Team size: 9

Career Biography

Andrés Quintero Olmos is a trilingual legal executive with over a decade of international experience in corporate law, compliance, and cross-border transactions across Europe and Latin America. He is currently Chief Legal Officer for GFT Technologies for Andean Region & Canada, leading a multidisciplinary team on corporate governance, regulatory compliance, procurement, HR, IP, M&A, and dispute resolution. In this role, he works closely with senior Group leadership to manage risk, drive growth, and align standards across jurisdictions.

Previously, Andrés was Deputy General Counsel at Banco Agrario de Colombia, where he directed a large legal team covering Commercial, Tax, IT, HR, and Banking Operations. He oversaw procurement and high-value contracts, managed regulatory compliance, led union negotiations, and handled a nationwide real estate portfolio of over 500 leases. Earlier, at Teranov Group, he negotiated key contracts in energy and infrastructure, advised on tax, IP, and international finance, and managed corporate restructurings across Latin America and the Caribbean. His early career in Europe included roles at Lafarge (now Holcim) in Paris (M&A, antitrust, finance) and DLA Piper in Brussels (EU trade).

Andrés has published over 150 opinion columns on law, economics, and literature in El Heraldo, and spoken at industry events on risk and contract management.

He holds an LL.M. in International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution from Georgetown University, an MBA in Law and Management, and a Master’s degree (M2) in Business Law from the University of Paris II (Panthéon-Assas). He also earned an LL.B. from the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne). Andrés is admitted to the Madrid and Bogotá Bars and is eligible to sit for the Paris Bar exam. A native Spanish and French speaker fluent in English, he brings cross-cultural fluency and a proven track record of building legal teams that safeguard enterprise value while enabling innovation.

What are the key projects you have been involved in over the past twelve months?

A key project has been the AI-driven transformation of the Legal function, with a focus on embedding AI into the legal team’s day‑to‑day operations to improve efficiency, consistency, and risk management. In parallel, I have played a key role in supporting the Sales and Delivery teams by strengthening our AI‑related offerings for financial services clients, including advising on AI governance, regulatory risk and contractual frameworks. This work included adapting and renegotiating existing multi‑million‑dollar contracts to reflect the new realities of AI implementation, allocation of liabilities and evolving compliance requirements, ensuring both commercial enablement and legal robustness.

Can you describe an instance where your legal advice directly influenced business strategy or commercial objectives?

In addition to situations that present a material legal risk, I see the biggest impact when legal advice is delivered as a business solution, when it comes with the solution and the risk‑mitigation plan. For AI‑driven services for financial‑sector clients, instead of slowing down the initiative due to regulatory, data protection and liability concerns, we turned those risks into concrete deal terms and operating rules. That unlocked the rollout and scaling of the offering, protected multi‑million‑dollar client relationships and supported revenue growth within a defensible risk profile.

What key trends should in-house counsel be monitoring over the coming months?

In-house counsel should closely monitor evolving data protection regulations and the emerging contractual liabilities related to AI agents. Agentic AI is creating a new liability gap in contracts, as legacy clauses written for “passive software” do not adequately address tools that execute steps autonomously. Expect more disputes around who bears responsibility for an agent’s actions, auditability, supervision, security and downstream losses, as well as a push to update indemnities and liability clauses accordingly.

How has the role of general counsel evolved, and what are the most important attributes for the modern in-house lawyer?

The role of general counsel has shifted from a purely protective function to a strategic, value-driven role. Modern in-house lawyers must not only safeguard corporate interests, but also leverage AI tools, deeply understand operational risks and integrate themselves into the business’s day-to-day decision-making processes. Key attributes now include technological literacy, cross-functional collaboration and a proactive approach to risk management.

How do you manage situations where legal advice and commercial objectives conflict?

Both legal and commercial teams ultimately aim for growth, but their approaches differ. Commercial teams often prioritise exponential growth, while legal teams focus on sustainable growth, balancing risk allocation with business-accepted risks. Open dialogue and a shared understanding of risk appetites are essential.