Mark Chavez – Applied Digital

In the fast-paced and ever-evolving landscape of law and technology, adaptability is not just an advantage—it is a necessity. Few embody this reality as fully as Mark Chavez, general counsel and chief compliance officer of Applied Digital, a rapidly growing company building the backbone of artificial intelligence.

Mark Chavez | Applied Digital | General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer

Applied Digital was founded with a bold vision: to construct the “epicenter of AI.” The company began by developing data centers to support the computational demands of cryptocurrency mining. But as the market shifted, Applied Digital pivoted toward an even bigger opportunity—AI infrastructure. Recognizing that high-performance computing was rapidly becoming the lifeblood of AI and machine learning, the company seized the chance to redefine its purpose.

That pivot has paid off. Today, Applied Digital designs, develops and operates high-performance data centers and colocation solutions for artificial intelligence, cloud, networking, and blockchain industries, offering unprecedented scale and efficiency. The company’s ability to anticipate market needs has propelled it into the national spotlight, positioning it as a leader in one of the most competitive and transformative industries of the modern era.

Chavez, who has guided the company’s legal and compliance function through this meteoric rise, understands the importance of agility.

“In this industry, you don’t have years to negotiate deals—you have weeks,” he explained.

His business-first approach has been essential in helping Applied Digital strike multi-billion-dollar transactions that have solidified its place in the AI revolution.

From energy law to the cutting edge of tech

Chavez’s path to the general counsel’s office was anything but conventional. He began his career not in Silicon Valley or at a venture-backed startup, but in the energy sector. After law school, he joined the Houston firm Locke Lorde, where he honed his skills in bankruptcy, commercial litigation, and complex energy deals. His clients included some of the most influential players in the oil and gas industry—including virtually every oil major.

Still, Chavez realized he wanted more than to litigate cases for multiple clients. He wanted to embed himself within a single company, learning its strategy inside and out. That opportunity came when he joined ExxonMobil, where he expanded his expertise across environmental law, OSHA regulations, marketing projects, and even high-profile sponsorships like Formula 1 and NASCAR.

ExxonMobil offered invaluable experience, but advancement was difficult in its flat hierarchy. Chavez sought a role where he could develop leadership skills and move closer to his goal of becoming a general counsel for a public company. He accepted a position at World Fuel Services in Miami, where he worked on aviation contracts with major airlines and governments across six continents. Later, at PBF Energy and Ocean Point Terminals, he built a track record of managing treasury operations, acquisitions, bankruptcies, and large-scale commercial disputes.

This foundation proved essential when he transitioned into the tech world.

“I never thought I was going to be a lawyer,” Chavez recalled. “I was a professional musician who went into the Army to pay for school. Law school was supposed to be a step toward a career in lobbying. But once I got into corporate law, I realized I wanted to lead a legal team.”

His eclectic background—military service, energy law, and international deal-making—prepared him perfectly for the unpredictable, high-velocity environment of Applied Digital.

Transformative deals & business-first legal leadership

When Chavez joined Applied Digital, the company was still small, evolving from its roots in crypto mining into a broader AI infrastructure provider. Building the legal department from scratch was both a challenge and an opportunity. Chavez took a pragmatic approach: create a lean, highly skilled team that could deliver legal services at the speed of business.

Today, he manages a team of three attorneys and three HR professionals, deliberately keeping the group small and nimble. Recruiting top talent has been a priority, and Chavez is meticulous in hiring.

“In the most recent role I filled, it took me over four months to find a candidate I was satisfied with,” he said. “I never want to put someone in a position where they’re not going to succeed.”

That philosophy has paid off. Chavez’s team has successfully in-sourced much of Applied Digital’s legal work, from supply chain and commercial contracts to employment and securities law. More importantly, they have enabled the company to move quickly on high-stakes transactions.

One of the most transformative deals in the company’s history was a multi-billion-dollar lease agreement with Coreweave, a leading AI hyperscaler. Applied Digital is building large-scale data centers in North Dakota, tapping into renewable energy resources to create a cost-efficient and sustainable infrastructure. For months, Chavez and his colleagues negotiated with potential tenants, waiting for the right partner. When Coreweave came to the table, the company moved fast.

“Negotiations moved very quickly,” Chavez explained. “We leased them two of our buildings with an option for a third, which has since been exercised. It was a transformative deal—billions of dollars in locked-in revenue for the next fifteen years.”

That agreement not only boosted Applied Digital’s market cap to over $2 billion but also validated its strategy of building AI-optimized facilities ahead of demand.

Applied Digital’s competitive advantage, Chavez believes, lies in its ability to anticipate where the market is headed and arrive first. That requires a legal function that enables speed rather than slowing it down.

“The hardest part of my job is making sure legal review never becomes a bottleneck,” he said. “In tech, projects can move from introduction to a full-fledged agreement in a matter of weeks. If legal can’t keep up, the business suffers.”

Beyond the office

For all his professional accomplishments, Chavez has never left behind his first love—music. Before law school, he was a professional trumpet player, performing in salsa clubs in Washington, D.C., musicals, and even alongside his daughter at her senior recital in college.

“The most fun I ever had was playing those salsa clubs,” he said. “We’d make 60 bucks a night, but it was about the music, not the money.”

Music remains a source of joy, but Chavez also finds fulfillment in language and travel. He devotes at least thirty minutes a day to learning new languages, rotating between Turkish, Romanian, Italian, French, Spanish, and currently Portuguese. His passion for travel, particularly to Europe, complements his love of culture and lifelong learning.

Chavez’s personal journey is also deeply shaped by family and heritage. His grandparents immigrated to the United States with little more than determination, working as farm laborers picking cotton, apples, and other crops. His parents, too, worked in fields as children before dropping out of high school. Despite these challenges, they instilled in their children a belief in education as the path forward.

Now, just one generation later, Chavez has reached the pinnacle of his profession.

“I am extraordinarily proud of what I have achieved,” he reflected. “My family came from very humble beginnings, and now I serve as general counsel and chief compliance officer of a $4 billion publicly traded company. That journey, with all its twists and challenges, shows what is possible.”

Chavez’s story is one of adaptability, ambition, and perseverance. From salsa clubs to the Army, from energy law to AI infrastructure, his journey demonstrates the power of reinvention and resilience. At Applied Digital, he has helped transform a startup into a multi-billion-dollar leader at the forefront of artificial intelligence.

Applied Digital’s rise mirrors Chavez’s own career trajectory: bold, innovative, and defined by an ability to anticipate change. As the company continues building its AI campuses across the country, Chavez remains focused on empowering his team, enabling speed, and aligning legal strategy with business goals. In an industry where opportunities move quickly, his leadership ensures that Applied Digital is always ready to seize them.