The role of today’s CEO, according to their lawyer

Luca Bernasconi is more than a lawyer for C-Level professionals and corporations. He is a confidante and a psychologist, a strategist and a businessman. He thinks law but means also commerce and humanity. And, he is helping CEOs to solve their inevitable disputes with their people, companies, and partners, all of that in a marketplace that rewards, more and more, automation and short-term results. Years of Private Equity, a ruthless drive for efficiencies and, finally, the impact of Covid 19 have made human work more fungible and companies less proud about how many people they employ and less fussy about their reputation.

CEOs’ identity is defined less by their corporate self and more by their portfolio of skills and, especially, the tangible gains they need to realize fast. Legal disputes are a good testing ground of how much C-Level leadership has changed over time, and lately. This is why we (FP) sit down with Mr. Bernasconi (LB), Senior Partner at Klein, one of the best and most prestigious legal boutiques in Switzerland. This is our exchange.

Tell us a bit about you.

I am Swiss, born and raised in Lugano. I come from a local family, of mid-bourgeoisie. In Lugano, I did my Lyceum (High School, for US readers). I completed my Degree in Law at the University of Fribourg, with a bilingual curriculum, in French and German, graduating Cum Laude. After working as a lawyer for the local administration and then, for fifteen years, in various Swiss banks, with roles of Legal and Compliance leadership, in 2015 I became an independent lawyer. In 2016, I joined Klein, with offices in Zurich, Zug, Lugano, and UAE. I also teach at the Centro Studi Villa Negroni, here in Lugano. My passions are crypto and blockchain, watches, and, of course, my family.

Looking at disputes between companies and people, what kind of leadership seems increasingly required in today’s companies? Let’s focus on C-Room and CEO. 

We need to distinguish between family companies and public, international companies. Family companies have their signature feature: a more static, conservative culture, which stems from their Board and C-Room. They are tightly driven by history and legacy offering and processes. C-level leaders there need authoritativeness and lots of diplomacy, towards all stakeholders. Family companies may have “barons”, the old timers, and less turnaround. CEOs need softer skills, to survive there.

Public, multinational companies are less emotional in their approach. Shareholders are dispersed and fragmented. Company culture is more impersonal. CEOs need credibility (the looks) and content. Skills are for sure less soft, and higher speed and bias to action are required.

CEOs have become more approachable, even though it’s mainly on the outside. The hard core of the role remains unchanged. Today’s CEOs lack the company identity and commitment that the role used to have twenty – thirty years ago. The tenure of a CEO has dramatically shortened, to 4-5 years maximum, and every CEO knows that they always have to think about their next step.

The biggest change is, therefore, on CEOs’ identity and values. Legal disputes show, very clearly, that more than half of C-Level pro-s have one priority: money maximization. The legal negotiations between companies and C-level professionals have for sure become functional and centered on ego-s.

Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the advent of AI and its potential impact on the legal profession? What role do you see for us, humans vs. machines?

I am an optimist,by nature, as a first answer to this question. AI has many advantages. It will have an impact on the legal profession, for sure. Processes will become slimmer. Senior lawyers will have more space to focus on strategy, scenarios, options for their clients. AI is not able to deeply think, or to perform the “sweet finish” needed by complex legal disputes, especially at an international level.

This is a fantastic tool, with radical and exponential improvements. Laws are very fragmented across the globe, and AI may not be as refined as the “human” stack. The caveat is to always bring the human in the loop, when discussing and settling. AI will be the enhancer, more than the solver. Human lawyers will still be needed in the short-medium term. Regulation and context will dictate what will happen, for sure. Let me link this to the previous question. Identity and values of a CEO, as a human, are all the more needed in a time where AI will penetrate our world. The best CEO for the future is one who knows how to use AI well, and who knows where she/he stands in terms of ethics, vision, and their fundamental values. This is something that no machine can give you.