#72 - Moderna GC’s AI Strategy

What does it look like when a general counsel doesn’t just adopt AI—but rewires her entire legal function around it?

In this episode, Mary O’Carroll sits down with Shannon Thyme Klinger, Chief Legal Officer at Moderna and President of Moderna Charitable Foundation. Named by the Financial Times as one of the most innovative GCs of the past two decades, Shannon is reshaping what it means to lead a legal team—and a profession—through profound change.

In this episode:

• “AI won’t replace lawyers, but…” Shannon lays out her bold vision: why lawyers who don’t harness AI may get left behind—and how her team at Moderna is using GPTs, reasoning models, and agents to transform everything from contracts to compliance.
• From Skepticism to Buy-In: How Shannon got a room full of reluctant legal leaders to see AI’s potential—by showing, not telling.
• The Self-Service Revolution: Why Moderna’s business teams now use AI-powered contract tools to answer 90% of their questions—freeing legal to focus on higher-value work.
• Fearless Experimentation: The mindset shift that changed everything: fail fast, learn faster.
• Beyond Legal: Why Shannon sees legal ops as a strategic engine, not a back-office function—and how her team is training other departments to work smarter with AI.
• The Big Picture: Shannon’s take on the future of legal—what’s at risk, what needs to change, and why it’s time for GCs and law firms to rewrite the playbook.

If you’ve ever wondered what real legal transformation looks like—led from the top, grounded in purpose, and driven by tech—this conversation is your blueprint.

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