Exterro CEO Bobby Balachandran Explains the Challenges CLOs Are Facing
In a recent interview with Sandhill.com, Exterro CEO Bobby Balachandran highlighted the major macro trends transforming the role of the General Counsel (GC) and Chief Legal Officer (CLO). Over the last 15 years, the legal department has shifted from a siloed function to the central hub for Legal Governance, Risk, and Compliance (Legal GRC).
The Four Macro Trends Reshaping Legal Leadership
Balachandran identifies four drivers that are forcing organizations to rethink their structures:
- Proliferation of Regulations: A constant influx of new global and local mandates.
- Privacy Scrutiny: The rise of "high-stakes" privacy laws like the GDPR (Europe) and CPRA (California).
- Cybersecurity Threats: The relentless risk of data breaches and ransomware.
- Operational Efficiency: A C-suite mandate for legal departments to adopt "Legal Ops" to improve productivity.
The "Cross-Departmental" Challenge
Balachandran uses the example of a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) to illustrate how modern legal challenges break conventional boundaries.
If a former employee requests their data or asks for its deletion, the process touches multiple departments:
- Privacy: To manage the intake and legal workflow of the request.
- E-Discovery: To locate, collect, review, and redact personal information across massive datasets.
- Compliance/Legal Hold: Before deleting data, the organization must verify it isn't subject to a Legal Hold or regulatory retention requirement.
A New Organizational Reality
Because these tasks are so interconnected, reporting lines for privacy, incident response, and litigation support are increasingly converging under the GC. This shift is driving the need for technology that doesn't just solve one problem, but orchestrates the entire process.
The Data-Centric Solution
The Exterro platform is built on the philosophy that you cannot manage what you do not understand. The foundation of the platform enables clients to:
- Map Data: Identify what data exists and where it is located globally.
- Apply Context: Understand which regulations or third-party access rules apply to specific data sets.
- Execute Rapidly: Whether it’s collecting evidence for an internal investigation or fulfilling reporting obligations after a breach, the platform automates the "hand-offs" between departments.
Resource: Read the full interview on the Exterro News page
