CCI staff share recent surveys, reports and analysis on risk, compliance, governance, infosec and leadership issues. Share details of your survey with us: editor@corporatecomplianceinsights.com.
Most firms favor human-led KYC compliance over AI-driven automation
Enhanced due diligence budgets will increase at 87% of organizations over the next year, yet most firms favor human-led compliance over AI automation, according to new research from LSEG Risk Intelligence.
The survey by the risk and compliance solutions provider found that the average annual enhanced due diligence (EDD) spend currently stands at $632,026, rising to over $900,000 for organizations with revenue exceeding $1 billion. Almost all respondents (90%) reported an increase in compliance check requests over the past three years.
“While at first glance, AI appears to be a silver bullet, a more nuanced approach is needed — one that is human-centric in nature,” said Daniel Hartnett, head of enhanced due diligence at LSEG Risk Intelligence. “AI undoubtedly offers a range of core benefits in the EDD space, but it must be implemented safely and responsibly, with trusted human oversight throughout.”
Other key findings from the survey of 500 senior-level risk and compliance experts:
- 58% of respondents believe KYC EDD should be mostly or fully human-driven, while 42% favor AI automation.
- 49% identify increased global sanctions and watchlists as a key concern.
- 52% expect an increased focus on beneficial ownership identification over the next three years.
- The average expected budget increase is 5.2% over the next 12 months.
Gartner: Contract analysis & document review among biggest emerging uses of AI for legal teams
Generative AI will transform legal operations through six key applications, including contract analysis, document review and meeting summarization, according to new research from Gartner.
The firm’s analysis evaluated 16 potential use cases for generative AI in legal operations, identifying six high-value applications that are readily implementable in typical enterprise legal departments. Contract visibility and data extraction emerged as a leading use case, with the technology capable of creating searchable databases from legacy and third-party contracts.
“Generative AI – being rooted in text analysis – is a good fit technology for reshaping the legal department by automating routine tasks and providing deeper insights,” said Weston Wicks, senior director analyst in the Gartner Assurance Practice. “The implications are significant, as GenAI can enable legal departments to allocate resources more efficiently and focus more employee time on strategic initiatives.”
Other key findings:
- Automated contract review can accelerate processes by identifying non-standard clauses and providing automated redlining.
- AI-powered tools can condense complex legal texts into concise summaries, enabling quick consumption of critical information.
- The technology can transform legal intake by analyzing and categorizing requests based on type, region, risk level and urgency.
“This isn’t a technology that can simply replace people, but as its use becomes more prevalent the ability to harness it effectively for legal work will become table stakes for most employees in the industry,” Wicks said.
GC survey: Corporate legal risks accelerating as disputes and compliance demands surge
General counsel overwhelmingly expect corporate risk and legal department demands to accelerate in the coming year, with 85% anticipating increases as regulatory compliance and rising disputes drive costs higher, according to new research from FTI Technology and Relativity, a global technology company.
The report found that regulatory compliance tops the list of concerns, with 41% of legal department leaders ranking it as their primary risk — an 11-point increase from last year. Additional findings show that 51% of general counsels (GCs) now consider disputes and investigations a top five risk, while 32% report an increase in disputes and civil litigation.
“General counsel continue to amplify their role as a guardian of data, risk, incident response and increasingly, company strategy,” said Sophie Ross, global CEO of FTI Technology. “Through an increasing openness to technology, a focus on business objectives and reliance on strategic expert partners, most general counsel have struck a realistic balance between absorbing increased risk and fueling growth within their organizations.”
Other key findings:
- Nearly nine in 10 GCs (88%) are concerned about risks from emerging data sources like collaboration apps and cloud platforms.
- A majority of respondents (65%) feel minimally prepared or unprepared to handle emerging data source issues.
- More than 75% are addressing widening risks through increased reliance on law firms, up from 63% in 2024.
- Data privacy consumes most department time for 61% of legal teams.
- Over one-third cite internal investigations as the top trigger for disputes and investigations.
