Ari Kaplan lately spoke with Brian Powers, the co-founder and CEO of Markups.ai, an organization that created an AI agent referred to as Agent Marko to draft, revise and analyze contracts from purchasers’ inboxes with no new platform required, and Debbie Epstein Henry, the founding father of DEH Consulting, Talking, Writing and the chief strategic adviser to Markups.ai.
They mentioned some great benefits of utilizing an AI agent in contract assessment, the place startups can distinguish themselves in a crowded market, the misconceptions about AI that leaders want to handle earlier than they will obtain broad adoption, and the talents authorized professionals ought to improve to gas their success.
Ari Kaplan: Inform us about your background and the genesis of Markups.ai.
Brian Powers: I began my profession in funding banking at Moelis in New York, and like all good analyst, I had my fair proportion of NDAs. Then I based an organization referred to as TemperPack, which makes sustainable supplies to interchange plastics like Styrofoam, and we grew it to over 100 million in gross sales. We offered fairly a little bit of it to personal fairness companies led by Goldman Sachs a couple of years in the past. Alongside the way in which, we had been regularly challenged on our contracts. We had many giant purchasers throughout completely different sectors, and we had a number of good options for storing contracts however nothing to help with the precise negotiations. My co-founder at Markups.ai, Sam Shelley, started his AI profession at Dataminr over a decade in the past, then began Vault Well being, which turned one of many largest COVID testing telemedicine companies. In 2023, we teamed up with the concept of utilizing the most recent AI know-how that had lately emerged to assist automate contract negotiations, aiming to take action with out onboarding a brand new platform and making the method extra custom-made and user-friendly.
Ari Kaplan: Inform us about your background and your function as chief strategic adviser for Markups.ai.
Debbie Epstein Henry: I name myself a recovering lawyer turned skilled speaker, communication coach and entrepreneur. What’s extra related to my background for right this moment’s dialog is that I co-founded an organization referred to as Bliss Legal professionals, which was a secondment agency. I ran that firm with two different associate co-founders for practically 9 years, after which we had been acquired by our largest competitor, Axiom, in February 2020. So I used to be really out of authorized innovation for some time earlier than becoming a member of Markups.ai as chief strategic adviser. For the corporate, I primarily converse to potential purchasers day by day as they consider completely different AI instruments, which each and every firm and agency is doing proper now. I additionally advise Markups.ai on traits within the authorized career as a result of our two co-founders aren’t attorneys and wish to remain knowledgeable about what’s occurring within the area. We talk about present traits and what purchasers anticipate from their outdoors service suppliers.
Brian Powers is the co-founder and CEO of Markups.ai, an organization that created an AI agent referred to as Agent Marko to draft, revise and analyze contracts from purchasers’ inboxes with no new platform required. Debbie Epstein Henry is the founding father of DEH Consulting, Talking, Writing and the chief strategic adviser to Markups.ai.
Ari Kaplan: Why did you design Markups.ai to work with an agent, fairly than the extra frequent method to utilizing AI to handle contracts?
Brian Powers: A few of it was what we believed was lacking out there, however there have been additionally three main causes that motivated us to create and use a product like this. First, we needed one thing that was a lot simpler to onboard. I nonetheless get shudders once I hear the phrase “platform”—meaning my subsequent 12 months’s plans are disrupted, and it will likely be a protracted wait earlier than we see any advantages. Second, I needed one thing extra intuitive to make use of, particularly with AI, that’s simple to function but in addition actually highly effective. Our purpose from the beginning was to create one thing so easy that even my two lawyer dad and mom might use it. Third, we aimed for one thing much more customizable than most software program platforms. Most platforms are designed to suit many alternative companies doing related issues, however there was a chance to develop one thing that might deal with extremely tailor-made work. For the primary time, AI-powered software program might obtain this, with an agent doing the work. We develop a brand new model of our agent for every consumer, guaranteeing all the things they do is uniquely custom-made.
Ari Kaplan: What’s most vital for authorized tech startup founders to contemplate within the present market?
Debbie Epstein Henry: The first consideration ought to be workflow. The principle impediment to AI adoption is when an AI software doesn’t simply match into an organization’s present workflow. That’s why our engineers at Markups.ai developed an e-mail agent as a result of e-mail is essentially the most pure and simple integration level. This isn’t simply based mostly on our expertise; it’s backed by two latest research, one by McKinsey and the opposite by MIT. Finally, it’s all about simplifying workflow and seamlessly integrating with present firm programs.
Ari Kaplan: What are some great benefits of utilizing an AI agent in contract assessment particularly?
