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Inderpreet Sawhney
Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer
Infosys
Inderpreet Sawhney is the chief legal officer and chief compliance officer of Infosys. In this role she leads the legal and compliance function for the company. She is a strategic business partner ensuring success for Infosys in legal and regulatory matters, while spearheading its compliance and ethics program. Sawhney also has additional responsibility for privacy and data protection at Infosys.
Day in the life: Balancing dual roles
Infosys is a global technology company with 200,000 employees. Because she holds two roles — chief legal officer and chief compliance officer — Sawhney says “there is no typical day” for her. Infosys is headquartered in India, but Sawhney is based in Dallas, TX. Because she oversees both the legal and compliance functions, Sawhney emphasizes the importance of delegating separate tasks and fostering teamwork to ensure cohesion across the organization. It’s not an unusual position to be in: According to the 2025 ACC Chief Legal Officers Survey, 70 percent of CLOs oversee multiple functions and manage at least two additional areas such as risk, compliance, privacy, and ethics. Sawhney is one of those CLOs.
At work, there will always be good and bad days. Sawhney says a good day is “finding a solution to a complicated problem or closing a deal.” And a bad day — or not so enjoyable part of her day — means “administrative work.” Her secret to success is to lean heavily on co-workers who are exceptional at specific skills to help alleviate the workload. “Hire people who are smarter than you, who understand areas better than you,” she advises. “You can also lean on the HR and finance teams to help you deal with the administrative part of the work.”
The power of networking and making connections
In June 2024, Sawhney attended an ACC conference in London. She stresses the importance of networking, making meaningful connections, and lessons she learned. “The event in London was spectacular. When you get an opportunity to partner with an organization like ACC, it’s a wonderful opportunity to develop leadership skills. You meet people in other industries and areas of law. It’s a way to give back and to develop yourself. You have opportunities to work with chapters across the world. I invite people to bring what they can to these associations and take what they can.”
Preparing for a leadership role
Sawhney offers three nuggets of advice to aspiring CLOs to develop leadership skills:
- Embrace opportunities for professional development and opportunities outside of your comfort zone.
- Raise your hand. You will learn new skills, showcase your strengths, demonstrate leadership, and begin to be noticed by the company’s leadership.
- Get comfortable being uncomfortable.
She’s learned lessons through mentorship:
- At different times, different people will guide you. Sometimes it comes from observing behaviors – what to do and what not to do.
- As you settle in your role as the leader, focus on the message, not the person giving the message. Often, we make assumptions and have biases about people. Focus on the message that is brought to you, then on the advice that you will give.
- Never decide or react when you are upset or emotionally charged. Avoid knee-jerk reactions. If you are upset, write the email to yourself but don’t send it until you’re back in control of your emotions.
- If you can find the time to give back to people inside or outside the organization, you will realize the impact you can have through a conversation.
Board service
Sawhney serves on the board of directors at Hillenbrand, a global industrial group; and on the global board of directors at ACC. For people interested in board service, she suggests beginning with nonprofit organizations: “Start with nonprofits, do the networking, get yourself known. You don’t know where opportunities will come from.”
Because of the diversity of the board, Sawhney hears different perspectives and ways that other companies manage their business. “Boards are made of people from different walks of life, with different perspectives from yours,” she shares. “Perhaps these are people you wouldn’t meet in your day-to-day professional life. It’s a good way to learn, and a natural steppingstone if you want to serve on nonprofit boards.”
Sawhney’s unique career journey
Growing up in Delhi, India, Inderpreet Sawhney initially considered pursuing a MA in economics. Following an unconventional path and last-minute decision, Sawhney was encouraged by a friend to apply to law school which shifted her career path. Discovering a newfound passion for law, she obtained a bachelor of laws and master’s at Queens University in Canada. Kicking off her career at a law firm in India, she then held various roles across different sectors in both India and the United States, and ultimately settled in Dallas after joining Infosys. Sawhney considers herself an accidental lawyer but feels very privileged to be one.
Recommended reading
Sawhney highly recommends in-house counsel read the ACC Docket. She also finds The Economist’s weekly newsletter valuable. And the book, "Turnaround Time: Uniting an Airline and Its Employees in the Friendly Skies," about the former United CEO who came to the United States as an immigrant and turned the company around, is an inspirational business story.
Parting wisdom
Sawhney’s final piece of advice is to invest in yourself: “For you to be the best counselor for your client, please invest in yourself. Make sure you are physically healthy; invest in learning; educate yourself on AI; the more you look after yourself as an individual (exercise, meditate, or whatever you do to take care of yourself), if you make yourself a priority, you will be a better professional, and that will be good for you, for your team, and for your organization.”
Disclaimer: The information in any resource in this website should not be construed as legal advice or as a legal opinion on specific facts, and should not be considered representing the views of its authors, its sponsors, and/or ACC. These resources are not intended as a definitive statement on the subject addressed. Rather, they are intended to serve as a tool providing practical guidance and references for the busy in-house practitioner and other readers.
