Beyond your corporate responsibilities, is there a cause, within the legal profession or in wider society, that you are particularly passionate about? How does this influence your leadership style as general counsel?

Something I am particularly passionate about is ensuring that the influence we collectively have on society through our work is a positive one. For me, this comes down to coherence, aligning professional choices with personal values, and using our roles to contribute responsibly to long‑term societal progress.

Over more than 25 years, my career has evolved naturally across three interconnected stages: private practice at Garrigues, where I advised on a broad range of matters including early technology projects; a research‑driven start‑up, a CSIC/IIA spin‑off working with early AI components; and IBM, where I am able to operate at global scale. It was during my time in the spin‑off that I first became familiar with IBM’s Research laboratories and White Papers that were frequently referenced by researchers as benchmarks for responsible and forward‑looking innovation.

From the outset, I have been deeply motivated by the belief that technology can be a force for good, tech for good, driving innovation and societal advancement when guided by strong values and human judgment. That alignment between my professional responsibilities and personal convictions shapes my leadership style as general counsel. I focus on people and their development, convinced that by enabling individuals to bring their best selves to work, we create the strongest, most sustainable support for the business and its long‑term success.

AI has been taken seriously as a potentially revolutionary technological change in the legal world for a number of years now. Has it had a meaningful impact on how your legal team works during this time?

Absolutely. AI has had a significant impact on how we operate. We think about our engagement with AI on two levels: first, how we leverage AI internally within IBM’s legal department, and second, how we support IBM’s role as a critical participant in the broader AI ecosystem.

As a fundamentally B2B company, our AI offerings are designed to help businesses operate more efficiently and productively. The legal department acts as a true partner to the business, contributing to how client relationships are structured – how products and services are designed, how terms and conditions are framed, and how we consistently deliver on priorities such as AI ethics and governance. IBM was one of the first companies to establish an AI ethics board, grounded in clear AI governance principles. Building trust is central to our approach to AI, and the legal department played a foundational role in defining and embedding those principles across the organization.

Internally, the IBM Legal department is also “client zero.” We actively use IBM’s own AI tools and align our technology stack and priorities with the company’s broader strategic objectives. We operate under a hybrid model that allows us to develop capabilities in-house while also leveraging third-party solutions where they add value — for example, in outside counsel selection through a third-party RFP platform. One of our most recent initiatives is “Ask Legal,” a tool similar to the AskHR capability launched a few years ago. It enables both attorneys and IBM employees more broadly to quickly access guidance on policies, legal issues, and compliance matters.

Ultimately, we encourage our lawyers, especially junior attorneys who may feel uncertain about AI’s impact on the profession, to view this as an exceptionally exciting moment. AI enables them to focus on more substantive, value-added work earlier in their careers and to actively shape how their roles and the profession itself evolve.