P2P

P E E R T O P E E R M A G A Z I N E · S U M M E R 2 0 2 5 51 PAUL WALKER is Global Solutions Director at iManage. STEP 4: EXPLORE SELF-SERVICE USE CASES Once AI-powered self-service solutions leverage the correct information, they enable users to find answers to their questions quickly. For example, in a large enterprise, the corporate legal department may be frequently asked the same questions, such as "What is our work-from-home policy for EU-based employees?" Using AI-powered self-service solutions grounded in high-quality content enables users to ask these questions themselves and receive accurate answers. The AI can also provide an evidential trail showing which documents it used to generate its response, allowing the user to validate the response. This gives users not just a window into the AI tool's "thinking," but also confidence in its accuracy. (In the example above, for instance, the AI would specify that it was specifically drawing upon the work-from-home policy for EU employees and not U.S.-based employees, to remove any doubts that it was conflating policies from different jurisdictions.) It would also need to leverage only the current policy, not previous policies that may no longer be relevant. It is not hard to imagine a similar use case for self- service whenever someone has a question about the details of a significant contract that is managed by the legal team. For instance, someone may need to know the impact of an X% increase in cost due to tariff changes on their supplier agreement obligations. In these ways and many others, legal organizations can explore a variety of self-service use cases that can securely deliver the correct information to the right people at the right time. SMARTER AI SELF-SERVICE STARTS WITH BETTER DATA. With AI-powered self-service, legal teams can finally focus on higher-value work rather than drowning in repetitive queries. But the magic only happens when organizations commit to a well-structured information architecture. It is like planting a tree. You put in the effort to dig a hole, plant the seed, water it, and nurture it, but for a while, all you have is dirt and a tiny sprout. Without that initial work, the tree does not grow. But after some time, with patience and care, you get a towering tree that provides shade, fruit, and beauty; a reward that would not exist without the early effort. AI thrives on curated, high-quality data: Get the underlying architecture right, and legal professionals will unlock a more innovative, faster, and more strategic way to work.

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