Alexandre Verrien, Interim Legal Advisor – Saas & Compliance, charts the growing trajectory from GC to CLO to CAO and what it signals about the future of legal leadership.
In today’s complex business landscape, a fascinating career trajectory has emerged for legal executives – from General Counsel to Chief Legal Officer, and now, to Chief Administrative Officer (CAO).
This evolution represents far more than a simple change in title or organisational chart positioning.
It signals a fundamental expansion of scope, influence, and strategic impact for legal professionals who have traditionally been confined to advisory roles. As businesses navigate increasingly complex regulatory environments, technological disruption, and operational challenges, the unique skill set of legal executives is being recognised as invaluable across a broader organisational context.
The Legal Executive’s Journey: GC to CLO to CAO
General Counsel (GC):
A General Counsel is the head of the legal department within an organisation, responsible for overseeing legal matters that affect the business. Traditionally focused on legal risk, contract review, litigation, and compliance. GCs may, often, report to the CFO, positioning legal as a support function rather than a strategic pillar. The GC’s primary directive has historically been to protect the organisation from legal risk, with limited involvement in forward-looking business strategy or operational leadership.
Chief Legal Officer (CLO):
A natural evolution as organisations recognised legal’s strategic value. CLOs not only manage legal functions but oversee other support functions, such as privacy, or government affairs, and participate actively in business strategy development, focusing on how legal frameworks can enable growth while mitigating risk.
Unlike the GC, the CLO almost always reports directly to the CEO, signifying legal’s elevation to a true C-suite function with board visibility. The CLO shifts from being merely reactive to proactive, helping shape business initiatives from their inception rather than simply reviewing them after development.
Hybrid Roles – The Bridge:
We’ve witnessed the emergence of hybrid executive roles – particularly the combined CLO/Chief People Officer position. This combination represents a crucial step toward the broader CAO role, merging legal risk management with talent strategy and organisational development. These hybrid positions acknowledge the interconnectedness of legal compliance, corporate culture, and human capital management.
Chief Administrative Officer (CAO):
The CAO leverages legal executive’s analytical abilities and risk management expertise but extends oversight to multiple operational functions. Like the CLO, the CAO reports directly to the CEO, reflecting the strategic importance of integrated administrative leadership. This role represents the fullest expression of how legal training can translate to broad organisational leadership.
An image is better than words, so here you are:
The Modern CAO Role: A Comprehensive Overview
The CAO serves as the operational backbone of an organisation, orchestrating multiple critical functions that keep the business running smoothly while enabling strategic growth.
This expansive role typically may encompass:
Core Administrative Functions:
Strategic Dimensions of the CAO Role:
Unlike other C-suite positions with narrowly defined domains, the CAO role is uniquely cross-functional, requiring both breadth and depth across multiple disciplines. This breadth demands exceptional leadership skills, systems thinking, and the ability to see connections between seemingly disparate parts of the organisation.
The Holistic Approach
What makes legal executives particularly suited to the CAO role is their ability to adopt a systemic perspective, business-minded approach, as well as cross-functional integration and technological fluency, which transcends traditional legal boundaries.
It goes without saying that legal executives have developed a very strong proactive risk intelligence.
It is probably one of the main reasons why companies are having this new role. We can also think about simplifying the hierarchy…
“Legal executives have developed a very proactive risk intelligence.”
Why is this trajectory particularly valuable for legal executives?
The GC → CLO → CAO progression offers legal executives a unique career acceleration opportunity that capitalises on their distinctive skills while expanding their influence beyond traditional boundaries.
Legal training develops fundamental capabilities that align perfectly with CAO responsibilities:
Real-World Examples: Legal Leaders Becoming CAOs
Richard Verma at Mastercard:
Returned to Mastercard as Chief Administrative Officer after previously serving as CLO and overseeing public policy. This transition within a traditional, highly-regulated banking environment illustrates how legal expertise provides a foundation for managing complex operational challenges. Verma’s trajectory demonstrates how deep regulatory expertise translates to broader operational leadership in a global financial services organisation.
Beth O’Callahan at NetApp:
Appointed to a newly created CAO role after serving as Chief Legal Officer, exemplifying this career evolution in a fast-moving technology firm. O’Callahan leveraged her legal and compliance background to take on additional responsibility for global impact, operations, and other functions, showcasing how legal expertise can be applied to broader organisational challenges.
Carole Dagher at HomeEquity Bank:
Appointed to a newly hybrid role, combining a traditional GC position, but also including sustainability and administration pieces. Dagher’s expanded role reflects the growing recognition that legal leaders have valuable perspectives on ESG initiatives and operational excellence.
These examples – from traditional financial services and innovative technology – underscore that this career path is emerging across diverse industries and organisational types.
Cultivating the skills for the CAO trajectory
For legal executives aspiring to this expanded career path, several key development areas deserve focus: business & financial acumen; operational excellence, technology fluency; leadership expansion and strategic communication.
The Future Outlook: Why This Trend Will Accelerate
The progression of legal executives into CAO roles is likely to accelerate for several compelling reasons:
Increasing Regulatory Complexity:
As regulatory environments grow more complex globally, organisations value leaders who can navigate compliance requirements while maintaining operational efficiency – a combination legal executives uniquely offer.
Digital Transformation Imperatives:
As organisations undergo digital transformation, they need leaders who can ensure governance frameworks evolve alongside technological capabilities – making legally trained operational leaders especially valuable.
ESG Integration:
The growing importance of environmental, social, and governance factors creates natural bridges between legal oversight and broader administrative functions, opening new pathways for legal executives.
Talent Strategy Evolution:
As organisations recognise the interconnection between compliance culture, workplace experience, and talent retention, the combined legal/people operations perspective becomes increasingly valuable.
Cost Optimisation Pressure:
Economic uncertainty drives organisations to seek operational leaders who can balance risk management with cost efficiency – a balance legal executives are uniquely positioned to strike.
Conclusion: The GC to CLO to CAO Path as a Career Accelerator
The progression from General Counsel to Chief Administrative Officer represents far more than just an evolution of titles – it signals a fundamental shift in how organisations view legal expertise and its application to broader operational challenges.
This career trajectory offers legal executives a remarkable path to expand their influence beyond traditional boundaries into strategic organisational leadership. Each step brings new challenges but builds on the foundation of analytical thinking, risk management, and problem-solving that legal training instills.
For legal executives with technology experience, the CAO role offers a particularly compelling opportunity to leverage existing strengths while expanding influence. As businesses face mounting operational complexity in a digital-first world, those who can successfully travel the GC → CLO → CAO path will be uniquely positioned to drive value in ways that transcend traditional legal contributions.
The rise of legal executives to CAO positions recognises what many have long understood: that legal training develops capabilities that extend far beyond the courtroom or contract review. It builds leaders who can see around corners, anticipate challenges, and orchestrate complex systems toward successful outcomes. As organisations continue to navigate unprecedented complexity, the legal executive’s evolution to CAO may well represent the highest and best use of their unique talents.
What are your thoughts on the emergence of the CAO role? How do you interpret this evolution?
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Interim Legal Advisor – SaaS & Compliance
Confidential
France