GC Spotlight: Fiona Cheng believes LegalTech, Data Analytics and Process Optimisation are essential for legal departments.

Featured in our GC Spotlight Series this month is Fiona Cheng.  Fiona is a dual-qualified lawyer with over 14 years of post-qualified experience, including 12 years in Asia. As Senior Legal Counsel, APAC for the Zurich Insurance Group based in Hong Kong, she oversees significant regional legal, regulatory, and corporate governance matters across the eight markets where Zurich operates in the Asia-Pacific region.

In her role, Fiona advises on regional strategic initiatives, supports merger and acquisition transactions, provides legal oversight on complex cross-border issues, and drives corporate governance standards.

Before joining Zurich Insurance Group, Fiona was a key member of the Asia regional legal team at another European insurer, equipping her with comprehensive expertise in managing cross-border legal and regulatory compliance projects. Fiona leverages her regional perspective to collaborate effectively with diverse stakeholders across the region. 

1. Hi Fiona, can you tell us a little about your role and journey into law? What excites you outside of work? 

For background, and I am fully aware I am showing my age, I’m a millennial (just made it) and I grew up watching Ally McBeal, I am unashamed to say that the legal drama and glam of Ally McBeal influenced my journey into law. For the other generations, Ally McBeal was pre-Suits and Harvey Specter!

My current role is with Zurich Insurance Group, and I am part of the Asia Pacific regional team based in Hong Kong. We are truly a global group, so my regional colleagues are based across APAC. I work with a diverse set of regional colleagues, as well as working closely with our head office colleagues in Switzerland, along with our energetic local teams in the eight APAC markets that we operate in: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore. In terms of my day-to-day activities, I support our APAC General Counsel with regional strategic initiatives, participate in merger and acquisition projects, and oversee regional corporate governance matters. Due to the nature of the role, I have gained exposure to both life insurance and general insurance operational matters, acquiring a comprehensive understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks in emerging and developed markets across Asia-Pacific.

Outside of work, I am excited by reading and I am currently engrossed by “The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip” by Stephen Witt. I love how the author has documented Huang’s journey from an immigrant to an innovator, coming from an immigrant family and growing up in Scotland, I can relate to Huang’s approach on how resilience builds success. Speaking of Scotland, I’m also passionate about my Scottish heritage, I’m a member of the Hong Kong St Andrew’s Society and was honoured to serve as its Chieftain for 2023-2024, contributing to the promotion of Scottish culture and connection in the city.

2. As a GC, what are some of the challenges that keep you up at night? How are you addressing them? 

I firmly believe LegalTech, data analytics, and process optimisation are essential levers for any modern legal department to maximise its strategic value and move beyond being seen purely as a cost centre. This view is championed by our Group General Counsel, so our global legal function adopts a strategic approach to deploying tools that solve real problems and free our team for high-impact work, so we do not fall into the trap of chasing the next shiny toy. We see this with initiatives like Lex IQ, our internal AI platform that provides instant answers on governance and privacy, extracts contract insights, and connects subject experts within our global legal team, which empowers lawyers rather than replacing them. Similarly, at Zurich, we work closely with Microsoft, so tools like Copilot can also streamline drafting and research, boosting productivity.

On a similar thread of not chasing the next shiny toy, our Group General Counsel also promotes a culture of continuous learning to encourage us to “think beyond the law”, for example, I recently completed an intense 7-month course on digital insurance by The Digital Insurer to gain insights and tools to navigate the evolving insurance landscape that was sponsored by Zurich. The main reason I enrolled on this course was to demystify the technical jargon such as blockchains, Internet of things (LOT), and generative AI used by one of my business units, Zurich Edge, which I support as lead counsel. Our Zurich Edge team is a group of subject experts who offer our partners and their customers expertise in digitally embedded insurance solutions, so when they initially used terms like API platforms and embedded solutions it felt like a completely foreign language. As a lawyer, I realised that to truly add value beyond traditional legal advice, I needed to speak the language of our business.

Therefore, the goal, as our Group General Counsel frames it – leverage tools and optimise processes to accelerate outcomes and transform our legal function into a performance-driven partner. LegalTech, when focused on empowerment, efficiency, and enabling confident business decisions, is fundamental to this shift. Our global legal team’s recognition at the FT Innovative Lawyer Award Europe in the “Innovation in People and Skills” category underscores that investing in both our people and smart technology is how legal becomes truly indispensable.  

3. What do you think about the use of LegalTech, data analytics and process optimisation to improve your legal department's value? 

I recently met up with one of our external counsels for lunch and we chatted about this topic. We both agreed that AI will likely develop to handle more mundane tasks such as basic research and initial document review, but the double-edged sword is this: how do we train the next generation of lawyers’ judgment, diligence, and nuance? For example, back in my trainee days, I made my own court bundles for my immigration and employment cases, this task, although mundane, taught me irreplaceable lessons about the evidence chain and procedure.  

However, we also both agreed that we can’t cling to inefficiency as a teaching tool, so we do need to figure out how to develop curiosity, integrity, and business acumen – qualities that become more vital, not less, when technology handles the routine 

4. Where do you see NewLaw/ALSPs fitting in the matrix of your legal department?

I view NewLaw/ALSP as a flexible extension of legal functions, especially in an era where in-house legal teams face growing demands but constrained headcount budgets. Providers such as KorumLegal do not replace core teams or external counsels but should be viewed as specialised partners filling specific gaps in the legal supply chain such as offering an extra pair of hands during peak periods, specialised expertise for projects, and freeing internal staff for strategic priorities.

5. Your favourite tune? And why? 

My favourite song is Crazy for You by Madonna – it’s a timeless melody. Relating it back to our discussion, Madonna is a cultural icon who has reinvented herself relentlessly while staying authentic, so as lawyers, we should perhaps mirror this approach with legal tech, balance tradition with innovation!