Helena Haykin

Helena Haykin
TRIUM Class of 2019
Legal, M&A and Corporate Development Executive, inDrive

Helena Haykin is a global legal and investment executive with experience spanning New York, London, Moscow, Tel Aviv, and now London.

Guided by the belief the future of executive leadership belongs to multidisciplinary operators capable of integrating strategy, governance, investment thinking, and global execution, Helena has evolved over the course of her career from transactional leadership into broader enterprise leadership, contributing to market expansion, strategic partnerships, operational scaling, and investment strategy across high-growth technology businesses.

Now, as Legal, M&A and Corporate Development Executive at inDrive, Helena operates at the intersection of legal leadership, corporate strategy, and growth execution, partnering directly with senior management on expansion, investment, governance, and strategic transformation initiatives across multiple international markets. Her role extends beyond legal oversight into helping shape long-term business strategy, organizational scaling, and capital allocation decisions.

She recently spoke with TRIUM about her transition from the legal field into business and strategy, how TRIUM accelerated that evolution, and what the program means for lawyers and senior professionals seeking to step into broader leadership roles.

What was your motivation for pursuing a Global EMBA, particularly coming from a senior legal background? Why did you choose TRIUM among other global programs?
I quit Big Law in 2013 after building my career in New York, London, and then Moscow, where I spent 10 years working on major international transactions. I later joined one of the largest private equity firms in Moscow, and that was the moment I realized I was much more than just a lawyer. I understood how business worked. I was a project manager, a negotiator, someone who could put deals together and serve on boards.

At the same time, I realized I lacked some of the broader business and financial background that many senior business leaders had. I also knew I wanted to deepen my understanding of venture capital, private equity, and technology-driven businesses. That became my focus during the program.

And I knew that being in a program had enormous value: Even if I could read the same books people read during an EMBA program, it was not the same as actually going through the experience, being part of a cohort, and being part of that journey.

What attracted me to TRIUM, specifically, was its truly international perspective. The program brought together American, European, and emerging-market approaches to business and leadership. It was very well balanced and combined a capitalism-driven mindset with broader conversations about impact, communities, leadership, and global responsibility.

Did you enter the program with a clear goal of transitioning beyond law, or did that evolve during your time at TRIUM?
I already knew before the program that I wanted to move beyond purely legal work. I did not necessarily want to become an entrepreneur and start my own company, but I wanted to be part of the broader business ecosystem rather than simply supporting it.

I became increasingly interested in investing, venture capital, and technology companies. During the program, I joined a venture capital fund founded by a TRIUM alumnus, and that eventually led me to Tel Aviv during COVID as we launched the fund.

The program helped accelerate that evolution and gave me the confidence and technical fluency to operate comfortably across legal, financial, and strategic leadership roles. The marketing related modules, especially on B2B sales, were incredibly helpful in fundraising for the fund.

You built your career as a senior lawyer. What were the limitations, if any, of that role that made you want to step more directly into business and decision-making?
While legal leadership plays a critical role in enabling growth and managing risk, I increasingly found myself drawn to broader strategic and investment decisions. Even at a very senior level, you are often supporting someone else’s business or someone else’s vision.

I always wanted to be closer to decision-making and strategy. I wanted to understand industries deeply, not just from a legal perspective, but from the perspective of products, macroeconomics, trends, and value creation.

What fascinated me about investing was the ability to combine strategic thinking, negotiations, business understanding, and long-term growth. I wanted to participate in building businesses, not just advising them.

What do you think lawyers uniquely understand about business, and where are the gaps that a program like TRIUM helps fill?
As an M&A lawyer, I was already very well trained in negotiations, risk analysis, structuring deals, and understanding how businesses operate under pressure. In many transactions, lawyers are not simply supporting the process: they are part of the negotiation team putting the deal together.

But one of the biggest gaps for me was technical financial fluency. I understood concepts very well, but many classmates with finance backgrounds could move through financial modeling, Excel analysis, and valuation exercises at incredible speed.

TRIUM helped close that gap. It gave me much greater fluency and confidence in financial discussions and strategic decision-making.

How has your legal training shaped the way you approach leadership, strategy, or risk today?
My legal background shaped me enormously because I spent my career in M&A and complex cross-border negotiations. That teaches you to be highly analytical, strategic, and result oriented.

I learned how to understand competing interests, assess risks, negotiate outcomes, and help move transactions forward under pressure. Those skills translate directly into leadership and investment work today.

Was there a particular course, module, or moment in the program that fundamentally changed how you think about business or leadership?
Interestingly, during the program I was most focused on courses related to private equity, venture capital, negotiations, and corporate finance because those aligned directly with my professional interests.

But after graduation, especially during COVID and the geopolitical instability that followed, I realized the most valuable part of the program for me had actually been the macroeconomics and geopolitical discussions.

The program helped me understand how interconnected business, politics, and global markets truly are. Today, we see very clearly that politics and geopolitics shape the global economy in profound ways.

How did the program help you build confidence in stepping outside the legal function and into broader leadership roles?
The program gave me a completely different level of professional confidence. It unlocked me in many ways.

I no longer felt like “the lawyer in the room.” Instead, I felt fully comfortable participating in conversations about strategy, growth, finance, and long-term business goals.

I am comfortable in almost any room now, not simply because I am confident personally, but because I know I have the background, the training, and the experience. I tested myself through the program, through the coursework, and through my peers.

What did you gain from being part of such an international, senior peer group? How did that compare to your previous professional networks?
Our class was truly international. Many people had already lived and worked across multiple countries and industries before joining the program.

It created a very unique dynamic because people brought both their original cultural backgrounds and a broader global professional perspective. It felt less like a traditional international classroom and more like a community of globally minded professionals who understood the world as interconnected.

That support system continues long after graduation.

For lawyers who want to move beyond advisory roles into leadership positions, what would you tell them about what it takes, and how TRIUM can support that transition?
The most important thing is building confidence beyond your technical legal expertise. TRIUM gave me the background and credibility to participate fully in broader business conversations.

You need to understand finance, strategy, macroeconomics, leadership, and how businesses actually create value. The program gives lawyers exposure to those disciplines while also helping them test themselves in a very high-level international environment.

For me, the biggest transformation was realizing that I belonged in those conversations.

How would you describe your TRIUM experience in three words?
Drive. Professionalism. Inspiration.