Information Governance – A Primer

Taa Grays, VP & Associate General Counsel - IG, MetLife, Inc., USA

Information is a key corporate asset. ’Data is growing faster than ever before and by the year 2020, our [data universe] will grow tenfold to around 44 zettabytes or 44 trillion gigabytes.” Unique data created by operations, including as provided by employees and customers, are vital for a corporation to develop and maintain competitive advantage. More businesses are quickly learning to collect, store and apply data to perform business analyses, formulate and execute strategy, optimize operations, and predict business and industry outcomes.

Taa Grays is Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Information Governance. She is responsible for MetLife’s global Information Lifecycle Management (ILM). The ILM program is the mechanism to implement Information Governance at MetLife - taking a holistic and strategic approach to governing and managing MetLife’s information. Prior to this role, she served as the Chief of Staff to the General Counsel where she worked closely with the General Counsel and his leadership team to identify, document and communicate Legal Affairs’ initiatives. She collaborated and coordinated with the Legal Affairs leadership on project planning, management and accountability to ensure the timely completion of Enterprise and Legal Affairs deliverables and to champion various departmental initiatives. She also managed a staff of 140 associates that provides operational support to the Department. Taa started with MetLife in 2003 in the Litigation Section where her practice consisted of handling various federal and state lawsuits and regulatory complaints stemming from MetLife’s US Business and Investment activities. She is also a member of MetLife’s Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) U.S. Task Force. Prior to MetLife, Taa was an Assistant District Attorney with the Bronx District Attorney’s Office in its Rackets Bureau. She received her A.B. from Harvard College and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("MetLife"), is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.