In this interview, Rikhab Chand, a seasoned technology and compliance professional, shares his journey from pursuing law and company secretaryship to specializing in Information Technology and Intellectual Property law. He reflects on his experience working across India and the ASEAN region, highlighting cultural and legal differences across jurisdictions, along with insights into technology governance, dispute resolution, and mentoring. He also discusses the growing impact of AI on the legal profession, offering valuable guidance for lawyers aspiring to build careers in technology law, in-house practice, and international legal roles.
This interview has been published by Anshi Mudgal and The SuperLawyer Team
What motivated you to pursue an LLM in Information Technology alongside your law degree and Company Secretary qualification, and how has this specialization shaped your practice and helped you build your reputation in the ASEAN region?
I graduated in law in the year 2002, and I completed my company secretaryship course the following year. Now, to be honest, when I did my law, it was the traditional annual examination system. It wasn’t the semester system. So I had a lot of time in hand to actually prepare for my annual examination, but I wanted to ensure that I made the most optimum use of my time, which is why I wanted to pick up some additional qualifications.
And at that point in time, I found the company secretaryship course to be complementing perfectly with the legal qualification because it had an abundant variety of legal subjects as well. So that is why every six months I would take either a CS exam or the law exam, and around the same time I completed both the qualifications.
I’m glad that I actually completed all three stages of the CS course in the very first attempt and secured a Gold Medal in the final examination as well. Now, that definitely helped me a lot in my career, but I’ve always believed that one should always be upgrading oneself in the journey of continuous development and improvement.
And that is why two years back I decided that I should pick up an additional legal qualification. And that’s when I did my Master’s in Law, specializing in the field of Information Technology and IPR from OP Jindal University. So, since my entire journey has been in the IT sector, I think it was an easy choice for me to pick up a specialization in the field of technology, law, and IP as well.
And to be honest, when you pick up an additional qualification like this with 20 years of experience, it does not significantly enhance your corporate growth or promotion. But what it does is that it definitely adds a new dimension to your knowledge. You become aware of many more things as compared to not doing something and just working on what is happening within your organization.
And to wrap it up, I think for me personally, when I took up this course two years back, more than anything else, I really wanted to challenge myself to find out whether I still had the hunger in my belly to pick a course that is as intense as the LLM course was. I think it was a blended program.
But, you know, it was quite a rigorous course for 10 months, and I wanted to convince myself that I still had the commitment to do something like this. So it was more of a personal ambitious journey to prove myself, and I’m glad I completed it. And having said that, I think it’s been a fabulous journey.
I would strongly encourage everyone to pick up courses like these, if not an LLM. I think one can always do short-term courses, but keep learning, keep challenging yourself, and keep challenging the boundaries as well.
You have worked across India and the ASEAN region. What cultural and legal differences have you encountered, and how did you adapt to working across these jurisdictions?
That’s a great question. Just for some context, I spent 12 years in India post qualification, and the last 10 years I have been in Singapore covering the ASEAN region.
So in fact, I just completed my 10 years in Singapore last week. So it’s a very timely question. Now, based on my experience over the last 10 years, I think there are some very clear differences in the way work happens in Singapore or in ASEAN as compared to India. I think the primary one, which is quite obvious possibly to all the viewers as well, is that the ASEAN culture is something that is non-confrontational.
I think people are very indirect in communication in this style, and that also shows in the work whether you are interacting with your colleagues in the ASEAN region or even during negotiations with clients and partners. That comes out quite clearly. It’s a very polite way of working, very diplomatic, very formal culture.
The context setting is very important. You’ll have to read between the lines as against in India, I think it’s a lot more persuasive, a lot more straightforward. And I’m not saying one is better than the other, but these are clearly some obvious differences. On a lighter note, I think in India there’s a very popular concept called jugaad.
I think when things don’t work in a particular way, you have some jugaad, some way of finding a solution, which is not exactly wrong, but not exactly right as well. Now, those kinds of things will be a hard sell in Singapore and in the ASEAN region. So, you know, here it’s very straightforward. It’s based on trust, it’s relationship based.
So that’s a very peculiar thing. And in ASEAN, you have countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam. The interesting part is that in each of these six countries, there are quite a lot of differences. Not just in terms of the languages, but also in terms of the customer practices, the languages, the kind of practices they follow.
For example, some are common law jurisdictions, some are civil law jurisdictions. So a lot of differences, like for example, Indonesia requires all contracts to be in dual language, English and Bahasa, whereas in other countries the communication language could be the local language, but the legal requirement is that it can only be in English.
