In this episode of GC Sidebar, Paragon Legal CEO Trista Engel sits down with Ji-Hyun Park, Global Head of Legal at Intercom, for a sharp conversation on innovation, leadership, and embracing uncertainty.
Ji-Hyun shares how AI is transforming legal workflows, what it means to lead with just a “mile-wide, inch-deep” knowledge base, and why empowering teams matters more than mastering every detail. She also reflects on a pivotal career shift during the pandemic that changed her perspective—and her trajectory.
From tech-savvy experimentation to grounded leadership, Ji-Hyun offers candid insights for today’s evolving legal landscape, plus her pick for favorite fictional lawyer.
Prefer reading over watching? Below is the complete transcript from our GC Sidebar interview with Ji-Hyun Park, Global Head of Legal at Intercom
Trista Engel:
Hi, I’m Trista Engel, CEO of Paragon Legal, and welcome to GC Sidebar, a short and sharp conversation series.
With today’s most forward-thinking general counsel, in just four questions, we cover the legal industry, leadership careers, and a little fun.
Today I’m joined by Ji-Hyun Park, Global Head of Legal at Intercom, an AI-first customer service platform.
Ji-Hyun began her legal career at Morrison and Forrester before moving in-house with roles at Autodesk and Splunk. She stepped into her first general counsel role at Intercom in 2023.
One of my favorite things about Ji-Hyun is that many moons ago she was a Paragon attorney who converted to a client and then has remained a great client and friend of Paragon throughout.
Ji-Hyun, welcome and thank you so much for being here.
Ji-Hyun Park:
Thank you so much for inviting me.
Trista Engel:
Let’s jump in. What is the one biggest change in the last five to ten years that has impacted the legal department the most?
Ji-Hyun Park:
So I guess five to ten years includes last couple years where AI exploded. Right now, on the legal department side, it’s been so fun ’cause we’re playing around with a lot of different tools.
There are, you know, generic gen AI tools that improve our own productivity, efficiencies of communication and all that. So we’re definitely leveraging those tools.
We open AI, Anthropic, I mean I play around with Gemini. Gemini writes much better emails than me these days.
But we are also experimenting with various legal tech tools. So there are a lot of AI tools such as those that run red lines, you know, based on the template or the playbook that you feed in.
It’s so fascinating to see how fast the red lines run or even provide the risk summaries, which would typically take me like three hours to summarize for our client group.
So the way that it’s really helping legal profession in a smart way has been such a shifting trend.
Trista Engel:
Yeah, I love that you are testing and trying and experimenting and also cross-checking, and that’s how we learn. That’s how lawyers will learn. That’s how the technology learns.
So instead of waiting for it to get everything right, I love that you’re in it and using it and trying it and making it better.
Ji-Hyun Park:
It’s been so fun. And I used to be a product lawyer, like my first job, and as part of the job you really have to get your hands dirty and learn different technologies ’cause that’s usually the offerings that you support.
So I think the experience that I’ve had supporting the product and engineering team has equipped me to have a lot more fun really, as now, uh, head of legal.
Trista Engel:
I love that.
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned as a GC?
Ji-Hyun Park:
My job is to really help the business move forward.
And it becomes a lot more prominent when you’re at a small startup tech versus a big public company.
There was a night and day shift for me when I joined Intercom, how private companies operate very differently from public companies. So my job is to really help the business move forward.
Not necessarily trying to protect the company from all the potential risks that are out there. ‘Cause there’s a first year associate, you write these memos like all the crazy and parade of horribles that you may encounter if you do this, right?
That is no longer my job.
But I also had to get really comfortable with, you know, operating with just a mile-wide and inch-deep knowledge.
I always prided myself as having deep knowledge in open source and IP and doing the technology transactions. That’s not what I do much at all anymore.
And of course I now rely on my team members, and it’s my job to empower my teams and trusting them to make those pragmatic decisions that align with the business priorities in a way that I really can’t do in a deep manner.
Trista Engel:
Those are two big transitions from the big public to the smaller private, and then from the deep expert to the general counsel.
Two big transitions that you’ve made. That’s great.
What’s one career moment that changed your trajectory?
Ji-Hyun Park:
So during the pandemic, and my kids were little at that time, I think a lot of us had hit that moment. It was like, oh my God, this is overwhelming.
I was at Splunk at that time. I was kind of head of product and marketing counsel and had a bigger team, constantly roped into everything that was going on in the company.
And I volunteered to rotate into the compliance and litigation department.
I’m not, I was not a litigator. I still don’t call myself a litigator, but that really opened my eyes.
‘Cause when you are that kind of the business counsel, your job is moving things forward, right? Because you’re an enabler.
Here, you’re seeing a lot of messes that got created because you’re moving too fast.
So the problems that you kind of ignored became a real issue.
I did a lot of internal investigations and, you know, employee matters as well as litigations that I wasn’t otherwise privy to or involved in a very deep manner in.
And that really educated me, opened my eyes.
So when I got a call for this particular opportunity and the general description of the role was you kind of have to do everything, I was less worried. I was less nervous about it.
If I hadn’t taken that opportunity, I probably would be in a different place right now. So that really changed my trajectory.
Trista Engel:
If you weren’t an attorney, what would you be?
Ji-Hyun Park:
A journalist.
That’s not because I’m a good writer, but because I love asking a lot of questions.
In fact, when I go to these social events, I was at an embassy and one of the diplomats, after talking with me for a while, asked me, are you a journalist? Are you a reporter?
So I think I still have that propensity to ask questions, ’cause I love getting deep on a topic of interest to me or other people in the room.
So if I didn’t become an attorney, I probably would’ve enjoyed being a journalist.
Trista Engel:
Well that is amazing. And a great quality in a leader and a general counsel as well, to enjoy asking questions and enjoy learning.
Ji-Hyun Park:
Oh yeah, no, I get that feedback a lot even from my internal clients. Like, you ready for 20 questions?
Trista Engel:
I love that.
Oh, right. The bonus question.
Who is your favorite fictional lawyer?
Ji-Hyun Park:
I wanna say The Good Wife. I haven’t had a chance to see a lot of shows lately. It was probably more than a decade ago.
But I really liked the character in The Good Wife. She had to overcome some personal challenges and had to really pick it up again.
She had to rise to the occasion, and she ended up delivering that excellent legal services, probably because of her experience as a mother or who felt defeated.
Not only is she smart and hardworking, I love that she’s a kind and humble soul.
And it just comes with that history that she has. She brings in that level of maturity and humanity to her craft that makes her special.
Trista Engel:
I agree. That would be my answer as well. And I will tell you, I recently rewatched the series and it’s still just as good.
Well, that was really fun, Ji-Hyun. Thank you so much for sharing your journey and sharing your thoughtful answers.
Ji-Hyun Park:
Oh, my pleasure. And thanks again for having me.
Trista Engel:
All right. That’s a wrap on today’s episode of GC Sidebar.
Catch more great conversations on our website at paragonlegal.com. Thanks for tuning in.
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