William Gaus of Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders. Courtesy photo William Gaus of Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders. Courtesy photo

Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders

Will Gaus, chief innovation officer with the firm, answered the questions.

Necessity is the mother of invention. What need was your firm inspired to address with your innovation?

The need our firm was inspired to address with our innovation was the demand for increased efficiency and improved business outcomes in the legal industry. Our firm developed Athena, a custom platform designed to help attorneys and business professionals use generative AI to draft, summarize, edit, and analyze language securely. This innovation was driven by the potential of generative AI to automate a significant portion of legal tasks, as estimated by a Goldman Sachs report. Athena has been used to improve internal processes, such as drafting attorney bios, preparing pitch/RFP materials, and creating first drafts of press releases and social media posts.