Virtually every day we’re seeing news about incredible advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), with a wide range of new applications emerging across different industries.

Yet, so far, we’re not seeing a huge amount of use of AI among Ethics and Compliance professionals.

That’s despite the fact that peers in other departments are already using AI for a variety of tasks – from detecting cybersecurity anomalies, to HR teams hiring talent and automating employee relations.

Does that mean E&C professionals are more skeptical? And what do they really think about AI?

AI receives the thumbs up

I had the unique opportunity to learn directly from Chief Compliance Officers at the Consero Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer forum on 26 March when Vault hosted an expert panel discussion on ‘How AI Can Help Compliance Officers’. As the moderator, I had the chance to ask our panelists – Compliance Leaders from TikTok, Aura, Kayak, and Match Group – and an audience of 100 E&C professionals from the biggest global brands what they think about the advances in AI.

More excitement than the average business leader

There were a handful of skeptics, naturally. Yet, the overwhelming reaction we saw from the room was excitement. About 90% expressed enthusiasm for AI coming into the day-to-day of the compliance function. That’s compared to just 62% of business leaders who responded to a similar recent poll.

It makes sense from a practical perspective. Compliance is a lean team, regardless of company size. More often than not, these are small teams, wearing many hats, and like everyone in this moment, they are expected to do more with less. So they’re searching for solutions and AI could be the answer.

Humans or AI – who’s the final decision maker?

As the discussion unfolded, one of the big questions that proved to be on everyone’s mind – panelists and audience alike was: what are the boundaries of how we use AI in decision making?

We talked a lot about Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, how you vet the information you put in, and analyze the information you get out. How confident can you feel about the outputs? Which decisions will you let the machine make for you?

We heard from one large business that has developed their own internal LLM. They’ve been using it as a data source to present all of their internal information to employees, solving the problem of putting data into third party channels.

The panel discussed how you can use LLMs for decision making around investigations outcomes, with some of the key questions being:

• In terms of disciplinary actions, can you use AI to summarize an investigation and then use that data in order to make a decision?
• At which point do you need human intervention?
• Could you use AI to generate a decision without human input?
• Would you want to use AI to make that final decision for you?

And the consensus on the answer? In short, no! The experts agreed they would not want to use AI to make the decision for them. They want humans to continue doing that.

AI in disciplinary proceedings

That led us on to talk about the blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights that was published by The White House. Within it there’s a piece that essentially talks about how employees would have a right to appeal any decision that AI makes about them.

Applying this to a workplace context, if there was a disciplinary action decided by AI and an employee appeals, there’s no way for the company to prove how that decision was made. It would simply be the chatbot that had recommended it, which is not good enough to counteract an appeal from an employment law perspective.

The unclear implications around the appeals process was one of the reasons why the panel agreed they would not want to use AI to make those decisions.

AI translations popular among delegates

There were a lot of questions about the benefits of AI in compliance team’s day to day work. A number of speakers said they were capitalizing on AI translations for working with colleagues in other countries to remove language barriers in real time, both within conferencing tools and within speak up channels.

It was good to hear how powerful this has become, particularly given our AI-powered Dynamic Translations service we already offer and that our panelist at Aura is leveraging.

Advice for peers

Rounding up the panelists’ advice to peers was primarily: ‘Give AI a try’. If you’re curious, go to ChatGPT, play with it and you’ll begin to discover the potential value. It might be useful, for example, to draft a policy or write a message to employees.

Want to learn more AI and Vault’s applications?

New, innovative AI tools are developing to assist in Ethics and Compliance programs. And at Vault, we’re leading the way.Interested in learning more about AI and how Vault’s AI applications can help your organisation? Drop me a line. I’m here on LinkedIn and you can reach me by requesting more info about Vault!

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GenAI has been a hot topic throughout 2023, so it seemed fitting to close off the year with this much-anticipated session. In creating and moderating this discussion we sought to cut through the noise surrounding GenAI, and hold our peers’ attention for an hour!

We approached this challenge by:

• Delving into the implications of using AI within business
• Exploring how AI can transform and improve Ethics and Compliance

The key takeaways from our panel were: 

1. Pick the low hanging fruit. “Don’t try to boil the ocean, just dip your toe in.” Tailor your approach to what suits your business. Some examples from our panelists included creating a safe space for compliance to practice asking their questions and getting GenerativeAI responses; building a closed model using 3+ years of data and decision trees; allowing employees to ask and get answers about gifts and entertainment from a Traditional AI bot.

2. Tooling and technology is a high priority for 2024. With most corporations starting to implement some digital Ethics & Compliance solutions, or at least beginning to think about what they could do, most event attendees said that assessing the right tech to support their goals was on their 2024 agenda.

3. Efficiency and gaining insights remain high priority. Chief Ethics and Compliance Officers are most invested in driving operational efficiency of their program as well as gaining access to meaningful data and insights to inform decisions.

4. AI + Ethics = Cost Savings. Practical applications shared included using AI to manage Conflict of Interest programs for corporate gifting; employing AI-enabled dynamic translations for significant time and cost savings during investigations, and introducing an AI-enabled hotline, cutting out middlemen and enhancing trust between reporters and the business, especially in scenarios where reporters wish to remain anonymous.

5. Integrating GenAI into existing jobs. With rising concerns about job displacement, some organizations are creating safe spaces where employees can acquire knowledge and seamlessly integrate GenAI into their responsibilities. This enables them to channel their efforts towards interventions that require their knowledge, experience, and discretion.

