketing Support, Content, Global Mobility and Market Research Teams (40 people total).
  • Partnered with CISOs/DPOs to support GDPR, AIMS, and enterprise risk audits; integral to maintaining data protection certifications.
  • Cut contract turnaround time by 35% and ensured 95% Legal Support SLA compliance through CLM digitization and template optimization.
  • Saved AED 3M in corporate insurance renewals while broadening coverage.
  • Advised and supported on restructuring and rebranding (When Infotech Enterprises was rebranded as Cyient).
  • Negotiated contracts with UAE BSFI clients
  • Ensured MOHRE compliance for workforce management.

Timeline

Head – Legal & Global PMO

VL Consulting DWC-LLC (ValueLabs Group)
07.2017 - 09.2025

Lead – Contract Management

KeyPoint Technologies
02.2016 - 07.2017

Contracts Specialist

Cyient Limited
12.2013 - 01.2016

Legal Associate

I&A International Pvt. Ltd. (Brewer Attorneys & Counsellors)
03.2013 - 11.2013

ISO 42001:2023 AIMS Lead Implementor - AI Governance & Compliance

BSI Training Academy

Master of Laws (LLM) - Corporate Laws

Osmania University

PG Diploma - Patent Laws

NALSAR University

Bachelor of Laws (BA LLB) - Company and Securities Law

Osmania University
PREETHI GOPALAKRISHNAN