From Gatekeeper To Architect: How General Counsel Are Shaping Innovation in the AI Era

Smrithi Mohan is General Counsel at Awesome, the parent company of SmugMug and Flickr, where she oversees all legal, IP, privacy, and compliance matters for two of the world's most recognized photo-sharing platforms. She previously spent a decade at Dun & Bradstreet, where she built the company's first global IP and innovation practice. An elected Board of Education member and recognized Top Woman Leader, she speaks and writes on legal operations, IP strategy, leadership, and building legal functions from the ground up. In this episode… When a new AI feature ships or a new product is designed, general counsel may not be looped in until after key decisions are made. This creates risk because most product decisions have legal implications, especially around data use, user rights, and consent. That changes when legal teams are brought into the product development cycle at the outset, helping design outcomes that align with legal obligations and business goals. How can general counsel and legal teams move from being seen as gatekeepers to business drivers? Shifting how general counsel and legal teams are viewed starts with building strong relationships across business teams. When legal leaders understand how product, engineering, and other teams operate, they are more likely to be included as ideas take shape. Early involvement enables general counsel to explain regulatory requirements and legal frameworks across different jurisdictions, thereby improving products and making them more defensible. It also creates space to ask fundamental questions in AI development upfront, including what data is being used, whether the company has the right to use it, who owns the outputs, and whether user information is collected with proper consent flows. Vendor relationships require the same level of attention, as older contracts may not address AI and often need audits, addendums, and updated terms.  In this episode of She Said Privacy/He Said Security, Jodi and Justin Daniels talk with Smrithi Mohan, General Counsel at Awesome, about how legal teams can integrate into AI and product development. Smrithi explains why general counsel needs to act as business architects and not just legal advisors, and what it takes to make that shift. She outlines the core legal questions teams should address when developing AI tools and other products, how to manage third-party vendor contract risks, and the evolving legal gray areas surrounding AI-generated content and platform liability. Smrithi also offers practical advice on building genuine, collaborative relationships across teams.