Mike Yeh's career at Microsoft spans two decades and multiple continents, embodying his belief in the value of changing roles every five years to accelerate learning and growth. As the regional vice president for Microsoft's Corporate External and Legal Affairs (CELA) in Asia, Yeh leads a team of over 80 professionals, navigating the complex intersection of technology, law, and policy across a diverse region stretching from India to New Zealand. His journey through various roles at Microsoft, including stints in Beijing, Seattle, and Dubai, has equipped him with a unique global perspective on the evolving technological landscape.

In the face of rapid technological advancements, particularly in AI, Yeh emphasizes the importance of what he calls the "ABCs" of corporate culture: Agility, boldness, and curiosity. These values are crucial as his team adapts to the transformative impact of AI on the legal and government affairs profession. Looking ahead, Yeh is excited about the potential for AI to drive positive societal change in Asia. He envisions his team playing a pivotal role as trusted advisors to governments and companies, helping to accelerate the responsible adoption of technology across the region and fostering innovations that benefit everyone.

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ALB: Tell us about your legal career so far, and what led you to taking up this role. 

YEH: My career at Microsoft is often described internally as the State Department or Ministry of Foreign Affairs path. I started my career in private practice in Washington DC with Arnold & Porter and have moved to a new city every five years since then. Seattle was the next stop when I joined Microsoft in 2003, which was followed by roles in Beijing, back to Seattle, Dubai and now Singapore.

"Given the increasing complexity of technology and its role in society, it's critical that legal issues are considered in a broader context that includes policy and regulations but also issues like sustainability, responsible AI, and philanthropies."

Microsoft’s been a great place to work on cutting-edge technology issues over the past 20 years. I appreciate the company’s thoughtful approach to and long-term view of technology, which is also reflected in how we’re organized as a joint corporate, external and legal affairs (CELA) team. Given the increasing complexity of technology and its role in society, it’s critical that legal issues are considered in a broader context that includes policy and regulations but also issues like sustainability, responsible AI, and philanthropies.

I’ve had the privilege of being in a “field” team for Microsoft for many years and there’s no better place to see how technology can change the world than being on the frontlines with customers and governments. The opportunity to lead the team in Asia three years ago was an easy decision. It’s a hugely diverse region that stretches from India to New Zealand and back up to China, South Korea and Japan. It’s also a region that has been thoughtful and pragmatic about ensuring that technology can responsibly enable economies to develop and leapfrog. I’m looking forward to seeing how the region leverages AI for good and ensures that it benefits everyone.

ALB: What have been some of your highlights from your time in charge? And what are some leadership lessons you have learnt?

YEH: I started in this role in 2021 when much of work and life were still virtual. It was also before the launch of ChatGPT, which totally changed the technology conversation and the way we work. The highlight has been leading the team through this period of massive change where we’ve consistently added capabilities to ensure we can help governments, civil society and customers navigate new AI issues and questions. Our goal was to be Microsoft’s ambassadors to the world and world-class in everything we do.

"I'm impressed by many leaders in the region, including ministers and an occasional head of state, who have the humility to ask questions as a way to finding the best path forward."

Leadership lessons from this period of change are the importance of in-person connections and curiosity. While the pandemic demonstrated that technology can enable work and life virtually, there’s so much additional value in connecting with others in person. We’ve embraced that as a team to meet customers and government in-person where we can and to prioritize getting everyone together in-person at least once a year. 

The second leadership lesson is the importance of curiosity, especially in a time of rapid change. There’s no better time than now to ask questions and learn more about how AI works and how it can work for you. I’m impressed by many leaders in the region, including ministers and an occasional head of state, who have the humility to ask questions as a way to finding the best path forward.

ALB: Apart from legal work, how do you participate in your company’s business? 

YEH: I’m a member of the Microsoft Asia Leadership Team and am involved in the entire range of discussions and decisions about Microsoft’s business in Asia. We have a culture that seeks to create space for the non-subject matter expert and outside perspective, which enables everyone on the Leadership Team to weigh in on everything and anything. 

The intersection of business, technology and policy is also increasingly complex and requires us to bring together the Leadership Team’s collective experiences and expertise for the company to successfully enable the AI economy – which requires knowledge of datacenters, GPUs, large language models, developers, skilling, sustainability, regulations and geopolitics, among other things – in every country where we operate.

ALB: How important is the company’s culture, according to you? What kind of internal culture are you looking to foster both within the team, as well as your business as a whole?

YEH: Culture is critical, especially as the world embarks on a change management process to figure out and adjust to how AI will change everything we do. The legal and government affairs profession is no exception and arguably one of the professions where generative AI will have the greatest impact because we trade in words and insights (and long documents). Three cultural values that we have prioritized for this period of change are agility, boldness and curiosity – the ABCs of our culture, which are intended to ensure we adapt and embrace new technologies, circumstances and opportunities.

ALB: How would you describe your approach to technology? How has the use of tech within your team evolved since you started at the helm, and what is your blueprint for the next year or two?

YEH: As the legal and government affairs team for one of the world’s leading tech companies, we are committed to embracing technology and being customer zero. Very early on, we made AI available through Copilot for Microsoft 365 for everyone in the department and have prioritized learning and sharing best practices with customers and through partners like the Singapore Academy of Law, with whom we just launched an AI prompt engineering guide for lawyers. 

Copilot is already deeply integrated into how I work each day. I use it to summarize email threads and expect Copilot summary will be the starting point for how we read emails going forward. The other feature I use all the time is the Copilot assistant in Teams that allows me to search across Microsoft’s internal sites, such as when I need to confirm a company policy or find talking points on a particular issue. Lawyers are also using Copilot to draft documents by prompting it to pull information from multiple sources, which saves time and results in a solid initial draft with verified citations.

Looking ahead, I’m excited about the multi-lingual scenarios that the technology enables, and I expect it will continue to improve. It has already created more opportunities for team members to work in their native language and is perfect for multi-lingual teams operating across Asia and the world. Microsoft Copilot Studio is also an exciting evolution of the technology that I expect will change the legal and government affairs profession. Copilot Studio is a no-code solution that enables anyone, including myself, to quickly create a custom Copilot grounded on a particular subject, e.g., global AI regulations, just by adding the relevant web sites and uploading summary documents.

ALB: Where would you like to see the team five years from now?

YEH: This is an easy question. As the new AI era starts, I’d love to look back in five years and see the incredible things governments and companies in Asia have done to leverage AI for good and for everyone. Solutions like the Jugalbandi AI chatbot launched by the Government of India to help people access and translate information in their local language are amazing, but also just the beginning. For Microsoft’s CELA team in Asia, my hope is that we will be trusted advisors to government and companies helping accelerate the responsible adoption of technology across the region and driving positive societal impact.

ALB: What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

YEH: “If you’ve been in a role for five years, you’ve either mastered the role or haven’t. In either case, you should do something different.” This advice is reflected well in my own career path, but it’s also advice that is grounded in the fact that learning is accelerated in new roles, especially those that are completely different from your last role.