The first time Ligeia encountered data protection, she was sitting in a banking law lecture, having just bailed on a master’s in energy law that left her uninspired. “Oh my goodness,” she remembers thinking, almost desperate. “This is so not for me”.” But something in that data protection class clicked - and it stayed with her.
At the time, GDPR was still new, and she was far from fluent in tech. But the intersection of regulation, innovation, and ethics sparked her curiosity. “I wasn’t planning for privacy to become my path,” she admits. “But I couldn’t stop diving deeper and deeper.”
Ligeia’s career path hasn’t followed a straight trajectory - and that’s exactly what makes it compelling. After her legal training in criminal law, she found herself gently trying to convince colleagues that, yes, data protection is real. “Nobody had time for it,” she laughs. But I kept saying: “I promise you, consent is a thing!”
Determined to keep growing, and even more determined to avoid a career arguing in Greek courts (“It really didn’t match my vibe”), Ligeia set her sights on Spain and landed a role at the European Union Intellectual Property Office. Of all her credentials - two degrees, two masters - it was her experience in data protection that caught their attention. “They said, ‘You know GDPR?’ I said yes, and they said, ‘Great. We need that.’” The job became her true entry point into privacy as a career.
Today, nearly three years into her role as Legal Counsel for Data Protection at Pleo, Ligeia still speaks with energy and conviction. “I love the private sector. It’s fast-paced, just like me. My brain’s always running. I needed something that could keep up, or better, outrace me.”
If there’s one phrase that defines Ligeia’s professional mission, it’s this: be a team player. Not just within her legal team - but across the business. “You can’t implement data protection in a vacuum,” she says. “You need people in every department to be your eyes. You can’t be everywhere - but together, you can cover ground.”
That mindset came early in her career, thanks to Cristobal, her mentor at the EUIPO who gave her a piece of advice she still lives by: “Remember to be an enabler. Nobody likes someone who just says no.” It shaped her entire approach.
At Pleo, she works closely with department leads to embed privacy into the culture. “They do their thing, I do mine. But when we need to combine forces, we’re ready. That’s what makes it work.” Short, recurring training is her way of exercising the memory muscle, so privacy becomes a mindset and not just “one more policy to remember”.
One of the biggest lessons she’s come to realise, is just how deeply privacy depends on strong security and engineering. Louis, Jean-Luc, and Emir have become her go-to trusted experts. 'I can count on them—privacy wouldn’t be possible without their support,' she admits.
As a privacy team of one lawyer, Ligeia values the Openli community for what it offers beyond updates and templates: connection. “Everyone is so generous,” she says. “There’s no competition. You can message someone you’ve never met, and they’ll say, ‘Let’s hop on a call.’ It gives me hope. It’s a safe space - and it reminds me that we’re all trying to do this better, together.”
The knowledge-sharing she finds in the community also helps her stay on top of an ever-shifting landscape. “There’s always something new - AI, regulatory changes, tech trends. You never settle in this field.”
So what surprises people about Ligeia?
“I’d open a Greek tavern” she says, without missing a beat. “I love cooking. Not just Greek food - everything. But I absolutely cannot follow a recipe.”
Her kitchen is packed with myriads of spices, and she’s known to recreate dishes she tries in restaurants by taste alone. “I started cooking when I moved away from Greece in 2015. It was how I stayed close to home. Now it’s my creative outlet.”
Her dream? A place filled with warmth, flavour, and that unmistakable Greek tavern energy. A reminder that structure and spontaneity don’t have to be opposites - they can live side by side, just like privacy law and culinary improvisation. She laughs when sharing “My mom would be the sous chef, she’d be the best. Rika and Marina – in charge of taste; with the right people, you can do anything, both at work and at life”.
And really, that says everything about Ligeia: thoughtful, vibrant, a team player to the core - and always in motion.
