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
DubaiMaster of Laws (LLM) - Corporate Laws
Osmania University
HyderabadPG Diploma - Patent Laws
NALSAR University
HyderabadBachelor of Laws (BA LLB) - Company and Securities Law
Osmania University
HyderabadSkills
- 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