___________________________________________________________________________________________________ KARL
STORZ
borders and maintaining access to components critical to product development and distribution.“ We work closely with our operations and trade compliance partners to ensure resilience in the supply chain and navigate import and export requirements, because cross-border movement inherently introduces risk.”
In that environment, decisions are often made without complete clarity. Legal works across internal teams and external advisors to interpret developments and determine how to act.“ We rely on our external counsel often as an extension of the team, particularly given the pace of change and the uncertainty that many companies are navigating.” External partners help monitor changes and assess how evolving directives apply in practice, particularly as requirements continue to shift.“ In many cases, you have to make informed decisions without perfect certainty, balancing risk with the need to keep the business moving forward.”
Building governance
Trade and regulatory pressures sit alongside another force shaping healthcare delivery: technology. Across imaging systems, operating room integration, and digital tools, innovation continues to reshape how clinicians work and how procedures are managed.
KARL STORZ’ s progression reflects that shift, expanding from core instrumentation into connected systems and software that support procedure planning, visualization, and workflow inside the operating room. As those capabilities evolve, new governance requirements emerge alongside them, including increasing focus on data protection and cybersecurity.
Artificial intelligence now spans both internal systems and product development, creating additional layers of oversight across the organization and raising questions around use, access, and compliance.
“ I’ m on the Global AI Committee, a crossfunctional team working to build governance as these capabilities develop. That includes embedding consistent standards across functions and being thoughtful about what tools we enable and how we use them responsibly,” she explains. That work requires balancing structure with speed.“ Governance has to evolve alongside adoption, creating consistency and guardrails without slowing innovation or limiting how teams operate.”
It is a challenge that reflects the broader theme in Erica’ s role: building structure within a fast-moving organization while staying closely aligned with the business. In practice, that means legal is integrated into how decisions are made, playing its role in ensuring that products move forward within the systems that define healthcare delivery. ■
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