Auchan's Legal AI Assistant

Auchan Retail, a large company with nearly 57,000 employees and around 400 stores, faced a challenge with the repetitive nature of legal questions handled by its teams. These questions were vital for ensuring the legal safety of store operations, but they consumed significant time daily.

Origins of the AI Tool

The project, named Alex, began during an internal hackathon organized by Auchan's information systems department. The legal team defined the needs, resources, benefits, and risks of using AI, and the initiative won the competition, officially launching the project.

Development and Testing

Over six months, the team created governance structures and consolidated legal knowledge from various sources like the intranet, guides, internal notes, and emails. A key decision was to build an AI assistant based on the company's own knowledge base rather than using a general-purpose AI tool.

Functionality of the AI Assistant

Alex provides quick answers to basic legal questions in areas like commercial law, real estate, taxation, and intellectual property. It also offers access to standard documents like confidentiality agreements. If it can't answer or if deeper expertise is needed, it refers users to legal professionals, creating a summary for context and efficiency.

Role of Legal Professionals

Alex is designed to support, not replace, legal professionals. It does not handle complex contract analysis, risk assessments, or social law issues. It also lacks access to confidential documents, focusing solely on repetitive tasks to free up legal staff for strategic work.

Legal Oversight and Benefits

Bénédicte du Jeu, a company representative, stressed the importance of legal teams being directly involved in the design and oversight of AI tools. She emphasized that legal professionals should control the development of such systems to ensure proper governance.

Impact on the Organization

The implementation of Alex has improved legal security, standardized answers, and provided 24/7 access to legal information. It has also enhanced the legal department’s image within the company, positioning it as a leader in AI innovation and operational efficiency.

Pragmatic Approach to AI in Law

Bénédicte du Jeu highlighted a practical approach to using AI in legal work, focusing on automating repetitive tasks while preserving human expertise. The project's success relied on high-quality data, strict governance, extensive testing, and active participation from business teams.