Ahead of his presentation at the 2019 Legal Innovation & Tech Fest, we briefly caught up with Juta and Company CEO Kamal Patel to chat about how Juta continues to remain relevant to its customers after 165 years in business, his predictions on the future of legal research and the predicted impact that Artificial Intelligence will have on the practice of law.
Hi Kamal, we are looking forward to having Juta and Company as a Premier Partner at the 2019 Legal Innovation & Tech Fest. Can you tell us what it takes for a company with such a long-standing history in legal publishing to remain relevant in an ever-changing digital world?
As an independent local player in the legal and academic publishing industry, and one that has weathered successive waves of technological change, it is a unique feat to have endured as we have since 1853. This milestone comes as Juta is poised to enter a new phase of technology-enabled growth. Juta continues to reinvent itself and does so by evolving to meet the shifting legal information needs of a range of users, and by diversifying our core skills and competencies.
It’s one thing to be a respected and fondly regarded player in the SA legal information landscape, but it is imperative that Juta’s business remains innovative and responsive to emerging trends. We are constantly presented with opportunities that redefine the value we can offer to the users who rely on our content, which is a hallmark of our rapidly changing legal information landscape.
Technology such as AI has begun to radically shape the future of the legal profession and legal research, how does a company such as Juta view this and have you looked at how these needs can be addressed?
Trying to predict the future of legal technology is all at once overwhelming and impossible yet also incredibly exciting because it is constantly shifting. Cognitive computing and AI are fundamentally changing the way we work and engage with information, this translates into our being both consumers and co-creators of content. We have also seen that the needs of an increasing diversity of non-legal professionals and corporate users requiring access to legal content to perform their functions have increased exponentially. The legal field has begun re-inventing itself and Juta has stepped forward to answer the call for re-invention by changing how we approach information. We are augmenting our core competence of creating and providing unrivalled trusted content with the power of technologically driven insights that put the power into both the hands and minds of our clients.
We are really excited about your presentation where you will be joined by internationally renowned Legal Futurist and Author, Chrissie Lightfoot. Without giving too much away, could you tell us what you guys will be discussing and why it will be beneficial for delegates to attend?
During our blended thought-leadership and Juta showcase session, we will share our knowledge, experience and insights on AI, the theory and the practice of cognitive insights and what it will mean for professionals and businesses. We will look at how we can prepare ourselves for the challenges and opportunities ahead. We will also look at the increasingly sophisticated information needs of the legal profession and business and how delivering results that radically redefine the user experience in unique and innovative ways is key to future-proofing businesses.
Predictions about the impact of AI, cognitive computing and machine learning technologies on the future business and practice of law inform many of our current conversations. The extent to which these technologies will ultimately be adopted in legal environments will depend on a combination of trusted content, value-enhancing technology and superlative user experience. This blended thought-leadership and Juta showcase session will chart a journey of evolution involving Juta as a trusted content provider, the importance of technology partnering and the need to engage with customer insights and requirements in pursuit of a radically redefined digital future. Join us as we explore new frontiers in legal research, moving beyond legal information solutions into a world of legal insights.
Our whistle-stop session will help towards future-proofing the delegates and looking into how businesses will need to bring humans and machines together effectively in order to compete and survive in the very near future.
About the speaker
Kamal Patel is the CEO of Juta and Company. He is an experienced leader with a career spanning several leadership roles in management consulting, strategy, operations and business development. His previous positions have included Head of Corporates and Partnerships at Thomson Reuters Africa, Associate Director at KPMG and Management Consultant at Accenture. He has worked within the information technology and communications (ITC), professional services and financial services sectors. His experience in the technology sector is being used to great effect in delivering on Juta’s future digital and content strategies and managing overall business development initiatives.