CCO PROFILE: TERI COTTON SANTOS
R&C: What pivotal experiences have shaped your approach to compliance or risk management throughout your career?
Cotton Santos: Before becoming a chief compliance officer, I was a litigator, arguing cases before judges and juries. Looking back, those years really shaped how I approach my work as a compliance and risk leader. Litigation pushed me to learn fast, adapt to new situations and break down complicated ideas so anyone could understand them. I also had to see things from different sides to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of my own arguments, and asking good questions helped me get to the heart of any issue. Plus, I learned when to fight, when to settle and how to reach a resolution. All these skills – staying flexible, simplifying challenges, showing empathy, asking the right questions and aiming for a solution – are part of my everyday work. I use them to help organisations make sense of risks and build effective compliance programmes.
R&C: How do you navigate complex regulatory environments and evolving legal frameworks? What guiding principles inform your decision making?
Cotton Santos: Navigating complexity requires regulatory intelligence – the ability to detect signals of when change is happening, interpret their meaning and impact on your organisation, and implement strategies that prepare the organisation for change. Organisations that do this well are better able to manage the costs and burden of the evolving regulatory environment.
Jul-Sep 2026 Issue
Phillips 66