Consero’s Corporate Compliance & Ethics Forum provided a platform for deep exploration into this important space, and we’re looking forward to taking these conversations forward into 2024 and beyond!

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London Stock Exchange, 10 Paternoster Square, London

This in-person panel event will be held at London Stock Exchange where we’ll be joined by Allen & Overy  & Morrow Sodali to discuss trends in the E&C space.

This session will look into how technological advancements are reshaping the ethics and compliance landscape and workforce expectations, and major themes to look out for in 2024. Topics will include AI, data, privacy, insights, and automation, as well as how organisations will need to balance technology with humanity to cultivate psychological safety in their organisations and to manage the impact for the workforce.

Register your interest

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The Theranos Story

We kicked off the in-person event with Tyler’s account of Silicon Valley’s biggest scandal – the Theranos story.

Founded in 2003, Theranos was thought to be revolutionizing healthcare with a product that made blood testing faster and less painful – the Edison. Theranos’ founder and CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, raised approximately $724 million of capital from venture capitalists and private investors and at one stage, the company was valued at $9 billion. Tyler was a biology major at Stanford University who joined Theranos as a research engineer. He is also the grandson of the late George Shultz, former US Secretary of State, who was a Board member at Theranos. In 2015, Tyler was one of the former employees that exposed to the world that the Edison device wasn’t what it was claimed to be after he had expressed his concerns internally. The SEC charged Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes, and former President Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani with fraud. In January 2022, a jury convicted Holmes on four charges: one count of conspiracy to defraud investors, and three counts of wire fraud against investors.

Tyler gave the audience fascinating insight into his experience of being a whistleblower; how it felt to be in a position where speaking up internally fell on deaf ears, and what went through his head when deciding to report his concerns externally.

Lessons Learned

The panel went on to explore what good corporate compliance means in today’s workplace and how organizations can strive to get there. So what lessons can compliance professionals and Corporate Counsels learn from the Theranos case?

Value Those Who Choose To Speak Up

Whistleblowers like Tyler can often face stigma and the threat of retaliation for reporting incidents of misconduct. But Mary highlighted that whistleblowers are like canaries in the coal mine and should actually be viewed as an organization’s most loyal employees who care enough to Speak Up about difficult truths.

Not only do whistleblowers play a critical role in identifying business risks but they also safeguard the welfare of that organization and even society. In the EU, for example, anyone who reports a breach of Union law that is harmful to the public interest is considered to be a whistleblower. Many organizations therefore need to change the way they view employees who choose to Speak Up, recognizing them as a critical front-line defense. Whistleblowers should be celebrated for their bravery in speaking up and valued for their efforts to improve the organization. This may be through positive annual performance reviews and an openness to hiring former whistleblowers, for example. Here are five tips to encourage your employees to Speak Up.

Consider the Costs

The demise of Theranos and subsequent trial is a prime example of the high costs of misconduct. For organizations that want to improve their bottom line and do the right thing, it’s crucial to put the proper strategies in place to combat misconduct and protect themselves from hefty financial costs, headline-grabbing media coverage, and other major risks.

Take An Ethical Stance

Tyler and Vault Platform’s CEO Neta Meidav talked about their own experiences as founders and why ethics should be baked into every business from the get-go, regardless of external pressures. For example, many founders are encouraged by investors to paint a picture of what their company is going to be, rather than what stage it is at that moment in time. But even as organizations seek investment and think about growth strategies, it’s important that they never lose sight of their integrity and the values that likely led to the company’s creation in the first place.

Could A Misconduct Reporting Solution Have Helped?

When asked whether Vault’s all-in-one speak-up and resolution software could have helped Theranos, Neta said: “No, I don’t believe that Vault could have helped Theranos. Our technology can only deliver results when leadership takes an active role in driving integrity. The good news is that I truly believe Theranos is an edge case; the vast majority of companies are interested in safeguarding their cultures and values, taking an ethical stance, and actively protecting their employees, investors, and customers.”

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It was so good to meet customers, customers-to-be, colleagues and the wonderful ethics and compliance community at the annual SCCE conference in Phoenix this week. Also, a great opportunity for me to get together with some of our US-based Vaulties – which is nothing but a treat! Here are some of my key takeaways from this year’s conference.

Compliance 2.0 is here

Today, the world of ethics and compliance is all about integrity and ESG. Even in a down market and maybe especially in a down market, the stakes were never higher and compliance leaders now play a crucial role in safeguarding their company, culture, reputation, and resilience.

The new generation

A new generation of ethics leaders has entered the market and they’re asking: “where’s my tech?”. This is an underserved, overlooked corner of the corporate from a technological standpoint. We have a community of professionals carrying out mission-critical work on clunky, manual, antiquated, siloed systems and running on very poor data & analytics capabilities. They deserve better, and now they know it.

Vault Platform stood out at the conference with digital solutions, anticipating the community needs of tomorrow while building the product of the future.

The tailwinds are blowing strong

The DOJ crackdown on corporate misconduct and its recent announcement of policies including individual & executive accountability shift the focus on integrity and compliance in a dramatic way. As one official said during the conference, “this is the moment for the Chief Compliance Officer to shine. The government is powering you to do so”.

A personal win for me: I sat in the audience for one of the sessions, and there was a great panel on stage discussing future trends and leadership in compliance and I realized that everyone on stage is a Vault customer! ❤️

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