Ep 115: From Career Break to CLO: How Shanti Ariker Rebuilt Her Legal Career
Thu Oct 16 2025
In this episode of The Abstract, host Tyler Finn speaks with Shanti Ariker, Chief Legal Officer at JFrog, about her unconventional journey from taking a six-year career break to leading legal teams at Salesforce, Twilio, Zendesk, and beyond. Shanti shares lessons on reinvention, resilience, and empathetic leadership — from returning to work as a contracts manager to navigating billion-dollar acquisitions and leading through global crises.
Whether you’re building your in-house career or leading a team, this conversation offers practical insights on growth, adaptability, and finding purpose in every chapter.Read detailed transcript: https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-115 Topics Introduction and career overview – 00:00Stepping away from full-time work and returning after six years – 02:41Re-entering the legal workforce in Canada and taking a step back – 05:47Breaking into Salesforce through networking and early contributions – 12:50Building the Salesforce Canada legal team and launching pro bono work – 15:30Becoming General Counsel at salesforce.org and leading through learning – 19:20Innovative legal models and lessons from the salesforce.org structure – 22:17Transitioning back to for-profit legal roles and rebuilding GC credentials – 24:56GC role at Zendesk: From steady start to activist investors and take-private – 33:44Managing governance, communication, and morale during high-stakes transitions – 37:35Joining JFrog and leading through the Israel crisis – 43:03Evolving leadership style through personal and professional challenges – 47:07Rapid-fire Questions – 51:45 Connect with us: Shanti Ariker - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanti-ariker/ Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.
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In this episode of The Abstract, host Tyler Finn speaks with Shanti Ariker, Chief Legal Officer at JFrog, about her unconventional journey from taking a six-year career break to leading legal teams at Salesforce, Twilio, Zendesk, and beyond. Shanti shares lessons on reinvention, resilience, and empathetic leadership — from returning to work as a contracts manager to navigating billion-dollar acquisitions and leading through global crises. Whether you’re building your in-house career or leading a team, this conversation offers practical insights on growth, adaptability, and finding purpose in every chapter.Read detailed transcript: https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-115 Topics Introduction and career overview – 00:00Stepping away from full-time work and returning after six years – 02:41Re-entering the legal workforce in Canada and taking a step back – 05:47Breaking into Salesforce through networking and early contributions – 12:50Building the Salesforce Canada legal team and launching pro bono work – 15:30Becoming General Counsel at salesforce.org and leading through learning – 19:20Innovative legal models and lessons from the salesforce.org structure – 22:17Transitioning back to for-profit legal roles and rebuilding GC credentials – 24:56GC role at Zendesk: From steady start to activist investors and take-private – 33:44Managing governance, communication, and morale during high-stakes transitions – 37:35Joining JFrog and leading through the Israel crisis – 43:03Evolving leadership style through personal and professional challenges – 47:07Rapid-fire Questions – 51:45 Connect with us: Shanti Ariker - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanti-ariker/ Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.