So there are such differences across ASEAN. So we just have to respect it. For example, if someone has to land up in a place like Singapore and if he or she is planning to come here from a place like Australia where the culture is very different, over there it’s a lot more confrontational.
That’s the way Australians are. Again, not wrong or right, but that’s the way it is. So it’ll be very hard for an Australian to actually start working straightforward in Singapore because they’ll have to make significantly more adjustments compared to someone coming from India.
So those are the kind of differences, you’ll have to accept it the way it is, and I would strongly recommend all the viewers to read this book called The Culture Map by Erin Meyer. It’s a wonderful book as it shows how culture is different in different parts of the world, where context setting is important, the language is important, which countries are confrontational or not, and that’s a very good book for someone to read and digest, especially if you’re planning to work somewhere outside India, so that you can adjust yourself before settling into a new country from a professional perspective.
When you moved from India to Singapore after 12 years of practice, what adjustments did you have to make to understand the legal culture, negotiation styles, and people across jurisdictions, especially while working with MNCs?
Again, it’s quite related to the previous question. So I think when you start working, when you start talking to your colleagues within the organization, you realize you observe a lot. I think observing your colleagues, observing how your seniors who’ve been in Singapore for a long time work, and talking to them helps a lot.
And I recall when I moved to Singapore in 2015, I actually had a session with one of my senior colleagues who walked me through some of these nuances. When it comes to drafting, when it comes to negotiation, you have to be a lot more respectful. And the moment the clients don’t trust you, I think they will not hesitate in asking you to leave the room or, you know, asking someone else who can be a lot more trustworthy. So I think those aspects become very critical, very important. And over the last 10 years, I was also specifically covering Malaysia and Vietnam as well. Now clearly I’m not qualified under Malaysian or Vietnamese law, but it was very unique because the laws are very different.
Vietnamese law is very different, and as and when I learned more about Vietnamese law, you realize that the working style, the culture is very different there. The conversations happen primarily in the Vietnamese language. In my compliance role, when I used to do integrity refresher sessions for all the employees, clients, and partners, I recall initially I used to just keep talking in English, until much later people told me that half of what you said did not even land with the audience because they don’t understand English that much. So English is not really the first language. So you’ll have to make those adjustments. You have to be respectful to local customs and practices.
I will not name the country, but once we were having a negotiation with one of the government departments of a country in the ASEAN region. And it was interesting, my first experience where the whole call started with the government official doing a prayer as per the religion of their own country.
So it started with a prayer, which is very unlike anything I’ve done in my 22 years of experience. So that’s the kind of respect, that’s the kind of importance they give to their religion, to their local customs and practices. And clearly if you want to work in this region, you’ve got to be respectful to all their local practices.
And I think it’s wonderful. Personally also, I think my kids have learned a lot in terms of growing and adapting and accepting different cultures. So both personally and professionally, I think it’s been quite an enriching journey.
As Regional Counsel for IBM ASEAN handling technology contracts, litigation, compliance, and governance, what challenges have you faced in technology governance across different jurisdictions, and how does ASEAN’s approach compare to India?
Sure, and I must say it’s a very exciting time to be a lawyer. And if you happen to be a lawyer in the ASEAN region, I think it’s even more exciting, largely because of the diversity that exists in the ASEAN region.
Now, when you look at it around 10 years back, and I’m sure you will relate to this, most of the laws were focused on the financial industry. Like the banks, the insurance companies, they had to undergo a lot of compliance and regulatory obligations because that was the focus of government institutions around the world.
But with the advent of the latest technologies, like AI, blockchain, or other emerging technologies, the entire shift of the regulators is now on the IT industry as well. So if I have to look at it as a regional counsel, if I look across ASEAN, all the regulators in these countries, they are so active, they are so enthusiastic that every now and then you are actually encountering some new law being proposed, whether it’s in the AI field, cybersecurity field, or the privacy field.
Now these three fields are emerging and are gaining a lot of importance. So you will have to track them very closely going forward and within IBM, obviously, just like any other MNC, you do have a regulatory team which is dedicated and focused in terms of tracking all these laws and ensuring that IBM is always compliant with them.
