Michela D’Auria works at the complex intersections of IT and digital transformation and business regulatory compliance in her role of Lead Counsel at Capgemini Italia, balancing innovation, adaptability, and business resilience. In this interview, she gave us a glimpse into how she leads her in-house legal team to stay ahead of the curve and foster a cross-functional one-team culture with empathy, pragmatism and accountability.

Interview by My-Han Trinh

With over 16 years of experience supporting complex environments such as IT and digital transformation initiatives, you are now the Legal Head of Banking and Insurance Market at Capgemini Italia. How does the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) outsourcing context differ from other sectors, such as banking and insurance, when it comes to legal considerations and risks?

This sector operates at a specific level of influence, impacting the core operational and technological framework of our clients’ organisations. These services not only support business operations, but also enable cooperation, data flow, and regulatory compliance.

From a legal perspective, ICT outsourcing brings together several risk dimensions, such as operational resilience, cybersecurity, data protection, subcontracting chains, and regulatory accountability. Unlike other sectors, the question here lies beyond contract compliance; it is about whether the organisation, our client, continues to operate if something goes wrong. The answer must be always yes.

Another key difference is the balance between control and delegation. In ICT outsourcing, our clients delegate services and execution, but never the ownership of responsibility. This creates the tension between contract risk allocation and regulatory expectations. It is very important for us as lawyers to understand and walk the fine lines between what is included in the contract and the expectations that regulators may have in practice, especially in cases of incidents.

Finally, ICT outsourcing is deeply impacted by technological evolution. Legal frameworks often move slower than technological changes. As a result, we operate in a space where interpretation, judgments, sentences, and risk assessment are essential. This makes our role less static and far more strategic than in many other sectors.

Regulatory frameworks for IT and financial services are evolving at a rapid pace. How do you lead your in-house legal team to adopt a proactive approach to stay ahead of these regulatory changes?

In a context where regulations evolve rapidly and continuously, namely with the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the EU AI Act coming into effect, being reactive is no longer an option. Productivity must be embedded in our day-to-day work.

Therefore, our first priority is to have a regulatory radar. At Capgemini, this is managed at the Group level, which provides us with a structured and comprehensive view of the regulatory landscape. This allows us to go beyond local monitoring and consolidate legal developments as part of a broader coordinated framework across different jurisdictions and sectors. This grand vision means that we don’t simply track new laws, but also analyse trends, supervise priorities, and truly understand the direction that regulations are moving towards, rather than just knowing where they stand today.

Secondly, in the legal team, we work outside of the traditional silos. This is because the impact of regulatory changes rarely limits to the legal department, they affect delivery models, procurement strategy, pricing, operations, and cybersecurity as well, to name a few. Thus, it’s very important to have discussion between all functions in order to have a more pragmatic and anticipatory mindset, which ultimately supports the legal team to come up with the most optimal advice.

Another critical aspect is the translation of regulatory texts which are abstract by nature. Our role is to help the business to turn these regulations and laws into actionable guidance and tangible feedback. At the end of the day, what matters most is ensuring the business can have effective implementation.

The last point that I would place strong emphasis on is continuous learning. As a team, we have a structured training objective, because productivity comes from confidence and solid expertise. The goal is to evolve from a model of legal control to a legal partnership where our function is seen as a trusted business partner to work very closely with the client. Of course, compliance innovation is a key word in this new role, as well as proactivity and learning.

Being reactive is no longer an option. Productivity must be embedded in our day-to-day work.

Organisations worldwide are accelerating digital transformation through outsourcing and adopting emerging technologies. How do you see the role of in-house legal teams evolving in terms of balancing innovation, adaptability, and regulatory accountability in the years ahead?

I strongly believe that the role of the in-house legal team is undergoing structural transformation. In the past, the legal departments were often positioned as risk gatekeepers. Today, we are becoming architects of sustainable innovation.

Digital transformation in outsourcing and emerging technology requires speed, adaptability and experimentation but always within a framework of accountability. In particular, the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence within corporate legal department is reshaping how teams like ours support business decision-making, accelerating efficiency while also increasing the need for robust governance, ethical oversight, and regulatory control.

In this context, innovation and compliance are no longer opposing forces but are both complementary responsibilities of the new in-house legal department. The key here is the ability to balance innovation with regulatory obligation, which will be one of the most important skills for a successful lawyer in the coming years.

In the past, the legal departments were often positioned as risk gatekeepers. Today, we are becoming architects of sustainable innovation.

In a multinational context, translating complex regulatory development into practical implementation is often the biggest challenge. How do you ensure that legal guidance is transformed into solutions that are not only compliant, but also operationally sustainable and aligned with global business objectives?

One of the biggest challenges in a multinational organisation is ensuring consistency without sacrificing operational feasibility. To achieve this balance, I focus on close collaboration with our stakeholders, including compliance, risk and delivery. Legal guidelines must be co-designed with those who will implement them in order to ensure that compliance requirements are both realistic and sustainable.

Another highly important key is prioritisation. Not all regulatory obligation carries the same level of risk. Therefore, our legal team guides the company to distinguish between what is mandatory, what is strategic and what is the best practice so that resources are allocated efficiently.

Finally, operationally sustainability means thinking beyond the signature of the contract. We assess the solutions based on whether they can be maintained and adapted over time. So, compliance is not a single project, it is an ever-evolving framework for the legal department. Our job is to ensure that this framework supports both resilience and business growth of the organisation.

Your work emphasises cross-functional collaboration with all stakeholders, from business, sales to delivery, procurement and compliance and audit functions. What does an “one-team” approach look like in your day-to-day practice?

For me, the one-team approach is not just a slogan, it is a daily way of working. In practical terms, it means that our legal team is involved at an early stage of each opportunity, not as a final checkpoint. I work very close with business, sales, delivery and compliance in order to assure alignment right from the start. This allows us to speak a common language, taking into account not only legal feedback but also commercial drivers, specific delivery constraints or other operational realities.

Lastly, all relationships, both internally and externally, are founded on transparency and mutual respect. I believe building positive, win-win relationships is always key for leaders, not only cross-functionally but also internally within the legal department itself. This is all the more important in a global environment where it is valuable to know who we can come to for help, guidance, and feedback.

The one-team approach is not just a slogan, it is a daily way of working.

You’ve mentioned how motherhood has influenced your leadership style. Can you tell us what this experience has shown you about empathy, pragmatism and accountability as a female leader?

Being a mother to a beautiful daughter has definitely helped me developed my leadership style in terms of empathy, pragmatism, accountability.

First of all, motherhood has shown me that people perform best when they are understood, trusted and supported, not when they are controlled. As a leader, I need focus more on the individual's strength, limit and motivation and build a supportive relationship with all members of my team. Working in a team is very much similar to a family, we support each other, even in the most difficult moments.

Secondly, managing family complexities within a limited time has taught me how to prioritise what really matters. In leadership, this translates to focusing on impact rather than formality, on substance rather than perfection.

Finally, being a parent reinforces the idea that leadership means setting an example, not authority. People observe how leaders behave under pressure, how to balance commitments and solve issues. This awareness has made me become a more conscious and consistent leader.

Generally speaking, as a female leader, I think motherhood is not a limitation, but a source of strength. It brings perspectives, resilience and authenticity - qualities that are essential in the current context of a complex and fast-changing professional environment.

Motherhood has shown me that that people perform best when they are understood, trusted and supported, not when they are controlled.