Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer this week unveiled a new diagnostic tool, designed to help corporate legal teams better understand their relationship with and approach to Generative AI in order to help drive adoption.
Developed by the firm’s Legal Operations Advisory team, the ‘GenAI Persona Builder’ captures both contextual data and behavioural signals that reflect how individuals engage with and feel about Generative AI.
Speaking to Legal IT Insider, Clara Garfield, head of legal operations advisory (UK and EMEA), in HSF Kramer’s digital legal delivery practice said that the new tool came about because their work with legal teams has shown that to achieve success and unlock the value of GenAI, leaders have to think about both operational readiness and their people’s engagement.
Where there is often focus on having the right tools and good data and governance, Garfield said that the second key element of how people engage with tools can be overlooked, commenting: “Without engagement, even the most advanced tools risk becoming shelf ware. But engagement strategies and training can sometimes miss the mark because you can’t engage if you don’t understand people. Once you do understand them, it’s easier to make strategic decisions based on the data.”
While the tool comes at a time that many general counsel may already be feeling overwhelm at ‘yet another tool,’ Garfield said: “Many teams have fallen into a trap of making decisions based just on technology, but to really move the needle on engagement we need something that focuses on human centricity, which boils down to things like our adaptability, creativity, and willingness to experiment.”
Garfield pointed out that it’s never too late for teams – regardless of where they are on the GenAI journey – to think about engagement. The Persona Builder provides behavioural indicators around eight different personas that will help to decide if someone is the likes of an AI champion; an enthusiast; observer; or someone who is cautious.
Personality testing is not new to the professional services world and many will be familiar with tests such as Myers Briggs. Garfield said: “Someone asked me if it’s like Myers Briggs, which measures traits in your psyche. The difference is that if you do Myers Briggs in 10 years’ time, you’re likely to get the same score. But with our persona builder, changing the environment can change behaviour.”
HSF has worked with a few clients in developing the new offering and Garfield says that there has been a great response this week to the formal launch. The data will create anonymised benchmarking data and Garfield said: “We’re excited about that because, in my experience, being able to benchmark is incredibly helpful in order to improve and grow the function.”