But it’s a brilliant experience as a lawyer because you work with your government relations team. Like last year, I remember when Singapore proposed a new law on the Digital Infrastructure Act, we went and made a representation to the government putting forth what IBM’s POV, the point of view, was with respect to that particular law and what our recommendations were. So this is quite new to lawyers because we were not subject to so many such laws, and going forward, this will only increase in the times to come. So for example, I know in the Philippines right now there is a new law being proposed where there’s a lot of impetus on data residency.
So it’s a new challenge, how you tackle it, how you handle it, especially when much of the data is in the cloud. How do you ensure that the data remains within the Philippines? Now, these are interesting challenges, and challenges where if you address one, a new challenge is waiting the next day. So it’s a great team effort within the MNC world where you have your regulatory team, your government relations team, the legal team, the compliance team, where we work together as a team, find the best way forward so that business is not impacted, and then you obviously have to put in a strong regulatory and compliance framework where on a frequent basis all the relevant stakeholders and leaders get together, take stock of all the risks from a regulatory standpoint, and then have a discussion, one from an awareness standpoint so that the business leaders are aware of what’s happening on the regulatory front and second, all the relevant stakeholders can take appropriate measures to either comply with it or take informed decisions so that you can mitigate the risks going forward and remain compliant with the laws.
So it’s a fascinating time, in terms of what’s happening in the world and as we know, technology is way ahead of the law. The law is still trying to catch up with the changing technology, but it’s something which will affect each and every lawyer going forward as well.
Since you have handled technology related disputes and negotiations, could you share any interesting case or negotiation experience that could be a learning experience for our listeners?
Absolutely! And I don’t know if I should say I was proud to be part of some of those disputes, but yes, the fact of life is disputes do happen despite lawyers spending a lot of time carefully negotiating each and every word in a contract because in the IT world the bulk of the time a lawyer spends is on negotiating contracts because we understand that not just a word, even a punctuation mark can actually make a significant difference when it comes to interpreting contracts.
Now, despite all the best efforts, I think disputes are bound to happen, and that’s when the contract is really tested. I mean, as long as you’re not looking at a contract during project delivery, it’s a sign of a great project being executed. But the moment the project managers start looking at contracts, it means something is going wrong.
So unfortunately or fortunately, I’ve been part of a few of these disputes in my career. And one great experience I had was one of the first disputes I saw in Singapore where it was an implementation project that we had to deliver for a client in Singapore and things didn’t go as expected.
There were some delivery challenges. It became what we call a troubled project, and we deployed the best possible resources. We formed a core team with business, finance, and legal leaders. I was leading the whole discussion from a legal standpoint. And when we realized after weeks and months of efforts that we were not able to reach a consensus on the way forward, that’s when we had to knock on the doors of a formal dispute settlement mechanism, which in that case happened to be the mediation center in Singapore.
Now, that was one of my first experiences. So we actually leveraged the mediation procedure in Singapore, and it was a wonderful experience, to be honest. It’s because I saw firsthand how mediation is done, and it was a case where the mediator got both the parties together and you knew that you were having very strong differences with the other party.
But the mediator began the whole discussion by asking each one to share one interesting unknown fact about themselves with the entire forum. So he went around the room, there were 20 of us, and I think in hindsight, you realize he was just trying to lighten the entire atmosphere so that parties could reach an amicable resolution.
But it was done very professionally. We couldn’t reach a settlement the same day, but I think it significantly acted as a catalyst in helping the parties continue the discussions. We didn’t reach arbitration, but after a few more days of negotiations we eventually reached a settlement. But I think the overall experience was fantastic, which is why today I’m a huge fan of mediation.
I think it definitely helps. It’s worth exploring as a dispute settlement mechanism before you approach arbitration or the relevant courts. So yeah, that’s been a wonderful experience. And we had another case in Vietnam, where the contract was signed in Vietnam, but the dispute settlement was in Singapore.
And it was interesting because we had to find a law firm that had presence in both countries because you need to get the award in Singapore, but have it enforced in Vietnam. So I think when you work in multiple jurisdictions in a region like ASEAN, those are common challenges. But I think we’ll have to go through the mechanism.
We did reach a settlement again over there as well, we didn’t have to go through arbitration, but just the preparation of finding a law firm in preparation for a potential formal dispute resolution mechanism, I think that was a fabulous experience. But yeah, since then, luckily we’ve not had any more disputes, but the overall experience has been fabulous.
And we know that today we have a lot more options in case we have to end up in a similar situation going forward.
Since you work extensively in technology and compliance and also mentor young professionals, what advice would you give to learners and practicing lawyers on how to build expertise and continue learning in this field?
