The Business of AI, Infrastructure, and the T-Shaped Lawyer with Saad Minhas

This week on Studying Law Around the World, I am thrilled to host Saad Minhas. Saad is the Managing Counsel, Infrastructure and Canada Lead at Cerebras Systems, the company leading the world in high speed AI inference. Based right here in Toronto, his career sits at the fascinating intersection of real estate, energy, and digital infrastructure.As Toronto Tech Week brings founders, investors, and builders to our city to celebrate the future of technology, it is the perfect time to look at the physical engine powering this entire AI revolution.There is an unspoken rule in the legal profession that no one teaches early enough. Legal careers are shaped far less by credentials and much more by communication. When you are working on massive infrastructure projects, your ability to clearly explain risk across different disciplines is what actually gets things built. I want to make that invisible part of the profession visible today.In this episode, we discuss:The Unspoken Rule of High Stakes Deals: Why legal expertise is only the baseline. To be a true advisor, you must understand your client's profit incentives and how their business actually serves its customers.The T-Shaped Lawyer: What mistake do early career professionals make because no one explained it? They focus solely on their legal specialty. Saad explains why you must develop deep expertise in one area while maintaining the versatility to communicate across parallel fields like construction and power.Navigating Different Environments: What question should a junior lawyer ask but does not know how? How do I translate my skills across different sectors? Saad shares how he successfully transitioned between public agencies, global banks, and tech startups by staying true to his core values and clearly communicating his value to stakeholders.Guest: Saad Minhas, Managing Counsel, Infrastructure and Canada Lead at Cerebras Systems. Saad leads the legal function for Canada and heads commercial and infrastructure matters globally, with a focus on AI data center development and hyperscale infrastructure transactions.If you found value in this episode, please take a moment to follow or subscribe to the show. Leaving a rating and review is the best way to support the podcast, helping us continue to grow and bring these invisible rules of the legal profession to more junior lawyers around the world.Selected episodes of Studying Law Around the World are eligible for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credit with the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) and Continuing Legal Education (CLE/CPD) credit with the Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC).For approved episodes, accreditation details, and participation information, please visit:https://law-learn-link.base44.app/EpisodesPlease retain your confirmation email as proof of attendance in the event of an audit.Please note that the Barreau du Québec no longer directly accredits external CPD providers. Québec lawyers must self report eligible hours under the Regulation respecting compulsory continuing education for lawyers. Programs accredited by the LSO or LSBC are generally accepted when the content is relevant to legal practice and aligns with Barreau standards.For specific eligibility questions, please consult the Barreau du Québec website directly.