Thomson Reuters is a venerable news and information organization, with historical roots dating back to the 2008th century. The two companies merged in XNUMX and provide a mix of news and specialist information in areas such as law, business and accounting.
The organization processes a ton of information each year and employs a staff of 27.000 subject matter experts and journalists from around the world to generate a wide variety of content. Given that generative AI has emerged in recent months, it would surely be tempting to use it in the newsroom, as other news organizations They have, and they see this capability as an opportunity to reduce staff, cut costs, and automate, automate, automate.
While the company sees the benefits of AI for both its employees and customers, it does not is in the field of worker replacement, at least not yet. Instead, it sees AI as a way to help customers find insights faster and help your employees operate more efficiently, removing the mundane parts of the job so people can do what they do best.
It would be easy to think that an organization as old as Thomson Reuters would simply dismiss technology like generative AI, but the company says it's all in when it comes to the latest technology as it looks for ways to improve and modernize its operations.
The people's part
Chief People Officer Mary Alice Vuicic says Thomson Reuters sees automation as only part of the story, and if you focus on that, you may miss some of the biggest benefits of AI.
“We believe AI is a phenomenal opportunity for the professionals we serve through our products, and equally internally for our colleagues,” Vuicic said. “We believe it is a tool to increase the potential of our colleagues in new ways, helping them work better, faster and more effectively.”
That said, it also recognizes that long language models (LLMs) don't always provide perfect answers, and Thomson Reuters relies on in-house expertise to help correct the models.
For example, Thomson Reuters is using in-house legal experts to test and refine responses coming from LLMs. “We have a significant population of lawyer editors who leverage their expertise to write content to inform the legal perspectives and decision-making that fuel our products. This has been instrumental in training AI in our legal technology, and we are using them as zero-client users who validate and correct the responses generated.”
While the company is working to expose AI to the workforce, it had a learning day in April dedicated to AI, which attracted 6.000 employees to the in-person event, with thousands more later watching the video. “The focus was on doubling down on learning about how this will impact us and how it can be leveraged for customers, as well as how it can be leveraged internally. And then, more broadly, just understanding the technology,” Vuicic added. “We have launched AI Guiding Principles and Talent Principles, so people understand the responsible use of AI and the responsibility we have in the role we play in the market, as well as as employers.”
He said there's also a big communications component, just letting people know how the company plans to use AI, and as part of that strategy there's an internal portal dedicated to the topic where people can go and learn what's happening around to AI.
Making the investment
Thomson Reuters has invested heavily in AI, committing $100 million a year to the technology. It recently announced the $650 million acquisition of Casetext, an AI-powered legal technology startup. “The acquisition of Casetext is another step in our ‘build, partner and buy’ strategy to bring generative AI solutions to our customers,” Thomson Reuters CEO Steve Hasker said in a statement.
Thomson Reuters also partnered with Microsoft Office Copilot, where lawyers using Thomson Reuters legal products can ask questions to access legal content using a natural language query without leaving Office to get the information and answer.
“That's on the legal side, but we actually see opportunities in much of our product portfolio for the same thing. What is essential is that our colleagues understand AI and are learning quickly,” Vuicic added.
The company believes that providing a safe way for employees to learn will give it a competitive advantage and allow people to understand the purpose of this technology to improve their jobs. “A key focus for us is for people to see the opportunity, not to back away out of fear, but to see the opportunity to be at the front of this.”
With AI changing so rapidly, the company is keeping an open mind as to which LLM it uses, despite the partnership with Microsoft (which itself has a partnership with OpenAI). They are also not thinking about building their own LLM at the moment.
Ultimately, Vuicic sees AI as a way to improve the interaction of human workers and customers to use Thomson Reuters content more effectively or to make workers more productive and efficient.
It is a real opportunity to take intellectual capital that was being used to complete mundane tasks and channel it into innovation, R&D and business growth. “If companies effectively manage adoption and accelerate AI adoption through a human-centric approach, they will reap the real benefits of this and have a competitive advantage.”
