Akshaya Suresh

Partner
Akshaya.suresh@jsalaw.com
+91 44 4930 6610
Chennai

ABOUT
EXPERIENCE

ABOUT

Akshaya has 19+ years of PQE. She focuses on technology laws, AI, privacy & data protection, corporate & commercial contracts, general corporate and employment matters. She advises many early stage and growth companies on designing standard agreements, reviewing and closure of global commercial agreements and general corporate matters. She routinely advises clients on gap assessments and data audits, cross-border transfers, preparation of data inventory and Record of Processing Activities, privacy impact assessments, product compliance, transfer impact assessments, legitimate interest assessments, privacy notices, data protection policies, AI governance and assisting with reporting on data breaches. Akshaya is a DSCI Certified Data Protection Officer. She is also a member of the POSH committees of various companies.

Prior to joining JSA, Akshaya was a Partner with a boutique law firm, Commercial Law Advisors (CLA), which merged with JSA, leading to JSA’s expansion in the Chennai/South Indian market. Prior to CLA, she was Director-Legal and a key member of the leadership team at Freshworks.

Akshaya is an alumnus of ILS Law College, Pune. Akshaya has mentored many startups in setting up their legal and privacy functions and has presented at various industry events and forums including the Tamil Nadu Technology Hub (iTNT), IACC and IAPP. She has also been a regular mentor for students at various national law schools on the topics of AI Governance, Privacy and Data Protection.

Awards and Recognition

Mondaq Thought Leading Author Award for Data Protection in India, 2025
Listed in the Forbes India Legal Powerlist, 2022 of top individual lawyers

Memberships

Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa

Publications

Curio AI Series on AI & IP. Read here.
Data Protection and MSMEs. Read here.
Enforcement And Penalties Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. Read here.
Privacy and Data Protection in AI. Read here.
Privacy in the time of social media. Read here.
Law on the heels of illegal deepfakes. Read here
Why regulating AI is the need of the hour. Read here
What can an Indic Framework for Regulating AI look like. Read here
Hits and misses of the latest legislative attempt to protect personal data in India. Read here
Aarogya Setu and privacy in times of a pandemic. Read here

Education

BSL., LLB

Languages

English
Hindi
Tamil
Marathi

EXPERIENCE

Some of the key assignments in these areas handled and being handled by Akshaya amongst others, cover the following: –

Advises the GCC of a biopharmaceutical business on compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and Rules.
Advised a global retail chain on compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and Rules.
Advises a global logistics supply chain solutions group on compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and Rules.
Advised a data marketplace platform on guidelines around ethical AI for use in the healthcare sector
Conducted a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) for deployment of an AI suite in the banking sector.
Advised a global blockchain-based consent management platform on compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and Rules.
Advised an AI native human behaviour security platform looking to enter the market in India on AI, privacy and data protection requirements
Routinely advises Application AI and Core AI companies on review and closure of global commercial agreements, data vendor agreements, AI governance and privacy and data protection.
Conducted a Legitimate Interests Assessment for a buyer intelligence platform powered by AI and advised on Ethics and Governance Policy for its AI model.
Advised Xcelerate Pte. Limited on privacy and data protection matters in its acquisition of a strategic equity stake in Carisma Solutions Private Limited, an Australia–focused business services provider in the financial, tax, and regulatory compliance space
Routinely advises and assists many early stage and growth companies in the SaaS/PaaS spaces on drafting, review and closure of global commercial agreements, employment matters, policies, operational legal matters and privacy and data protection.
Advised a cloud platform for salons, spas and med spas on implementing a global privacy framework, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
Advised a global company providing cloud-based guidance and performance support for web applications on implementing a privacy framework for them, that can address privacy and data protection requirements in the EU, US, and India.
Advised internationally renowned law firms on privacy and data protection regulations in India, including re: user behaviour analytics in India, processing HR data, operating search engines in India and setting cookies in compliance with Indian law.
Advised a C-PaaS platform on their Data Retention Policy in India, employees’ privacy at the workplace, SAR requirements and applicability of telecom laws in India to their products.
Advised a leading end-to-end revenue management platform for businesses employing a subscription model on becoming compliant with regulations and notifications of Reserve Bank of India relating to payment systems and payment-related data.
Advised a global provider of world-class, end-to-end supply chain services on implementing a privacy framework that addresses global privacy and data protection requirements.
Advised a US Enterprise Customer Data Platform and a French marketing automation platform and issued a Transfer Impact Assessment (TIA) report on transfer of their customer data originating in the EU to their operations subsidiary in India.