Beacon Voices

In this episode of Beacon Voices, Akshay Verma (COO at SpotDraft) sits down with Reese Arrowsmith to explore the evolution of legal operations over the last 25+ years.   Reese shares his unconventional journey from environmental science to becoming one of the earliest leaders in legal operations, and reflects on how legal departments have transformed through the dot-com era, the 2008 financia...

In this episode of Beacon Voices, Akshay Verma speaks with Susan Packal, Head of Global Legal Operations and Chief of Staff at Avalara, about the creation of a first-of-its-kind documentary on the history and evolution of legal operations.   Susan shares the inspiration behind the project, the three-year journey to bring it to life, and the stories of the pioneers who helped shape the profess...

In this episode of SpotDraft’s Beacon Voices podcast, Akshay Verma sits down with Ron Bell to discuss the evolution of legal operations and the future of legal teams in the AI era.   Ron shares how his experience at Apple and Yahoo shaped his thinking around collaboration, systems, and legal strategy, and reflects on the early days of legal ops alongside pioneers like Connie Brenton. The conv...

In this episode of Beacon Voices, Akshay Verma (COO at SpotDraft) sits down with Kunoor Chopra, Co-founder and Vice President at Elevate, to explore the evolution of legal operations and why it has become central to the modern legal function. Kunoor shares her journey from traditional law firm practice to building one of the earliest legal process outsourcing (LPO) companies, and how that experien...

What does it take to turn legal into a strategic business driver? In this episode, Oyango Snell, President & CEO of CLOC, shares his journey from law firms and public policy to leading the legal ops movement. He explains how discovering legal operations changed his approach—helping legal teams move from a “department of no” to a function that drives efficiency, alignment, and business impact....

What does it take to turn legal from a bottleneck into a business enabler?   Sean Rayani, Global Head of Legal Operations at Twilio, shares his unconventional journey from aspiring prosecutor to legal ops leader. He unpacks how early exposure to inefficiencies shaped his mindset, how Twilio’s rapid growth influenced his career. From manually handling contracts to building scalable systems at...

What does it take to succeed as a lawyer in a world shaped by AI, speed, and constant change?   Natalie Kim, VP of Legal at Omnidian, breaks down how modern in-house lawyers must go beyond legal expertise to think like operators. She shares her journey from Big Law to in-house, the shift toward building legal as a product, and the biggest inefficiencies holding legal teams back today.  ...

In this episode of Beacon Voices, Natalie Salunke shares her journey from law firm challenges to becoming a fractional General Counsel. She talks about shifting from academic law to business-focused legal work, the rise of legal ops, and why modern lawyers must think beyond traditional roles.   The conversation also explores the impact of AI, the importance of data-driven legal teams, and why...

What does a successful legal career look like in the age of AI, and does it still follow the traditional Big Law path?   In this episode of Beacon Voices, Akshay Verma speaks with Wei Wang, Associate General Counsel for GTM and Strategic Partnerships at TRM Labs, about her unconventional journey into in-house law. Wei shares how starting at Google during law school shaped her career across co...

In this episode of Beacon Voices, Akshay Verma speaks with Sachin Bansal, former President of SecurityScorecard and a seasoned cybersecurity operator, about an unconventional legal career journey.   Sachin shares how he moved from Big Law to in-house leadership, and ultimately into senior operating roles: navigating pivots driven by market disruption, technology shifts, and the rise of AI. Th...

In this episode of Beacon Voices, Akshay Verma sits down with Louis Shansky, General Counsel at global FinTech company Tilt, to explore what modern in-house legal leadership really looks like. From surviving the 2008 financial crisis at a top law firm to building lean legal teams across multiple countries, Louis shares how judgment, operational thinking, and adaptability matter more than rigid leg...

In this episode of Beacon Voices, Akshay Verma sits down with Gal Bruck, fractional counsel and legal operations expert, to unpack why legal work still feels inefficient and what actually needs to change.    Gal shares her journey from traditional law firm work to legal operations, explaining why effort and billable hours became substitutes for impact, and how in-house teams must rethink...

In the first episode of the newly rebranded Beacon Voices, Akshay Verma, COO of SpotDraft, speaks with Product Counsel Flora Kontilis, about building a modern in-house legal career. Flora shares how working in sales ops shaped her approach to lawyering, why law school was a means to an end, and how mentorship and small teams accelerate real learning. The conversation breaks down what product couns...