The prospect of implementing a next-generation technology like AI into your business may seem like a daunting task. We know that business leaders today face a tough task trying to cut through the noise and find the right AI for their organisation. During my time at Luminance, I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked alongside a diverse range of businesses, helping to integrate our AI seamlessly into their existing processes and transform their everyday workflows.

Today, I’m sharing some of the tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way that can help businesses of all sizes on their journey towards successful AI implementation.

1. Identify the Gaps in Your Tech Stack

We often come across businesses that have a patchwork of technologies to meet their various needs. It might be a legacy ‘filing cabinet’ like a CLM for centralising their enterprise documentation, or an eSignature tool for the final stage of the contracting process. But nowadays, more and more organisations are looking for a cutting-edge technology that provides a one-stop-shop solution to address all their contracting needs, and AI can provide just that.

Before beginning the search for the right AI technology, first identify those gaps in your incumbent tech stack. For instance, is your current CLM system capable of storing contracts but not analysing them? Or perhaps the legal team is bogged down in reviewing ‘live’ contracts, such as incoming NDAs and standard Sales Agreements. Is AI powering every part of the platform? Or is AI only applied to very specific part of the platform? Make sure to complete a thorough assessment of your existing tech stack, so you know exactly where AI can fill these gaps.

2. Spotting True AI

With all the buzz around AI, many technology vendors have been taking advantage of this hype, hopping aboard the AI bandwagon in order to gain traction in a hot market. Business leaders are now having to navigate a very complex environment where everything seems to be labelled as AI. So, how do you know when it’s real? Here’s an ‘AI checklist’ that I like to give those on the look-out for real AI software:

• Is the AI instantly deployable with no lengthy set-up or machine training?

• Can it automatically handle different languages or terminologies?

• Can I teach it new concepts and ideas with simple point-and-click learning?

If the answer to the above questions is ‘yes’, then businesses should be confident in moving forward with implementation!

3. Embrace Evolution

AI will undoubtedly feel new for many members of your team. Our CEO recently hosted a panel at Legalweek with business leaders from Koch, Yokogawa and Hitachi Vantara, and a common theme within their conversation was the initial reluctance of their legal teams to fully embrace AI. And it’s easy to see why! There are lots of alarmist headlines around AI at the moment. But we shouldn’t be afraid of a technology that is drastically going to improve the way we work and automate the repetitive tasks which take up so much of our day.

There’s no better way to get the traditional, risk-averse lawyers on board with your digital transformation than by getting them involved in the implementation journey early on, so they can see how AI is there to augment rather than replace their expertise. Jeannine Moran, Director of Legal and Compliance – Operations & Technology at Hitachi Vantara, provided us with her top-tip for converting the ‘tech-sceptics’:“Start with the most difficult attorney. If you can convert him, he’ll bring everyone with him.”

4. The Importance of the POV

There’s a vast difference between training team members to use AI and training the AI itself. Many ‘AI’ vendors rely on weeks or even months of user labour to train the technology – this should be an early indication that what you’re looking at simply isn’t AI.

One of the most important things to us at Luminance is providing instant value and transparency from the get-go. That’s why we allow your team to experience the power of Luminance’s AI on their own documents – completely free of charge. This is what we call our Proof of Value (POV). We know there’s no better way to understand the wide-ranging benefits AI can have for your team than by experiencing it yourself. Some of the POV results we’ve seen include…

• Lively, a US-based health care technology company, achieving complete automation of NDA negotiation in the first two days of their free-of-charge trial.

• One of the world’s largest sports governing bodies reducing contract drafting time from 4 hours to just 20 minutes.

5. Establishing your AI Roadmap

Once customers experience the time- and cost-savings that Luminance’s AI brings to traditionally labour-intensive legal tasks, we inevitably see them look to extend those benefits to other arms of the business. For instance, Koch Industries is rolling out Luminance beyond their legal team to Sales and Procurement, so they can generate their own contracts. In this way, our customers are not just creating an AI-powered legal function, but an AI-powered business.

Having a clear understanding AI expansion across the business will allow for clear metrics and goals to be set and met in your journey with AI adoption.

To see how AI could transform your legal team click here