As part of its highly regarded company-wide digital transformation drive, Airbus has opted to further its use of Seal Software’s contract discovery and analytics technology in what will be viewed as a big vote of confidence in the technology.
Airbus, which is led by general counsel, head of legal and compliance Andreas Riecker, has tasked Seal with delivering over 80 customised pre-built extraction modules to digitize contractual documents and agreement-related images in what it describes as a first step towards more dynamic search, contract management and analysis capabilities.
Airbus has long been implementing a comprehensive digital transformation procurement programme – called Quantum – with the ambition to digitize everything from supply chain management to manufacturing. In 2017 it launched aviation data platform Skywise in partnership with Palantir Technologies to pull in and analyse data from sources across the aviation industry. Its aim is to become the single platform of reference used by all major aviation players to improve their performance and their digital transformation.
In an interview with McKinsey’s Rik Kirkland about the transformation programme, Dirk Hoke, the CEO of Airbus Defence and Space said (and this sentence should resonate with many in the legal sector): “In the future, we will start by asking the question, ‘What problem do we solve?’ looking for a software perspective, going into the hardware perspective, and adapting other products in the way that our customers need. There will be a shift in thinking toward our R&D. But it also creates a new, more agile thinking inside our teams. We are trying new things.”
Ulf Zetterberg, co-founder and CEO at Seal Software, commented, “In pursuit of corporate objectives to overcome and break down silos, better collect and share information across business units, and foster greater cooperation among teams, Airbus is working closely with Seal to turn contracts from static documents to strategic assets. We are pleased to play a role in this world-renowned organization’s digital transformation.”