Waymaker Wednesday: Women in LegalTech – Meet Samrudhii Garnaik

This week in our Waymaker Wednesday series, we’re spotlighting Samrudhii Garnaik, who currently works as a Legal Knowledge Engineer at Agiloft and Partner at Aradhii and Co. Samrudhii’s work sits at the cutting edge of LegalTech and AI, where she focuses on Large Language Model Operations (LLMOps), fine-tuning parameters, and building smarter contract solutions.

Her journey is as diverse as it is inspiring, from serving as a Specialist in Mergers & Acquisitions at Gilbert + Tobin, to legal analyst roles at Cerestra Ventures, Alpha Alternatives, and Schoolhouse InvIT, and even as an Associate Attorney at DWF (Legal Operations). With each step, she has built a unique blend of expertise across regulatory compliance, corporate transactions, and innovation in legal operations.

As an active member of the Women in LegalTech community under ILTN, Samrudhii exemplifies the spirit of a true waymaker, blending legal acumen with technology to design practical, forward-looking solutions.

Here is a peak into her world

1. What inspired you to join the Women in LegalTech community?

I joined because I didn’t just want to be a consumer of change. I wanted to sit at the table with others who are creating it. The truth is, LegalTech can sometimes feel like a very “product-driven” space, but the people behind those products matter just as much. Women in LegalTech felt like a place where curiosity, lived experience, and professional expertise collide to create something bigger than ourselves. For me, it wasn’t just about networking — it was about building a sense of belonging in a world that is still being shaped.

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2. If you could solve one problem in the legal world (or beyond) with technology, what would it be?

I’d want to solve the “translation gap”, the space between what a contract or law says and what a person actually understands and can act upon. We’ve built systems that prioritize precision for lawyers, but very little that prioritizes clarity for everyone else. Imagine a world where contracts talk back, where they surface risks in plain language, and where people don’t have to rely on gatekeepers to understand their own rights. That’s the gap I care about - because if you bridge it, you don’t just make law more efficient, you make it more human.

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3. What’s one book, podcast, or resource that’s made a big impact on how you think about work or life?

For me, it wasn’t a “traditional” work book - it was Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. It’s a book about imagined cities, but really it’s about how we perceive the worlds we live in and the stories we tell ourselves about them. It reminded me that law, technology, and even career paths are all constructed systems and if we can imagine them differently, we can also build them differently. That shift in perspective has been more influential than any business book I’ve read.

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4. Outside of work, what’s something you’re passionate about or love spending time on?

I’m passionate about trip-planning, not just traveling, but the art of curating experiences. I can spend hours figuring out the “flow” of a journey: where to pause, what to skip, how to blend culture, food, and serendipity. Friends joke that I build itineraries with the same precision as I draft contracts. For me, it’s a creative outlet that mixes detail with imagination, and it mirrors the way I like to solve problems at work too.

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5. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received as a woman in your career journey?

A senior lawyer once told me: “The first person you need to negotiate with is yourself.” It struck me because so often, we prepare to negotiate with clients, bosses, or counterparties, but we forget that our biggest barrier can be our own doubts and limitations. Learning to negotiate with myself, to push past hesitation, to value my time, to set terms I’m willing to live by has been transformative in how I approach opportunities and challenges.

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6. If you weren’t working in law/legaltech, what’s another path you could totally see yourself in?

I could see myself running a storytelling lab, a space where law, technology, and human narratives intersect. Or maybe even designing immersive travel experiences that combine learning and exploration. Both paths reflect the same instinct: I love translating complexity into stories and structures that people can actually connect with. Whether through a legal AI model, a brand campaign, or a travel itinerary, I think my through-line would always be the same: to make things feel understandable, meaningful, and alive.

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Samrudhii’s story reflects the possibilities that open up when traditional legal expertise meets technological innovation. From corporate law to AI-powered legal engineering, she has consistently embraced change, built bridges across disciplines, and shown how lawyers can thrive at the intersection of law and technology.

Are you a woman shaping the future of legal tech? We’d love to hear your story. Our Women in LegalTech community is a space to connect, inspire, and spark conversations that matter. Click here to join and be part of the movement.