Feature Article: AI for GCs, by Alexander Aitken (Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills)
AI is an inescapable fact of commercial life in 2024 having not been on most C-Suite’s priority lists two years ago. Anyone thinking about a senior legal role will need to demonstrate that they have an understanding of the opportunities and issues around AI when discussing a potential new role with their potential employer.
There are a number of areas where CLOs and GCs need to actively engage with AI.
Firstly there is their own legal department, have you thought about how AI might be used by the legal department to achieve more with the current resource base? Have you considered how to deal with the impact of AI on your team and how they feel about using it, and how do they feel about it as a threat to their own job security? What AI legal outsourcing provider is appropriate to use and how to you AI upskill your team to make the most of it? CLOs and GCs face many of the same issues that all senior executives face, how to harness the benefits without downsides in their team. Showing that you are actively thinking about the future of the legal department is going to be an important differentiator in interview.
A second aspect you might be expected to demonstrate is a strategy for AI and your external counsel. To what extent are you prepared to let your law firms use AI with your company data? How will you nurture relationships with law firms whilst ensuring that the efficiency benefits of AI accrue to your business and not entirely to the law firm's bottom line? To what extent do you think that you should require law firms to be replaced by AI for routine work? The use of external suppliers is a cost to any business and an opportunity to show that you are thinking about the upside to AI in your department whilst balancing it with the risks involved in new technology and in moving data outside your own control.
A third area you may be required to consider is the risks that AI brings to the wider business. This is not an area that you will able to give firm views on until you understand the appetite for AI and the technological and data capacity of the business you are interested in joining. AI is an outsourced provider which utilises data, companies need to think about how they allow their data to be used. Companies also need to ensure that they are applying AI to their business processes in a responsible way and how they will audit it so they can demonstrate accountability. Most companies are in the process of forming or refining their approach to and policies for AI, your voice would be an important one in that debate.
Candidates should take the opportunity to consider the latest legal developments; on which there is a lot of material. The key legislation to have an understanding of is the European AI Act adopted in March 2024 with its risk based approach. More recently Singapore has put out a Framework document discussing nine areas of focus in the AI context. Reading briefing notes on both of these before any conversations would help a candidate show awareness even in the context of a non-AI orientated role.
Most businesses are at the beginning of their journey to harness the power of AI in a way that is right for their business. The CLO or GC will be at the heart of that journey and a key stakeholder in ensuring that the right policies are in place and the best choices made for that business. It is an exciting time to be engaged in this new area of law and business. Candidates who are able to demonstrate that they are actively thinking about this area will stand out from those that are not yet engaged.
Alex is a lawyer with decades of international legal experience currently focusing on the Asia Pacific and Middle East markets. He has a deep interest in the emerging area of AI and the law. www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderrwaitken/