Team size: 5

Career Biography

Ann-Sophie De Graeve is a legal professional with a strong track record in data privacy, IT law and digital transformation. She is currently admitted as a company lawyer at the Belgian Institute for Company Lawyers (IBJ), after earlier being a member of both the Brussels and Antwerp Bar, where she built her legal foundation in private practice.

She studied law at the University of Ghent, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, specialising in international and European law. She went on to obtain an LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law, with a focus on IP, bioethics, and IT law. Early experiences — such as her participation in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court and internships at Allen & Overy and DLA Piper — sparked her interest in the intersection of law, technology and innovation.

Her career spans both top-tier law firms and global in-house roles. At UCB, a global biopharmaceutical company, she held dual roles as Head of Data Privacy – Global DPO and Associate General Counsel Digital, Data Privacy & IT. There, she led the company’s data privacy team and was responsible for the global data protection strategy, including GDPR implementation, policy development, and incident response. She worked closely with cross-functional teams to embed privacy-by-design, advise on IT and digital contracts, and support the company’s broader AI and digital health strategy.

Before joining UCB, Ann-Sophie was Counsel at Osborne Clarke, where she advised a wide range of clients on IT, data protection and IP matters. Her work covered digital business models, outsourcing, cloud, cybersecurity, e-privacy, and complex contract negotiations. She started her career at Allen & Overy, and gained hands-on international experience through secondments at Novartis (Switzerland) and Accenture (Belgium), where she worked on large-scale IT outsourcing and data protection projects.

Outside of her core roles, Ann-Sophie contributes actively to the privacy and legal community. She served on the IAPP European Advisory Board (2021–2022), regularly speaks at conferences such as IAPP Europe and Flanders Bio, and has written on data protection in digital health. She also contributed to sector-wide initiatives, including the EFPIA GDPR Code of Conduct for the pharmaceutical industry.

Multilingual and internationally minded, Ann-Sophie works fluently in Dutch, English and French and enjoys exploring the links between psychology, negotiation and conflict resolution, interests that also shape her professional approach.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

In times of instability or crisis, my approach as Head of Legal is to maintain a clear focus on the bigger picture and the long-term business objectives. While immediate priorities of course shift in such moments, it remains essential not to lose sight of the overall strategic direction. Legal must stay aligned with the business strategy — not by blindly serving it, but by helping to guide it with sound, objective judgement.”

Legal’s role in such moments goes beyond risk mitigation; we act as an enabler of sound decision-making under pressure. That requires calm leadership, agility, and a deep understanding of the business context.

Especially during crises, it is absolutely critical to provide accurate, practical, and timely legal advice — advice that not only acknowledges and manages risk, but also enables the business to take informed and strategic decisions. Legal guidance must be realistic, actionable, and attuned to the urgency and complexity of the moment.

I work closely with the executive team to ensure that our legal response is embedded in the broader company strategy, without losing the necessary independence to challenge assumptions when needed. Whether the issue is legal exposure, regulatory uncertainty or operational disruption, legal must be a stabilising force, providing clarity, maintaining integrity, and helping the business move forward with confidence and resilience

Ultimately, legal must always be a facilitator helping the organisation stay resilient and focused, even in the face of uncertainty.

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

For me, the most important attributes of a modern in-house counsel are calm leadership, agility, and a deep understanding of the business context. Legal professionals must be able to operate effectively under pressure, adapt quickly to changing circumstances, and provide clear, pragmatic advice that supports sound decision-making.

At the same time, a modern in-house counsel must act as both facilitator and guardian: enabling the business to move forward while safeguarding its legal and ethical integrity. That requires a strong sense of judgment, the courage to speak up when needed, and the ability to translate complex legal issues into actionable guidance.”

Ultimately, it’s about striking the right balance between being a strategic partner to the business and maintaining the objectivity and independence needed to provide honest, risk-aware advice, especially in challenging or high-stakes situations.

Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on, of which you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful?

One of the key trends I’ve been closely following — and actively engaging with — is the rapid rise of AI and its impact on the legal profession. There’s no point in resisting it; AI is here to stay. Instead, I believe it’s essential for in-house counsel to dare to rethink our role in an AI-driven environment.

I see AI as an opportunity: a tool that can free us from repetitive and low-value tasks, allowing us to focus our time and energy on the areas where we can truly make a difference. That difference lies in our human judgment, experience, and ability to navigate complex ethical, strategic, and interpersonal dimensions, qualities that no AI can replicate.

In my personal opinion, the in-house lawyer of the future will be defined less by technical legal knowledge alone, and more by the ability to apply that knowledge in context, to advise with empathy, to make nuanced decisions under uncertainty, and to act as a trusted partner to the business. AI can support that, but it can’t replace it.