Some see AI as a threat, we see it as an opportunity. AI will change the world we live and work in and we intend to be at the forefront of our industry in using this exciting new technology.

As the forward-looking IP firm, exploring and maximising the value of AI for our firm, our people and our clients must be high on our agenda. It’s an exciting time and our focus is on how we can make the most of this extraordinary technology, which will have transformative business impact.

Management consultants suggest that fully embedded AI is one of the key attributes shared by companies that flourish and have a focus on growth and building for the future. We are seeking to achieve this, both in terms of how we run our business and how we can work more effectively with our clients and support their commercial objectives. We want to understand how artificial intelligence can drive business outcomes, how we can reimagine our business processes and foster adoption within our firm whilst maintaining the high level of trust we have with our clients. At the same time, we’re also looking at how this impacts our service delivery, our people and our governance.

Like all businesses embracing AI this is a journey. For us this journey is a holistic one that's shaped around adding value and with a focus on enablement. To achieve this, we have a proactive and considered approach and have set out principles that underpin our strategy and action plan. 

1. We will make the most of the benefits of AI within our own business

Leveraging the benefits of AI for our firm is on our board agenda and in our business plan. We also have a steering group with oversight of how we deploy and use AI across the firm and the implications of doing this. They drive our action plan, and oversee the evaluation and incorporation of AI tools into our business. We're already using AI to process over 2000 supplier invoices each month, to help our IT team code and our marketing team with content. We are actively using Microsoft's Co-Pilot and NetDocs Pattern Builder to identify use cases and tools to replace repetitive and labour intensive tasks so our people can focus on higher value and more rewarding activity.

The AI tools we use for client work ensure complete confidentiality. All data is encrypted to the highest industry standards. Moreover, all data uploaded to, or outputted from, the AI tools is not used for training in any way. There is no third-party monitoring of any kind. Any data that needs to be retained, such as uploaded prior art documents, is done so in a dedicated sandboxed environment to ensure any data relevant to your cases are not mixed with data relating to our case work for other clients. Specific data retention policies will vary according to the AI system being utilised, but the principle that data is deleted once it is no longer needed will be followed. All data is held on servers based in either the UK or EU, and all providers are fully compliant with the GDPR. All providers of AI software to the firm are expected to meet the most demanding certification and standards such as SOC2+ and ISO27001.  

2. We will work with our clients to see how we can use AI for their benefit 

We already work in the AI space and help clients that develop technology in this area to maximise their IP. Our clients like that our AI team is diverse, with significant industry and real world knowledge. We are also actively engaging with clients to share insights and experience with AI tools for tasks ranging from drafting to case law analysis and IP processes. Our plan is to develop the AI-enhanced IP team and processes of the future, which we see as complementing our existing business processes and intellectual content creation, not replacing it.

3. We will build our strategy around our people and upskill them to make the most of the potential of AI

Our people will remain at the heart of our business. We use generative AI-based assistive technology in a continuous human-in-the-loop manner.  All client work continues to be produced with hands-on involvement from the relevant attorney team, who remain responsible for the final work product.  We want to use AI to help our people be more time efficient, so they can focus on where they can add the most value and deliver the highest quality services to our clients. It's also about being able to grow more efficiently with the team we have and the combined benefit of AI with human skill and experience. Our plan is to focus on education and training for our people to make the most of this huge opportunity.

4. We will enable and support the AI conversation 

We've written extensively about the benefits of AI. We are helping to focus the conversation around how AI can be used in relation to IP and how we can help our clients protect their AI technology and inventions.  We are passionate about the technology and its potential for our business and society as a whole, so we will continue to be an active part of the conversation on this subject.

5. We will financially support the use of AI in the charity sector as part of our Forward Community Programme

 As part of our community programme we will now donate a percentage of our funds each year to charities that use emerging technologies to help create positive social change. We believe in AI 'done right' and as part of our plan are actively looking at which charities we can support in this important area. This year we have chosen Girls Who Code, an international non-profit organisation working to close the gender gap in technology by teaching computer science, bravery, and sisterhood. We know that coding is not just AI, but realistically a lot of coding in the future will be AI coding and diversity in a huge problem. We’re playing our part to help fix that by helping to train a more diverse generation of AI engineers.