A renowned expert on technology and privacy law, who joined Microsoft Ibérica in 2010 and is now legal director responsible for Spain and Portugal, Asier Crespo has been at the forefront of the ever-changing technology space by ensuring Microsoft’s systems remain reliable and secure to use.

He worked on ‘a ground-breaking innovation in the Spanish market’ by creating a data processing agreement for Microsoft cloud services, which was reviewed and approved by the Spanish Data Protection Authority (AEPD). ‘This game-changing solution, which provides unparalleled assurance and guarantees for our customers’ compliance needs, was an innovative creation that I personally envisioned and implemented’, he explains.

Crespo also played a key role in the agreement with the Spanish Bar Associations Council (CGAE) which gave every licensed lawyer in Spain a secure email account and other cloud-based collaboration tools, which would be otherwise available to large law firms only. Furthermore he supports Microsoft’s corporate social responsibility activities on a regular basis in Spain and devised the legal structure of its global training program – an initiative that Microsoft runs in partnership with several NGOs in the Basque Country, to provide students with professional training opportunities at Microsoft’s subsidiaries around Europe. To combat the legal complexity surrounding developing technologies, Crespo and his legal team put ‘quick feedback and implementation mechanisms’ to handle matters quickly. In addition he drove a strategy locally to address concerns regarding the fraudulent misuse of cloud computing and its associated innovations hosting events with Spanish customers and publishing books with the legal team as part of this effort.

Further demonstrating his position as an excellent counsel in the technology sector, Crespo oversaw his department’s launch of a pioneering tool to support in-house clients with an AI-powered tool based on Microsoft technology. ‘After several rounds of improvement and refinement, the tool has been launched satisfactorily. It provides basic answers to recurring legal questions (for example, “how can I create an NDA?”), thereby freeing up our attorneys time to focus on relevant and high impact matters’. In addition to his main responsibilities, Crespo is an active member of Microsoft’s EU Privacy team, the European representative at Microsoft’s Licensing Contracts Advisory Council and leads an action group focused on healthcare legal issues. With such a wide skillset, it is no wonder that nominators spoke highly of him, saying: ‘[Crespo] has an unusual breadth of experience and in-depth knowledge in technology law.

An expert in intellectual property, software and privacy, he is a frequent public speaker and advocate of Microsoft’s commitment to business and society at large. What makes Asier stand out is both his commercially savvy attention to detail and his belief in the importance of the role of the law in the context of business’. Before joining Microsoft, he was senior associate in Uría Menéndez’s IT/IP law department. He is also a regular lecturer at IE University and is a member of the Academic Council of FIDE Foundation for Research in Law and Enterprise.