Absolutely sure. And since my career has been in-house, I think I’ll focus on that particular aspect. And to me, the first thing that comes to my mind based on my experience over the last 20 plus years is that because we are in-house lawyers, because we are business lawyers, it’s extremely important for any lawyer to do justice to his qualification, to his role as an in-house counsel, that you must have a very good sense of the business that your company is doing.
Unless you understand the business, you will never be a successful business lawyer. I think this is something I learned at a very early stage from my seniors as well, and I continue imparting the same education, the same learning to my team and the younger lawyers as well. I think we are called business lawyers.
There’s a reason behind it because, for example, if I can be a little bit more straightforward, when you approach an outside counsel or a law firm, I think pretty much their advice is limited in terms of what the legal position is, whereas an in-house counsel, not just you must be aware of what the law states, but you should also be able to advise the business.
How can you apply that law to the relevant business in the context of what the business priorities are? So you need to understand the business. That’s fundamental for any in-house counsel. Second, in today’s world of AI and new technologies coming and entering our homes, our offices, I think it’s quintessential that you are tech savvy.
I think you have to be tech savvy. There’s a very popular saying, which I’m sure all of us must have heard, that AI may not replace lawyers, but lawyers who know AI may replace other lawyers. I think that saying is very, very true. So you have to be tech savvy. Otherwise you will be left behind because you’re just standing there.
Whereas others who have more knowledge, who are much more tech friendly, they will move forward because that’s where the world is heading. Then I also think your assessment of risk is very important. I think what I’ve seen, is that a conservative position is pretty much taken by someone who is an inexperienced lawyer.
I think it’s a safe comfort zone, right? I mean all of us did that. I did that when I was young, but I didn’t know what should be the most aggressive position. You would always take the comfortable conservative position. So I think going forward, what I realize more is that it’s easy to stay in your comfort zone and take a conservative position, but I think smart lawyers, and that’s the difference between a good and a great lawyer.
A great lawyer will take a balanced position. And I think the entire journey is all about how you can strike a balance between conflicting interests. So focus on that. And last but not least, I think I come from a traditional mindset, always be positive and continue believing in hard work.
I think hard work will not be replaced by AI. AI is here to stay, but you still need to work hard. You still need to stay positive because your perception, your confidence as a lawyer will give confidence to your business stakeholders and they will be happier to work with someone who’s a lot more positive, who’s a lot more practical than someone who’s very conservative, who’s very pessimistic. So these would be my top three or four recommendations.
How do you find time to mentor people despite your professional commitments, and how has mentoring enriched you personally and professionally? What have you learned from your mentees as well?
Mentoring is something which is very close to my heart. I think over the last 10 years, IBM has an IBM mentoring program and I’m a huge fan of it because I’ve been very lucky and blessed to have some wonderful mentors. Mentors with years of experience and as I learned from them, you know, I realized that a mentor is not someone who will take a decision for you, but they will let you know what the pros and cons of the different choices that are in your mind are.
That’s the most perfect way of being a mentor. I don’t think mentors should take decisions for you, but they will show you the path and then you will have to make a choice. And whether that choice turns out to be right or wrong, that’s your call. So if that’s been my experience, I certainly believe in mentoring.
Today, I’m a mentor to a few folks within IBM. I am also part of the JITO. JITO is a Jain International Trade Organization. It’s a global forum. Over there, they have something called a Jain Professional Forum, and they have a group called the JITO Mentoring Program. I’m part of that. So I do provide mentoring to a lot of folks who are part of that.
And within IBM, professionally, we are working with some reputed educational institutions in Singapore, where we are mentoring law students. So it’s very close to my heart and I realized when I was young, I didn’t have someone who could have given me the right approach, the right mentoring advice.
So I want to ensure that I can pass it on to the younger generation so that they have all the relevant information and they can benefit from my experience to whatever extent possible. Each one’s journey is different. But yes, I think that’s a priority for me. All of us are pressed for time.
And back to your original question, if you are passionate about mentoring, about teaching, you will make it a priority. I refuse to believe when someone says, I don’t have time for mentoring, I don’t have time for hobbies, I don’t have time for wellbeing, that’s a choice. If that’s not your choice, you will not do it.
You will not find time for it. But if it’s your priority, you will always find time for it. So for me, mentoring is close to my heart, so I will continue doing it. Some benefit, some don’t, but at least I feel happy that I know I’ve done my bit in their journey.
