About Udaria
Our leadership.
Tom Pfennig
Founder & Managing Director
Tom spent around twenty years at Bayer, finishing as Senior Vice President responsible for compliance and data privacy worldwide. He helped lead the legal function through major change, including a multi-year digital programme that was recognised in the Financial Times' 2022 Innovative Lawyers Europe awards.
He went on to found Transforming.Legal, a consultancy for legal transformation with clients across Europe, the US and Asia, and created the G.O.L.T.® legal tech intelligence platform and BrainUp® digital learning. Udaria brings this track record to the UAE.
Tom in his own words.
Why work with us.
In-house experience
Senior legal and compliance leadership from a global corporate, including a transformation recognised by the Financial Times.
Technology expertise
Deep, vendor-neutral understanding of legal tech and AI, backed by the G.O.L.T.® market intelligence platform.
Practical and cost-aware
Right-sized solutions built around your people, budget and the UAE regulatory environment.
Udaria combines in-house implementation experience with the global reach of the Transforming.Legal network — a partner for legal and compliance teams in the UAE that want to modernise with confidence.
What triggers change.
Transformation rarely starts with technology. It starts with pressure — and the right moment to act.
01
Cost pressure
Budgets are flat while the volume of contracts, regulation and investigations keeps growing.
02
Stretched teams
More work, same headcount. Routine tasks need to move to automation and smarter service models.
03
People & well-being
Overloaded teams burn out. Better tools and processes give lawyers time back for high-value work.
04
Leadership ambition
Boards and general counsel in the region want legal to be a strategic, data-driven partner.
Tom knows this first-hand: at Bayer, his team had three years to deliver double-digit cost savings — which meant rethinking the legal function's whole service model.
Why act now?
A national AI agenda
The UAE has made AI a national priority. Regulators, public bodies and businesses are digitising fast — and expect legal to keep pace.
Generative AI speaks legal
Language is the raw material of legal work. Large language models now make drafting, review and research faster than ever — when used responsibly.
People first
Legal teams want technology that makes work better, not harder. With their buy-in, change can happen with little disruption.
A data-driven future
Organisations are becoming data-driven. Legal and compliance must follow to meet client and regulator expectations, including under the UAE data protection law.
Backed by a global network.
As the sister company of Transforming.Legal, Udaria can draw on experts across Europe, the Americas and Asia.