" Alvaro is the legal vice president of Davivienda, one of the leading banks in Colombia, with more than 17.300 employees and operations in Colombia, Panamá, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and the United States. Alvaro leads a team with more than 60 lawyers, focusing on regulatory matters, financial transactions, alliances, investments, and client service. In the last years, there has been a strong focus on innovation, fintech and technology. By incorporating emerging technologies, Davivienda has aimed to optimise banking systems, methods and processes, building new products, services and 100% digital experience for clients and users. Alvaro´s legal team works in harmony with the ‘innovation model’ of Grupo Bolívar, through which i) research work is developed to evaluate ventures in the most important ecosystems worldwide; ii) the start-ups with the greatest projections are identified; iii) the acceleration of digital transformation projects is generated; iv) relations are strengthened with key actors of the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem -such as academia, government and private companies; and v) the progress and entrepreneurship of the industry are monitored. Alvaro has extensive knowledge of the business, and the solutions provided by his team go beyond strictly legal considerations. The greatest challenge facing the industry in Colombia is to ensure that the majority of the population has access to the financial system, which is why the legal vice-presidency is focused on providing legal solutions that allow the use of disruptive banking services throughout the country and eliminate existing gaps. Led by Alvaro, the legal team has participated in multiple innovative initiatives over the past year, such as: transforming internal reporting and processes through legal thinking design methodology and simplifying contractual documents. Moreover, it incorporated analytical and blockchain tools into the administration and judicial processes attended by Davivienda. The in-house team has provided legal support for developing the Civic App and the Civic Pay purse and the Rappi Alliance in constructing the RappiBank. The start-up kit has represented a significant milestone, allowing for the simplification and homogenising of the standards for the relationship with start-ups. Davivienda has been the first bank in Colombia to incorporate electronic signatures in its contracts, resembling handwritten signatures, saving authenticity and integrity. Finally, Alvaro has provided permanent legal support in the DaviPlata strategy — the native digital bank of Davivienda — providing around $14m of customers. "