InView Magazine: Issue 8 out now!
Blurb: As AI reshapes the legal landscape, DHL’s Mark Smolik believes true transformation starts with a mindset and a vision founded on mastering your data to create a value driven in-house function. He shares his method for mining data for gold, and the strategic impact generative AI can have for the modern General Counsel ready to lead in the age of intelligence.
—-
The adage that you learn to crawl before you walk is universally accepted as sage advice. Yet it has been largely forgotten as businesses and leaders around the globe scramble to harness the power of AI in the last couple of years, for fear of being left behind.
When Smolik, Chief Legal Officer at DHL Supply Chain Americas, first joined the business, legal was, in his words, “a small group of lawyers called on when needed.” Over 16 years, he’s helped transform that team into a proactive, data-informed function that’s deeply embedded in the company’s commercial strategy and culture.
“Think of data as the foundation to a building; if that foundation is weak or not built according to plan, the structure will be askew at best and collapse at worst”, says Smolik. As we enter a “new digitalization age” in the legal industry, Smolik advises that GCs organize and structure their data first before they enter the market seeking to purchase the latest AI tool. “Data is the foundation which underlies the effective use of every AI tool and platform. Organize before you buy”, added Smolik.
“We’re living through the dawn of a new day in the legal industry. And those who see what’s coming and prepare, will define how our industry progresses and prospers,” he says. Smolik is a firm believer that a legal team must take stock of its data to reap the full rewards of AI. Information integrity is critical to the future of a high-performing legal team, with Smolik dubbing data as “the new gold standard going forward”.
He hired a data scientist and multiple legal operation professionals to ensure his team’s data was organized, structured, and leveraged in a way that enables the AI tools his team uses to deliver the desired results,
“Five years from now, if not before, the typical attorney in a corporate law department whose data are organized and structured and is leveraging AI platforms effectively will find themselves 50 percent more efficient than they are today because of the tools and the platforms which leverage that data to drive efficiencies,” he says.
The evidence backs up Smolik’s statement, with a report from Thomson & Reuters showing that 80 percent of legal professionals believe AI will have a transformational impact on their work within the next five years, and 72 percent see it as a force for good.
Lexus Nexus refers to AI tools as a “force multiplier” for in-house legal teams – a technological ally that enables legal teams to expand their capabilities while maintaining their existing workload dramatically.
For those daunted by the sheer task of organizing legal’s data and analyzing it to find insights, Smolik has a process:
Generative AI significantly increases the efficiency of legal teams, particularly in contracts, which are the backbone of any in-house function, by streamlining drafting, negotiation, execution, compliance, and renewal processes. But the area of truly transformational change lies in insights derived from data.
The predictive capabilities of AI can allow legal to draw on historical data to make strategic, informed decisions. Profit & Loss is a metric applied to all areas of a business, and Smolik believes data should be viewed through this lens.
To Smolik, data is financial and operational capital, not just information. He encourages legal leaders to treat data as a business asset that can reveal insights into efficiency, risk, and value, to harness it and to leverage it to predict trends – be those recurring claims, slow contract cycles, or outside counsel overspend.
When legal leaders share those insights with business leaders, they demonstrate strategic value beyond traditional reporting and, as Smolik says, “help the business drive its agenda forward, not just provide reactive advice.”
