Pearls On, Gloves Off #74 - From the Ground Up: Building Legal Ops with Sean Houston
When you think of legal ops at a global company like Heineken, you might not picture a former sports broadcaster leading the charge. But that's exactly Sean Houston’s path—and it’s given him a unique edge.
In this episode, Mary sits down with Sean, Heineken’s Head of Legal Operations, to unpack how he built the function from scratch. From vendor-side lessons to internal change management, Sean shares sharp, actionable insights on making legal ops work in a complex, global environment.
In this episode:
- Unlikely Origins: How Sean went from a mic in hand as a sports broadcaster to a key voice in legal transformation.
- When to Say No: Learning the hard way how to push back and prioritize when everything feels like a good idea.
- From Vendor to Buyer: Why experience on the vendor side gives you X-ray vision into what makes tech rollouts succeed—or stall.
- AI Reality Check: No hype, just practical: How Sean is introducing AI across the team through Copilot and internal bots, focusing on comfort and adoption over flash.
- Europe Rising: Why legal ops in Europe is no longer in catch-up mode—and how it’s finding its own rhythm.
- Hiring Smart: Why the best legal ops talent might come from inside your own company—and what Sean looks for when building his team.
If you're scaling legal ops, wrestling with tech priorities, or just curious how to make meaningful change in a global org, this episode is packed with insight. Sean brings clarity, candor, and a practical mindset to the big questions shaping the future of legal.