An interview with Shanti Ariker, Chief Legal Officer at JFrog, Ltd. (NASDAQ:FROG) in USA.
How would you describe the state of the GC Community in your region? How has it changed since you first moved in-house?
The GC Community is strong in the SF Bay Area. There are several convening bodies like LSuite and Women’s General Counsel Network. In the past, there were very few organisations and it was hard to meet and discuss issues with other GCs. Now, it’s more a matter of picking the one or few that will add the most value.
Why is expanding your network important to you? What kinds of connections or discussions would be most valuable to you?
It’s important to be able to talk to peers about issues that may affect others and get their advice, benchmark and also share concerns of the general legal community. Those are all areas of the most value – learning from each other, trusted discussions about referrals, vendors and processes.
What do you want to achieve by collaborating with other GCs and senior in-house lawyers?
Being a GC can be a lonely job. Most of what we do is under the radar and often confidential. It is hard to relate to others about the job and easier to relate to others in the same position in other companies. It can be helpful to be in touch with people in the same industry in some cases and in others, it really depends on the area of law or region of concern.
Are there specific topics, challenges, or experiences you’d like to share or learn more about?
Topics of the day would include antitrust and how it is changing under the Trump administration, how tariffs and trade relations will affect everyone, is the IPO market ever returning, how will AI change the legal profession in the next 5 years, how are lawyers using AI today and which vendors are the best right now.
