Team Size: 35 

ShapeCareer Biography

Juan Riego Vila is currently serving as the General Counsel at Carrefour Spain, a position I have held since 1997. In this role, he oversees all legal matters across the company, including commercial contracts, real estate transactions, litigation and compliance—which encompasses data protection and ethics—and corporate governance. He is also a member of the Executive Management Committee. 

His journey in the legal field began at Bufete Muñoz Machado, where I worked as a lawyer from 1988 to 1996. During this period, Riego Vila gained extensive experience in various legal disciplines, which laid a strong foundation for his future roles. 

He holds a Licence Spéciale en Droit Européen from the Institut d’Etudes Européennes (IEE) at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), completed in 1988. Prior to that, Riego Vila earned my Licenciado en Derecho from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1986. My educational background also includes a High School Diploma from Lewis Central High School in Iowa, USA, obtained in 1981. 

Throughout his career at Carrefour Spain, Riego Vila has been committed to driving legal innovation to enhance efficiency and support the company’s growth. With a legal team of just 35 members supporting 55,000 employees, they have embraced legal technology to manage increasing demands. In 2006, the team began implementing a document management system, which has since evolved to store over a million documents digitally. This was followed by the introduction of a document automation tool, Docxpresso, which now generates up to 17,000 legal documents per month. 

In 2022, the legal team launched the NEXT project, a transformative initiative aimed at creating the “Legal Department of the Future.” This project focuses on four pillars: innovation, team development, client experience, and legal-tech. Key outcomes include the creation of a Legal Site, an enhanced automation tool, the Look Up Project, a Real Estate Dashboard, and the integration of a generative AI tool, Harvey. 

These efforts have significantly improved the legal team’s operations, allowing it to achieve more with fewer resources and enhancing the experience and satisfaction of internal clients.

Riego Vila is fluent in Spanish, English, and French, with professional working proficiency in German.

 How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience? 

As general counsel of Carrefour Spain, my approach to managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises is rooted in proactive planning and alignment with the broader business strategy. Our legal strategy is designed to be agile and responsive, ensuring that we can quickly adapt to changing circumstances while maintaining compliance and mitigating risks. 

During crises, we prioritise clear communication and collaboration with other departments to ensure a unified response. For instance, our NEXT project, launched in 2022, integrates legal tech with Carrefour’s Digital Retail Strategy 2026. This alignment ensures that our legal operations support the company’s goal of becoming a global leader in digital retail. By leveraging technology, such as our document management system (iManage) and automation tools (Docxpresso), we can streamline processes and enhance efficiency, allowing us to respond swiftly to legal challenges. 

What are the main cases or transactions that you have been involved in recently?  

Recently, our legal team has been involved in several significant transactions and initiatives.  

Carrefour acquired over 40 supermarkets from Supercor (El Corte Inglés). These stores will progressively open this year under the Carrefour Market, Carrefour Express, and Supeco brands.  

We signed a PPA with ENGIE to supply Carrefour Spain with 187 GWh/year of renewable electricity from wind and solar starting January 2026, covering approximately 29% of Carrefour’s annual consumption. 

Additionally, we have integrated a generative AI tool (Harvey) to provide instant legal answers, further enhancing our operational efficiency. This tool has been instrumental in minimising legal and regulatory risks, ensuring compliance, and providing immediate responses to legal inquiries. 

How have you integrated technology into your legal processes, and what impact has this had on efficiency and compliance?  

The integration of technology into our legal processes has been a cornerstone of our strategy to enhance efficiency and compliance. Our NEXT project exemplifies this approach, focusing on four pillars: innovation, team development, client experience, and tech enablement. 

We started with a basic document management system (DMS) and gradually upgraded to a third-party vendor (iManage), which now stores over a million documents digitally accessible by any device. This system supports quick search and retrieval, tracks version history, and facilitates collaboration while maintaining appropriate access controls. 

We also implemented a document automation tool (Docxpresso), which has generated over a million documents for users without legal expertise. This tool saves significant time and allows our legal team to focus on more strategic tasks. The automation of repetitive tasks has not only improved efficiency but also ensured greater accuracy and compliance with regulatory requirements. 

Furthermore, our Look Up project uses data analytics to provide proactive legal answers, and our Legal Site offers easy access to legal resources, FAQs, and training modules. These initiatives have significantly improved the accessibility of legal information and resources for employees, fostering a culture of legal awareness and self-service. 

What do you see as the major legal challenges for businesses in Spain over the next five years, and how are you preparing to address them?  

One of the major legal challenges for businesses in Spain over the next five years will be navigating the evolving regulatory landscape, particularly in areas such as data protection, ESG, IA framework regulation “European Tsunami” and corporate governance. To address these challenges, we are continuously enhancing our legal tech capabilities and ensuring that our team is well-equipped with the necessary digital skills. 

Our NEXT project is designed to anticipate potential legal issues arising from future regulations, new technologies, and market trends. By leveraging tools like the Harvey GENAI and our data-driven Look Up project, we can proactively identify and mitigate legal risks, ensuring compliance and minimising the impact of regulatory changes on our operations. 

In conclusion, our commitment to legal innovation and alignment with Carrefour’s broader business strategy positions us to effectively manage legal challenges and support the company’s long-term success.