In a significant senior appointment, AI-backed contract analysis provider ThoughtRiver has hired Sky head counsel Martin Davidson as is chief legal officer (CLO) we can reveal.
Davidson (pictured), who most recently held the role of head counsel for sales, marketing and OTT at Sky, will lead the team responsible for expanding the knowledge base of ThoughtRiver’s automated contract assessment application, working closely with key multi-national corporates and legal services provider clients.
He joined Sky as a legal adviser in 2005 and has operated in senior adviser roles at Sky since 2010, including directly reviewing Sky’s use of legal technology. Before joining Sky, Martin was a lawyer at international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills.
Tim Pullan, CEO ThoughtRiver said: “Martin’s appointment strengthens our already strong AI engineering and legal based team. As well as being a first-rate corporate lawyer, Martin has worked extensively with data and technology-driven innovation at Sky and really understands the needs and challenges of our core customer segment – senior corporate counsel. We’re thrilled to have him on board.”
The hire is the latest bit of good news for ThoughtRiver, which in October revealed that its software has been adopted by Eversheds Sutherland’s managed legal services arm ES Ignite.
As we revealed in the April Orange Rag, in May 2017 the company received $1m in investment from a group of investors that included former Vodafone UK CEO Guy Laurence and Michael Findlay, chairman of Morgan Sindall and former co-head of investment banking for Bank of America Merrill Lynch.