Why Lawyers Must Think Business: Lessons on Law and Leadership from Sandhya Tolat

In this episode of The General Counsel Series (in proud collaboration with @ZohoSign), we sit down with Sandhya Tolat, General Counsel at Aarti Industries, to decode what modern legal leadership looks like inside a large, manufacturing-led organisation—where law intersects daily with plant operations, safety, environment, supply continuity, contracts, and reputation. From the mindset shift required to move from “legal correctness” to legal, business, and operational decision-making, to building high-trust internal legal teams and choosing technology that actually gets adopted across locations and workflows - this conversation is packed with practical insights for in-house counsel, external counsel, law students, and business leaders. A special focus in this episode is how GCs evaluate and implement digital execution and governance, and where digital signature solutions like Zoho Sign can make the biggest day-to-day difference, from vendor and customer contracting to HR documentation and board/governance workflows. A big thank you to @ZohoSign for powering this series. Chapters: 00:00 Teaser 01:46 Guest introduction 05:20 Moving from a law firm to an in-house role 15:41 Managing uncertainty and geopolitical risk 19:23 The most important skill a GC can have 24:35 Building a strong in-house legal team and culture 37:02 Quick-fire segment: productivity, books, and advice About Zoho Sign Zoho Sign is part of the Zoho suite of digital products and enables organisations to streamline document execution with secure digital signing and governance-friendly workflows. Connect with Zoho Sign Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zohosignofficial/ X: https://x.com/zohosign?lang=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zohosign/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@zohosign Explore: https://www.zoho.com/en-in/sign/ Connect with us The Daily Lawyer Contact: [email protected] Website: https://thedailylawyer.in/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedailylawyer/ LinkedIn (Jenna Krishnan): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenna-v-krishnan/ #generalcounsel #inhousecounsel #ZohoSign #contractmanagement #legaltech #digitalsignature #digitalsign #esignature #thedailylawyer