08 April 2025
As the financial services sector leans further into artificial intelligence (AI), making sure we have the right governance in place is absolutely critical. This isn’t just about ticking compliance boxes—it’s about ensuring the systems we rely on are secure, trustworthy, and built to protect the data we work with every day. At Likezero, we’re taking a practical and thoughtful approach to how we roll out AI, especially given how central sensitive banking and counterparty data are to what we do.
AI holds huge potential for automation, speed, and insight—but without the proper controls, it can also expose firms to operational, reputational, and compliance risks. That’s why governance isn’t an afterthought; it’s a cornerstone. It’s also why we’re engaging our legal clients and partners early and often, to help them see AI not as a threat, but as an opportunity to elevate the work they do.
We work with some of the world’s biggest financial institutions, so security has to be baked into everything we do. Here’s how we’re handling that:
Risk assessments
We carry out detailed risk assessments on any new AI features introduced by our partners—such as Google Gemini—to ensure they meet our standards.
Segregation of data
We don’t let untested models anywhere near live data. Development, testing, and production environments are kept strictly apart.
Stringent access controls
Only the right people can access the right things—and data is encrypted, both in transit and at rest.
Monitoring and logs
We continuously track system activity to ensure full transparency and traceability, allowing us to maintain high levels of control and assurance.
These aren’t just IT best practices, they’re part of building a secure AI ecosystem that our clients can trust. That includes our legal clients, who rely on us to help manage the complexity of high-volume, clause-rich contracts across multiple counterparties and timelines.
As we bring Large Language Models (LLMs) into our workflows, we’re laser-focused on keeping client data safe, especially in cloud environments:
Following the lead of the industry’s largest firms, we understand that the cloud unlocks scale and speed—but only when it’s paired with a clear risk framework. That’s why we’re transparent about where data lives, how it’s processed, and how clients can remain in control.
Our approach to AI governance is grounded in transparency, security, and practicality. Here’s how that looks day to day:
This aligns with the 3Rs approach promoted by the Big 5: Regulation, Reputation, and Realisation. AI has to be ethical, compliant, and deliver real, measurable value. We also see it as a tool for unlocking time, so legal and financial professionals can focus less on tedious clause comparisons and more on strategic analysis and risk optimisation.
We know the regulatory landscape is shifting quickly, especially around AI. Likezero stays ahead by:
We’re also aligned with industry thought leaders in calling for principles-based frameworks that allow innovation while ensuring accountability. Governance is about designing systems that are not just compliant today, but future-ready.
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is an EU regulation designed to strengthen the financial sector’s ability to withstand and recover from ICT-related disruptions. It sets uniform requirements for risk management, incident reporting, testing, and oversight of third-party technology providers, ensuring firms can maintain operational continuity even in the face of cyber threats or system failures.
DORA has big implications for how firms manage technology and third-party risk. For us, that means:
DORA adds weight behind what many firms are already doing—putting in place robust, repeatable processes for tech governance and operational continuity. And as AI becomes part of the digital fabric of legal and banking workflows, these measures are only going to matter more.
AI can be powerful, but it can also become a target. We take a proactive approach:
Much like the leading audit firms recommend, our view is that cyber resilience and AI governance go hand in hand. Without one, you can’t have the other. We’ve embedded secure-by-design principles in how we build, train, and deploy our AI capabilities.
There’s no shortcut to responsible AI. It takes the right tools, the right mindset, and the right guardrails. At Likezero, we’re committed to using AI in a way that supports our clients, meets regulatory standards, and most importantly, keeps data secure. It’s not about hype; it’s about trust, control, and getting it right.
Whether it’s a financial institution managing counterparty exposure or a legal team buried in annexes and amendments, our job is to make things clearer, faster, and safer.
