Regulatory Compliance Tech and Artificial Intelligence: How Does It Work?

Many of today's most innovative companies are still managing their regulatory compliance programs manually.

This is probably one of the most prominent challenges in the legal and regulatory space today – it is lagging considerably with regard to tech advancements. While you can perform complex international transactions in minutes with just a few clicks on your mobile phone, a lot of corporate regulatory compliance programs are still managed via spreadsheets, shared files, and disparate data systems.

And if ten years ago, it was still possible to manage your regulatory compliance with spreadsheets, today’s pace and scope of regulatory change have made that close to impossible. The sheer volume of new bills, laws, and regulations to keep track of – often, across multiple jurisdictions – is overwhelming and taxing on budgets and resources even for a large team. Then, it becomes a matter of priorities, letting lower-risk items slip through the cracks in hopes that auditors don’t look in those corners.

With regulatory scrutiny at an all-time high, the need for automation is glaring, and there are solutions on the market that leverage different levels of artificial intelligence (AI) to help simplify regulatory complexities to one degree or another. But how does it work, exactly?

‍In this article, we’ll answer 3 key questions:

• How does AI work within regulatory compliance?
• Is AI going to replace humans in running regulatory compliance?
• What are the key benefits of an AI-powered platform for compliance professionals?

#1 How does AI work within regulatory compliance?

To tackle regulatory compliance documents, AI needs to use at least two of its subsectors:

• Natural Language Processing (NLP)
• Machine Learning (ML)

Simply put, using ML and NLP means taking a deep look at the legal framework – how a lawyer would read the law – and training the machine on that. The depth and breadth of machine learning depend on the solution provider and can help regulatory compliance with needed functions, like text extraction, deriving the meaning of a text, recognizing patterns, etc.

For example, in the instance of Regology’s AI-powered platform, if there is a multi-page update from regulatory bodies, the AI automatically synthesizes its contents so that users are able to easily understand what has changed compared to the original copy, what the new risks and control requirements are, as well as the enforcement actions associated with the regulation. This way, users can proactively address the downstream effects of a regulatory update much faster.

#2 Is AI going to replace humans in running regulatory compliance?

The short answer is no. Artificial intelligence is, essentially, a tool but in no way a replacement for human expertise. The human eye still remains the most reliable for regulatory compliance documents, as they require extreme attention due to their complex text structure.

So, what AI technology does is provide a solution that creates a shorter time to result, mitigating the heavy burden of sifting through endless tables and lists, manual data entry into different documents, and constant updating of files. It liberates significant time and resources for your compliance experts to focus on other high-priority tasks and projects necessary to achieve business growth and company objectives.

#3 What are the key benefits of an AI-powered platform for compliance professionals?

There is a lot on the line for risk and compliance officers, as it takes a lot of work to manage regulatory compliance holistically, often leaving teams overtaxed and lagging behind. This can jeopardize timely policy updates, especially if there is an auditor coming in, leading to hefty fines and bad press for the company.

Having a management platform that leverages AI offers the ability to automate time-consuming and labor-intensive tasks, giving regulatory teams the opportunity to be proactive instead of reactive in their compliance management. The level of automation that users get largely depends on providers and their solution scope.

With Regology’s AI-powered platform, users derive distinct benefits by being able to:

1. Better mitigate risks due to automation of laborious tasks.
2. Save a significant amount of time and the cost of third-party consultants.
3. Increase the accuracy of their compliance programs, protecting corporate reputation.
4. Help the organization achieve business goals through higher agility.

The platform comprises both the regulatory change management and compliance solutions, offering:

• A pre-curated law library that is specific to the global or local jurisdictions where you operate;
• Comprehensive tracking of the regulations that apply to the organization directly and its industry;
• Smart, configured alerts that notify what regulatory change is happening, filtering out whatever is not relevant;
• An at-a-glance view of what definitions, requirements, enforcement actions and other important items apply;
• Ability to easily and quickly map risks, controls, and policies, as well as whoever is assigned to them.

If you have any additional questions about Regology’s AI-driven platform, and how it can help your regulatory compliance needs, contact us by filling out this online form.