Legal Foresight Reshaping Automotive Industry Amid Disruption & Change

By: Shweta Pandey, Vice President of Legal & Compliance, Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India

Shweta is a strategic legal advisor at MBRDI, overseeing Legal, Compliance, Corporate Affairs, CSR, and Sustainability functions. A gold medallist from Nalsar University, she has worked with Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, IBM, Infosys, and Target. Passionate about gender equality, she advocates for women's rights and has received multiple awards.

In an engaging interaction with Women Entrepreneurs Review Magazine, Shweta shares her insights on the evolving legal landscape in the motor vehicle industry, addressing the intersection of compliance, sustainability, and technology. She also talks about the role of gender diversity in shaping ethical leadership and transforming compliance into a competitive advantage.

How should companies approach reshaping legal compliance to align with the future of mobility, sustainability, and technology?

The automotive sector is experiencing significant disruption, but this presents unique opportunities for innovation. Understanding the evolving ecosystem and keeping pace with these changes is crucial for providing tailored solutions.

Every business challenge has legal implications, making it essential to embed legal foresight into strategy. This means viewing compliance as a catalyst that fosters innovation rather than restricting it. Legal leadership today extends beyond traditional compliance to be a strategic enabler of business transformation. By adopting a business-oriented mindset, legal leaders can better support transformation while maintaining regulatory integrity. The focus is on moving business forward through collaborative solutions that balance compliance with technological advancement.

Given the complexity of navigating legal ethics, how do you balance being an advocate for gender inclusivity with ensuring corporate integrity?

While integrity and ethical leadership are universal principles, women leaders bring valuable perspectives shaped by their experiences, allowing them to address challenges with greater perceptiveness. Certain workplace policies and ethical concerns uniquely impact women, making it easier for women leaders to empathise and advocate for necessary changes. Their experiences – whether personal or through supporting colleagues – enhance their ability to foster safe spaces for ethical discussions and drive meaningful change in corporate culture.

Balancing advocacy for gender inclusivity with corporate integrity requires integrating ethical discussions into everyday business conversations, removing the historical stigma around these topics. As technology evolves, ethical leadership must also mature, ensuring that inclusivity and integrity remain at the core of corporate decision-making.

How do you view the intersection of risk management and gender inclusivity in shaping corporate legal strategies? What role does gender diversity play in shaping effective legal strategies?

Risk management and corporate governance are deeply interconnected in shaping effective legal strategies. We need to focus on building frameworks that reflect diverse perspectives and evaluate leadership based on capability rather than perception. This involves creating an equitable corporate environment where different viewpoints are integrated into risk mitigation strategies.

Women in leadership positions today are laying the foundation for an equitable corporate environment, ensuring that risk assessment models reflect diverse perspectives rather than reinforcing traditional power dynamics. An inclusive legal strategy acknowledges systemic challenges, integrates diverse viewpoints into risk mitigation frameworks, and fosters a corporate culture where leadership is evaluated based on capability rather than perception.

How do you envision women in leadership roles transforming compliance from a limiting force into a competitive advantage?

Compliance should serve as a foundation for sustainable growth rather than a limiting force. Women leaders bring unique perspectives to transforming compliance frameworks, often approaching challenges with both analytical rigour and collaborative instinct. By breaking down legal concepts into accessible terms and fostering stakeholder engagement, they can drive greater organisational buy-in. Organisations thrive when they implement flexible, tech-enabled compliance frameworks that work in harmony with business processes.

Women in leadership positions are particularly effective at identifying opportunities to make compliance more facilitative and proactive, helping businesses anticipate regulatory shifts while maintaining operational agility. This approach transforms compliance from a checkpoint into a strategic advantage that supports innovation and growth.