Nicholas A. Smith

Primary Focus & Experience

Nicholas has over twenty years of experience advising on industry-leading digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence transactions, outsourcing transactions, and technology and services transactions more broadly. 

Digital Infrastructure & Artificial Intelligence:

Nicholas is one of the leading lawyers in the world in the digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence sectors.  He advises on large, complex, and groundbreaking projects, playing key roles on transactions that define global leading practice in a rapidly changing industry. 

His experience in this sector includes:

• Artificial intelligence projects, including GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS) transactions (e.g., IREN, NScale, TensorWave, Vultr);
• Data center-focused projects and colocation services (e.g., Google, Grain Management);
• Complex financing arrangements regarding digital infrastructure companies, projects, and equipment production (e.g., Barclays, Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, United States Department of Commerce); and
• Advising corporate clients on the evaluation of AI products and options, the licensing and use of AI products and services, the development of proprietary AI models.

Technology & Outsourcing:

Over more than twenty years, Nicholas has advised on numerous landmark transactions in the technology transactions and outsourcing space.  His experience spans IT, back office, procurement, operations, and customer-facing initiatives. 

Nicholas’s experience in this sector includes advising on many complex enterprise transformation projects, including initiatives being undertaken by companies following high-profile acquisitions (e.g., CVS Health following its acquisitions of Pharmacare and Aetna; Omnicom following its merger with IPG).

Representative Experience

Digital Infrastructure and AI:

• Amp Solar – IT services, including IaaS and GPUaaS components, regarding data center development;
• Barclays – digital infrastructure securitization transactions;
• Blackstone – procurement and financing of data center equipment;
• Corvex – GPUaaS matters and strategic collaborations;
• Dapple AI – GPUaaS projects and related transactions;
• Goldman Sachs – digital infrastructure securitization transactions;
• Google – matters relating to data center projects;
• Grain Management – services and license arrangements relating to a data center joint venture;
• IREN – GPUaaS matters and related transactions;
• Nebius – GPUaaS matters and related transactions;
• NScale – GPUaaS matters and related transactions;
• Softbank – a number of digital infrastructure and AI-related projects;
• TensorWave – a wide range of data center and GPUaaS projects;
• United States Department of Commerce – IT and intercompany support relating to the construction of semiconductor fabs and related semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the U.S. pursuant to the CHIPS Act;
• Vultr – a wide range of data center and GPUaaS projects, and related transactions; and
• A wide range of corporate clients – the evaluation, procurement/licensing and use of AI solutions, including regarding the development of strategy and procurement to align to client objectives to develop proprietary models.

Technology & Outsourcing:

• Amazon.com – customer-facing technology services;
• Ambac – IT outsourcing;
• Astellas – IT outsourcing, business process outsourcing, software licensing and deployment, and cloud services;
• Barclays – investment operations outsourcing and software licensing;
• CIRCOR – IT and business process outsourcing;
• Cushman & Wakefield – IT outsourcing, business process outsourcing and software licensing;
• CVS Health – IT outsourcing, business process outsourcing, software licensing, cloud services, a wide range of services relating to retail location network support, and technology and operations transformation initiatives;
• DuPont – IT outsourcing, business process outsourcing, software licensing and network services;
• Embraer – sourcing and technology initiatives;
• Employbridge – business process outsourcing;
• Johnson & Johnson – IT outsourcing, business process outsourcing and software licensing;
• JPMorgan Chase – investment operations outsourcing;
• Lehman Brothers – IT outsourcing;
• LightSquared (now known as Ligado) – telecommunications network deployment and management services;
• Molina Healthcare – IT outsourcing, software licensing, cloud services and business process outsourcing;
• Morgan Stanley – investment operations services;
• MTV Networks – IT services, business process outsourcing, software licensing and procurement transactions;
• The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) – IT services and software licensing;
• Omnicom – IT outsourcing, business process outsourcing, software licensing and cloud services, including enterprise-wide efforts to integrate and transform the business following its merger with IPG;
• PepsiCo – business process outsourcing, IT services and software licensing;
• Radisson – software licensing, IT outsourcing and business process outsourcing;
• The Reader’s Digest Association – IT outsourcing, business process outsourcing, procurement outsourcing and software licensing;
• RELX – IT outsourcing, software licensing and business process outsourcing;
• Time Warner – IT outsourcing;
• Unilever – IT outsourcing; and
• Wells Fargo – IT services, business process services and technology development.

Recognition & Accomplishments

Nicholas is recognized in Chambers USA and Legal 500 as a leading practitioner.  He regularly appears as a featured speaker at national and international industry conferences.  He earned a B.A. from the University of Iowa, and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.