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Shruti Ajitsaria

Partner, Head of Fuse

Shruti is the Head of Fuse, A&O Shearman’s tech innovation space which opened in 2017 to identify and collaborate with LegalTech and FinTech companies relevant to its lawyers and their clients.

Today, Fuse is the sole entry in the ‘Global-wide LawTech Incubators & Accelerators’ category in the Chambers and Partners’ Guide and to date, has included over 60 different companies from across the globe, yielding several successful collaborations.

Prior to launching Fuse, Shruti specialised in credit derivatives (involving drafting almost all of the standard documentation in this area over that decade). Shruti was the first person at A&O Shearman to have directly been promoted to partner into its Advanced Delivery & Solutions (AD&S) Group. In 2024 Shruti was awarded the Asian Tech Pioneer Award and has been included in the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech three times (most recently, in 2023). In 2023, she was also included in Innovate Finance’s “Women in Fintech Powerlist”. In 2019, Shruti won the Asian Women of Achievement Award in the Professionals category, was included in the HERoes Role Model List and the Financial Times List of the Top 10 Legal Intrapreneurs. In 2018, Shruti was awarded a TechWomen 50 Award and a Fastcase 50 Award and was also included in the following lists: Lawyer’s Hot100, Brummell Magazine’s 30 Inspirational Women, Management Today’s Power Part Timers, the Inclusive Boards 100 most influential BAME leaders in UK and Innovate Finance’s Standout 35 Women in FinTech.

Outside of A&O Shearman, Shruti is interested in governance (having undertaken the FT Diploma in Non-Executive Directorships and being on the Board of ZSL), education (being on the Advisory Board to the MSc in Law and Finance at the University of Oxford and a governor at the Haberdashers' Schools in Elstree) and entrepreneurship (having completed a 3 month course for entrepreneurs at Google Campus, managing a sector-agnostic portfolio of private investments and appearing on both series of BBC 2’s “Million Pound Menu” as a restaurant investor).

Expertise

Industries

Qualifications

Admissions

Admitted as solicitor, England and Wales, 2004

Academic

BA (Hons), Law, Downing College, Cambridge University, 2000
Disclaimer
A&O Shearman was formed on May 1, 2024 by the combination of Shearman & Sterling LLP and Allen & Overy LLP and their respective affiliates (the legacy firms). Any matters referred to above may include matters undertaken by one or more of the legacy firms rather than A&O Shearman.