With the rise of AI and disruptive technologies transforming the legal industry, what changes have you seen so far, and what future do you foresee for lawyers and current law students?
Sure. To me, AI stands for assistive technology, Assistive Intelligence. I think it is here to assist us. The reality is that yes, AI will impact many of our roles in a way that it will start assisting us. We will be expected to perform a lot more high-end, high-value work, but the fact is that the kind of transformation that we are going through now, is quite unprecedented in the sense that people are equating the advent of AI to the discovery of the internet, to the discovery of some transformational innovation, like what we’ve seen in the past. So this is a life-changing experience.
It will impact each and every role regardless of what all of us are doing. And it’s wise, it’s recommended that we embrace it as openly as possible. AI is here to stay. I don’t think AI is a bubble, that’s my view. I think we’ve already seen what AI can do. What its potential is, I think ChatGPT, the day that was launched, it was a game changer in the IT industry.
And after that, the pace at which AI is transforming, it’s phenomenal. Just keeping up to date with all the changes, I think that itself is a challenge. But AI is definitely here to stay. Yes, the reality is that many companies will start investing more in AI technology than in humans.
Each company will take time. Some will play the game of wait and watch. Some have already started adopting AI technology. IBM is one of them. We have implemented some of the AI technologies, whether it’s the now publicly famous AskHR platform where our entire HR function has a chatbot where any questions you have for HR, you first go to the chatbot, you put your question and you get the answers immediately.
So in fact, our HR and finance functions, they are acting as client zero. Despite being support functions, they are going and projecting our in-house internal use cases to our clients to convince them that if IBM can adopt AI internally, definitely we believe in this technology and we can do it for our external clients as well.
So my suggestion is please embrace it. Please learn it. Please update yourself. It will only improve you and help you become a better lawyer. It may impact some lawyers for sure. I will not mince words around that. But the fact is that the sooner you embrace it and if you know how to adopt it, and if you can start focusing on the more high-end work, I think that will be much more advisable.
Having said that, I still believe that there are certain aspects which AI has not yet taken away from humans, whether it is the art of arriving at a sensible judgment, whether it is the art of negotiations, I think those are skills which are still with humans for now. We don’t know if AI could possibly replace that as well.
The human emotions, the human element in a discussion or an interaction with a client or partner, I think those are skills that are still there. But my recommendation, as I mentioned earlier as well, is that the sooner we start adopting and embracing technology, the better it will be for all of us. We should know how to use this technology.
Even in the past when the internet was formed, I think we went through the same phenomenon, the same anxiousness that the internet is a game changer. It will replace humans. What are we doing with all of this? But the fact is that the internet came, and it has only resulted in more jobs, more businesses, more opportunities for people around the world.
I hope AI will do the same. It may shrink jobs, but it will give rise to more employment opportunities in different and new areas. So let’s adopt it. Let’s embrace it. And back to my earlier suggestion, let’s be positive about the future.
What are the key principles and lessons that have guided your journey, mentoring, and professional growth, which you would like to share with learners?
Sure. So, my advice, I think if I look at my journey and especially the leadership role that I’m currently in, I think, as I mentioned earlier, the first one is definitely to focus on the business aspect of your company or of your client, whatever that is. As a leader, I think I’ve always believed in encouraging a speak-up culture.
That’s very important, especially in ASEAN because in ASEAN people are quite shy by nature. So it’s important to encourage a speak-up culture and be an active listener. And I’m just focusing on the leadership skills here, So I think once I became a regional counsel, I realized that listening became a critical part of my role.
You have to listen to your team. You have to be an active listener and focus more on the human aspect of the team than just the work, because I’m lucky to be leading a team which is so talented, so competent, so my job is to help them as and when needed, and to remove the obstacles along the way.
That’s my only job. I want to just promote a culture of openness, a culture of transparency. Otherwise, my team is extremely competent. They know the laws of each country. They will be able to handle it, and I’m just there to support them from behind and let them know that I always have their back.
And I think the human traits become very important. Be genuine, be honest. I’ll be the first one to stand up and give a huge round of applause each time someone from the team does a fabulous job. But if it’s the other case where they don’t do such a fabulous job, then obviously we have a one-to-one discussion.
So, just following some of these basic principles will really help you prosper. And as always, be positive, be hardworking. And I would also add that apart from just working hard, working smart is also very critical now, with technology forming a big part of our work.
I think hard work is always there, but if you can also be smart about approaching things, that really helps us in becoming a better and a more mature lawyer going forward.
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