Hence Technologies has announced the launch of Hence Global, a new AI-driven platform aimed at assisting companies and their legal teams in navigating the complexities of global geopolitical risks.
Debuting last week, Hence Global seeks to provide businesses with customized risk analyses and insights tailored to specific business roles and needs. The platform addresses the interplay of politics, technology, and law, which often results in unstable political environments and market shifts.
“We process millions of news articles daily through our data pipeline,” explained Julio Maniratunga, head of engineering at Hence. “We employ custom entity recognition models to extract relevant actors, events, and regulatory changes, mapping this information to individual business contexts.” The platform can offer tailored analyses on issues like trade tariffs differently to the general counsel of an energy company than to its head of government affairs.
Apart from timely alerts and analysis, Hence Global can produce actionable documents, such as board memos for stakeholder communication. This functionality appeals to law firms that use the system to create client alerts tailored to their areas of expertise.
Prominent early users of Hence Global include law firms like Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and Three Crowns LLP, along with organizations such as the International Council on Mining and Metals and Capitol Peak Strategies.
Co-founder Sean West highlighted the necessity of managing political and legal risks in today’s volatile market: “In light of escalating international tensions, understanding these dynamics is crucial for business resilience.” West is also the author of UNRULY: Fighting Back When Politics, AI and Law Upend the Rules of Business.
The platform aims to democratize access to high-level global risk analysis, making it accessible not just to large enterprises but to smaller companies as well. According to co-founder Steve Heitkamp, “Hence Global levels the playing field, empowering companies globally to operate more confidently anywhere.”
Founded in 2020, Hence Technologies is based in London, with a significant engineering team in Kigali, Rwanda, and team members across the U.S., U.K., and the Netherlands. Prior to Hence, West served as global deputy CEO of Eurasia Group, where he advised numerous CEOs and general counsels on geopolitical and legal risks.
For those interested in learning more, West will be featured in an upcoming episode of the LawNext podcast.
For further details, visit the original announcement on LawNext here.