Amy Weaver, Salesforce. Courtesy photo

Amy Weaver, who leads the legal, compliance, internal audit, security and government affairs teams as the president of legal and corporate affairs at Salesforce, dedicates at least a quarter of her time to companywide issues related to equality and social justice.

Name a lawyer whose work you admire and why.

Laura Stein, GC of Clorox. She has developed an incredible network of female GCs from around the Bay Area to support one another.

What's the best part about working in the tech sector?

Constant, unrelenting, breakneck-speed change.

What's the biggest challenge?

Same answer!

What piece of advice do you give to lawyers considering a career in tech law?

Do it! This is the most exciting area of law, with cutting-edge legal issues, challenging work and the ability to change the world.

What's one-way technology has made your life easier?

I would be lost (literally) without Google Maps.

One way it's made your life more difficult?

I find it difficult to disconnect from work, and my iPhone has only made that worse.

Name an important opportunity you got early in your career and what you did with it?

The greatest opportunity was to move to Hong Kong to work for a member of the HK Legislative Council during the year before the Handover. It was a life changing experience. I fell in love with Asia and stayed for another five years practicing with Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

What's the best piece of career advice anyone ever gave you?

Don't wait for the stars to align before taking that new job, new challenge or new opportunity. Take the leap of faith. To quote William Coffin, “I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap, then you grow wings.”

No. 1 survival tip in a work crisis:

Take deep breaths. This will pass.

In 50 words or less, how far has the tech industry gone toward tackling its gender gap since you started practicing?

I'm proud to work for a company that believes business is the greatest platform for change. Salesforce annually reviews employees' salaries and revises its payroll to make sure men and women are being paid equally for similar jobs.

What's one way you've had to change your thinking toward practicing law to succeed in-house at a technology company?

When you move in-house your view of risk has to broaden from what is the legal risk to what is the risk to the overall business—to your employees, your reputation, your customers, your shareholders. It is never static.