Ben Gilbert

Experience

• 

  Chapman Tripp

  Feb 2012 - Jun 2016

  Solicitor

  I worked in the Corporate team, advising on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, contract matters, competition law, telecommunications, intellectual property and company incorporations. I undertook secondments in the IT industry, the Packaging Industry and the Media Industry.I acted on matters including:- the closure of a prominent international intermediary's New Zealand private equity funds;- the establishment of a New Zealand private equity firm's trans-Tasman fund;- fundraising documentation (US$60M) for a New Zealand based international clean energy company;- the joint venture documentation for a major New Zealand logistics arrangement;- the cloud services licensing arrangements for APAC financial institutions. Show less

• 

  Microsoft

  Jun 2016 - now

  As the Asia AI Legal Lead at Microsoft, I support the most complex AI deals across the Asia region. Collaborating closely with Microsoft's AI global black belts—a team of AI technical specialists—I provide expert guidance on legal, regulatory, and responsible AI matters for Microsoft customers' cutting-edge AI projects. My role also involves program managing AI campaigns to accelerate the adoption of AI in the public sector, regulatory bodies, and the legal industry across Asia.In addition to these responsibilities, I facilitate two-way feedback on AI matters between field lawyers and the lawyers supporting Microsoft's AI engineering teams. I also support Asia in-country lawyers with strategic cloud deals. And I amplify Microsoft's trusted, secure and responsible AI brand through external speaking engagements and customer presentations. Show less I was previously a principal legal counsel for the Microsoft Australia subsidiary, supporting regional and global legal projects. In Australia, I advised teams engaged in licensing cloud products to large enterprise and public sector customers, Microsoft's consulting services business, and the marketing and operations business. Immediately prior to this role, I supported the Microsoft Corporation Global Business Desk. I advised finance leads on major international deal escalations, helped the business evaluate, develop, and execute contract customisations, and helped project manage complex transactions.In a previous role supporting the New Zealand subsidiary, I was part of the subsidiary leadership team. I advised on compliance matters, drove Microsoft's government affairs policy work, and supported commercial licensing and consulting services deals with Microsoft's largest enterprise and public customers. I led the legal team work related to Microsoft's data centre investment. I was joint project manager for developing a Legal Assistance chat bot, used in 100+ countries to divert low risk, high volume legal queries away from lawyers. I was seconded in 2018 to Singapore and Thailand to gain experience in Asia, and an understanding of emerging markets. Show less

  • Senior Corporate Counsel: Asia AI Legal Lead and Strategic Projects

    Jul 2023 - now

  • Senior Corporate Counsel: Asia Strategic Projects

    Sept 2022 - Aug 2023

  • Commercial Legal Lead (Interim)

    Dec 2022 - Mar 2023

  • Principal Corporate Counsel: Asia Strategic Projects

    Sept 2021 - Sept 2022

  • Principal corporate counsel: ANZ

    Jun 2016 - Sept 2021