Executive Biographies

Christian Barrios is General Manager, Human Resources for Microsoft Australia, New Zealand and Japan, where he oversees the full spectrum of people strategies — from talent acquisition and leadership development to organisational design and culture and inclusion across three of the company’s most critical markets. Christian leads a team of HR professionals in close partnership with business leaders to ensure that workforce capabilities are fully aligned with Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and organisation on the planet.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Christian was Vice President of Human Resources for IBM Japan and its subsidiaries, where he managed HR operations for 20,000+ employees and spearheaded transformative initiatives in talent management, performance culture and the digital modernisation of HR services. Christian also has extensive international experience having served as HR Head for Cisco India & South Asia where, based in Bangalore, he led the largest global site for Cisco outside the United States.

Earlier in his career, Christian broadened his global footprint through a series of senior roles at Dell in both Japan and Asia Pacific regional leadership roles where he developed robust succession planning frameworks, championed employee engagement and retention during periods of rapid growth and aligned human-capital strategies with evolving business objectives to support the company’s expansion in competitive markets.

A native of Chile, fluent in Spanish, English and Japanese, Christian brings more than two decades of cross-cultural expertise in aligning people strategy with business goals, fostering inclusive workplaces and guiding multinational teams through transformational change.