Brian Powers: The 2 holy grails are one which saves time and likewise makes you higher at your job. AI, straight out of the field, is efficient at easy duties, however most work individuals do, particularly attorneys and authorized professionals, could be very advanced and customised. AI typically struggles with these more difficult duties, and since that makes up most of what authorized groups do, AI hasn’t but turn out to be as helpful because it could possibly be. We discover that if you correctly practice AI and create a extra energetic agent, it could help with extra advanced duties. This enables AI to assist extra elements of your job, not simply primary duties like search and summaries. Our Agent Marko is depicted as a duck, gliding effortlessly on the floor, however paddling like loopy beneath. That’s precisely how working with Agent Marko feels. It’s so simple as sending an e-mail or high-level request for a contract assessment, however behind the scenes, hundreds of prompts run on a whole lot of customized directions written by our attorneys for every consumer, utilizing essentially the most highly effective reasoning fashions obtainable. That paddling beneath the floor makes all the things appear simple above.
Ari Kaplan: The place can startups most simply distinguish themselves?
Debbie Epstein Henry: Begin by understanding what your viewers desires. We discover that until you’re designing a service and a software that actually speaks to your viewers, you’ll be at an obstacle. For instance, in our case, we examine what purchasers need within the in-house authorized division house. We all know they need flat charges. We all know they need limitless customers and utilization as a result of if we develop an awesome product that everybody on their crew desires to make use of, the very last thing we wish is to hinder their use of that software or have colleagues compete with one another. So step one is knowing your viewers’s wants. The second is to supply a service, fairly than simply be a software program supplier. You heard Brian speak concerning the significance of customization. As AI instruments enhance, they be taught their purchasers’ preferences and necessities. Offering that customization is important. The third step is being good about defining who ought to do what sorts of labor; the place you need individuals concerned; the place their worth lies; and the place AI provides worth, leveraging the strengths of each. In our case, we’ve got former practising attorneys on our crew, whom we name lawyer-prompt engineers. They impart with our purchasers, practice our brokers to construct customized AI playbooks, and deal with updates by incorporating consumer suggestions and testing paperwork to make sure AI playbooks are correct and present. We depend on the strengths of the crew to be actually efficient.
Ari Kaplan: What are the misconceptions about AI that leaders want to handle earlier than they will obtain broad adoption?
Brian Powers: There are two conflicting misunderstandings, each of which result in disappointment. One is the idea that AI can do all the things straight out of the field, which frequently leads to frustration. The primary time you utilize it, it feels completely magical to ask a query and obtain an clever response. All the things else that might do this was a human. So that you assume it could do all the things a wise human can do, however you begin encountering actual limitations if you ask it to do one thing extra custom-made or advanced. The opposite misunderstanding is that AI can solely deal with quite simple duties, it doesn’t matter what you do with it, resulting in missed alternatives to leverage AI’s full potential. We see that the truth is a mix of those two concepts. AI chatbots utilizing the fashions instantly are actually helpful for questions, analysis, summaries and related duties, however for extra advanced jobs, you might want to specify all the things you care about and provides detailed directions. That’s precisely what we do at Markups.ai. We offer Agent Marko with a whole lot of absolutely custom-made directions for every consumer’s routine negotiations, enabling it to deal with advanced agreements faithfully. Nonetheless, it requires fairly a little bit of effort, and that’s the place we goal to assist our purchasers.
Ari Kaplan: What abilities ought to authorized professionals improve to gas their success?
Debbie Epstein Henry: That is such an vital query as a result of there’s a variety of concern round AI, with many believing everybody’s jobs might be changed. Specializing in that is actually essential. At the start, it’s important to have the substantive experience anticipated of any authorized skilled in that function. That’s a elementary requirement. However past that, what actually issues is growing further abilities that set aside those that thrive within the office from those that wrestle. These further abilities, for my part, embrace successfully speaking with confidence, exercising judgment, constructing relationships, exuding govt presence, establishing belief, cultivating sponsorship, having the ability to self-advocate with out offending, and giving and receiving suggestions successfully. Many see these as smooth abilities, however I imagine they’re very important to being an efficient authorized skilled. Particularly with the rising use of AI, these abilities will turn out to be extra vital than ever.
Ari Kaplan: How do you see AI empowering authorized professionals because it continues to develop?
Brian Powers: When AI is executed successfully, it lets you replicate your greatest work and supplies a a lot larger degree of leverage. Everybody needs that they had a very smart assistant able to dealing with duties precisely as they like, and AI has that potential. It doesn’t obtain this robotically, however with correct steering, it could positively attain that degree. AI allows authorized professionals to deal with extra strategic work, giving them the time to determine how issues ought to be finished, fairly than simply following routine duties every single day, and it could deal with duties that may have beforehand been finished externally or internally. This manner, firms can save a big amount of cash whereas sustaining the identical crew measurement. We see our purchasers doing this, and it’s actually impactful. When AI works nicely, you possibly can take pleasure in productiveness good points with out the massive upfront headache of implementation. That was once a serious sacrifice, however now AI instruments are making it simpler to begin utilizing new applied sciences, which is actually thrilling.
Take heed to the entire interview at Reinventing Professionals.
Ari Kaplan often interviews leaders within the authorized business and within the broader skilled providers neighborhood to share perspective, spotlight transformative change and introduce new know-how at his blog and on Apple Podcasts.
