.png){kind=logo}
Somya Kaushik
Somya Kaushik is Associate General Counsel at Mitratech, where she focuses on AI, privacy, intellectual property, and enterprise compliance, advising executives and boards on navigating complex regulatory landscapes across the technology and SaaS sector. She spent more than a decade as a trial attorney in Portland and New York City before moving in-house, and is the founder and former CEO of Esq.Me, Inc., one of the first legal document marketplaces built for lawyers.
Why AI Needs Us: Elevating Human Judgment, Ethics, and Empathy
Somya's central argument, developed across more than 15 years navigating skepticism about new legal technology, is that driving adoption of any new tool comes down to showing people the concrete "what's in it for me": cost savings and better outside counsel management for in-house teams, better client service and retention for firms. She's equally clear that AI adoption doesn't diminish the need for human judgment, arguing in a recent fireside chat titled "Why AI Needs Us" that ethics and empathy remain central even as AI reshapes legal and compliance work. She also draws on a lifelong personal practice of meditation and yoga as a foundation for how she approaches high-stakes legal and governance decisions.
Topics Somya speaks on
- Why AI needs human judgment, ethics, and empathy, not less of it
- Driving early adoption of new legal and compliance technology
- AI governance and enterprise risk management
- Privacy, IP, and cybersecurity compliance for technology companies
- Bringing an inner-work practice (meditation, yoga) into high-stakes legal decisions
Sessions with Achieve
Somya is a featured presenter in the Achieve event "Strong Leaders, Strong Tech: Equipping Leaders to Grow in an AI World" (November 19, 2025), presented in partnership with Mitratech, in the "Ask the Experts — HR, Compliance, and AI in Practice" session alongside Mitratech colleagues Kyle Cupp and Bethany Lopusnak. The session gives attendees live, interactive answers to HR and compliance questions, including how to integrate AI responsibly into everyday HR operations.
Connect
Want more on what it takes to bring AI into HR and compliance responsibly? Learn more about the Achieve Leadership Network.