AI Risks and Compliance with Chris Maguire

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May 20, 2025

Chris Maguire, General Manager for Corporates Risk at Thomson Reuters, dives into the transformative power of AI in the legal and compliance sectors. He explains how predictive analytics are reshaping corporate risk management amidst evolving regulations. The discussion highlights AI's role in boosting efficiency and enhancing risk forecasting. Chris also sheds light on the expanding responsibilities of compliance within General Counsel's offices, emphasizing the vital blend of technology and core values in today's business landscape.

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ANECDOTE

Chris Maguire's Career Path

Chris Maguire began his career at PwC learning about business and financial controls.
He then transitioned to Thomson Reuters, focusing on legal tech and risk strategy for 20 years.

INSIGHT

AI Transforming Legal Tasks

Generative AI automates routine legal tasks like drafting NDAs and HR policies.
This technology is helping legal teams focus on more complex and strategic work.

INSIGHT

AI Enhances Risk-Based Decisions

AI improves decision-making about business relationships by filtering out false positives.
It helps monitor compliance with sanctions and reputational risks through vast data analysis.

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Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

Justin interviews Chris Maguire about his professional journey and what led him to focus on the intersection of legal, compliance, and innovation. This leads to a discussion about AI and predictive analytics. Chris shares examples of General Counsel and compliance offices using AI to improve risk forecasting and decision-making. Chris comments on the expanding role of Compliance in the General Counsel’s office.

Listen to Chris’s take on the importance of values. He shares some of the core values of Thomson Reuters.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:17] About this episode of RIMScast. We will talk about how technology is driving innovation in compliance, risk, and the legal profession, with Chris Maguire of Thomson Reuters.

[:41] RIMS-CRMP Workshops! The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep will be presented in conjunction with AFERM and led by instructor Joseph Mayo. This is a two-day course, June 2nd and 3rd. Register by May 26th.

[1:02] The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Workshop will be presented in conjunction with NAIT on June 10th and 11th. Register by June 9th. That course will be led by former RIMS President, Nowell Seaman.

[1:20] Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and through this episode’s show notes.

[1:27] Virtual Workshops! On June 12th, Pat Saporito will host “Managing Data for ERM”, and she will return on June 26th to present the very popular new course, “Generative AI for Risk Management”.

[1:45] A link to the full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode’s show notes.

[1:56] We are already making preparations for the RIMS ERM Conference 2025 on November 17th and 18th in Seattle, Washington. RIMS is accepting educational session submissions through May 20th.

[2:14] The best submissions will address current and future challenges facing ERM practitioners as well as provide leading practices and concrete takeaways for a diverse audience of risk professionals from industries or organizations of varied sizes, disciplines, functions, and roles.

[2:30] These include officers, leaders, managers, and students. The link to the submission form is in this episode’s show notes. If you are listening on the day of this episode’s release, this is the last call for submissions, so get them in!

[2:46] Let’s get on with the show! How is your organization navigating regulatory uncertainty in 2025? Are you leveraging advancements in technology to help achieve your goals? Our guest this week is Chris Maguire, the General Manager for Corporates Risk at Thomson Reuters.

[3:06] We are going to talk about how technology is driving innovation in compliance, risk, and legal. We will talk about how AI and predictive analytics are reshaping corporate legal and compliance functions, and more. Let’s get to it!

[3:22] Interview! Chris Maguire, welcome to RIMScast!

[3:29] Chris Maguire started in a Big Four firm in the ’90s, in the auto practice. It was a great way to learn business and how they worked, focusing on understanding financial controls and risk, and how to make sure that companies were behaving correctly.

[3:59] After an MBA, Chris started working for Thomson Reuters. He has been with them for about 20 years in the legal tech space. He started on the strategy side and transitioned after several years to driving the commercial teams in the risk business.

[4:24] Now, Chris has the role of looking at product and industry strategy for corporations. Thomson Reuters is at the intersection of legal, risk, and compliance, and how they affect enterprises.

[5:07] Chris says that 20 years ago, AI was not a fast-moving industry. There have been dramatic changes in the last few years. AI adoption by Thomson Reuters customers has doubled in the last year. Generative AI has been seen in a wide range of tasks. It started with drafting NDAs.

[5:38] Salespeople are always asking for NDAs and how they can be drafted more quickly and easily. Now AI conducts legal research or helps draft a research memo or a complaint from a particular point of view. We’re seeing it in drafting HR employment policies and rote tasks.

[6:21] Chris explains the use of AI prompts tied to data sources, such as your data, data from Thomson Reuters, or other data providers. Chris is also seeing big data AI used a lot in analyzing outside spending and looking for cost savings.

[7:14] Chris tells how AI helps in decision-making, using the example of knowing the vendors you choose for your supply chain and knowing your customers. AI can weed through all the news out there to make sure you’re not dealing with a sanctioned entity.

[8:22] AI can help with reputation risk. Is there forced labor in your supply chain? That matters to your reputation. It’s not just whether a country is sanctioned, but what the individual entities in your supply chain are doing. There’s a lot of focus on reputation today.

[9:10] Justin recently had the Chief Impact Officer of EcoVadis on RIMScast Episode 329. They talked about forced labor and human trafficking in the supply chain. Use AI to help identify where forced labor and human trafficking are big risks, avoid them, and report them.

[9:35] This is important on the corporate side and the government side of the business. Chris says it will be interesting to see the effect of tariffs. Thomson Reuters has updated about 50 million changes to its global trade products so far this year, compared to 100 million in 2024.

[10:16] Plug Time! RIMS Webinars! We are back on May 22nd, with GRC, a TÜV SÜD Company, and their newest session, “Asset Valuations in 2025: Managing Tariffs, Inflation, and Rising Insurance Scrutiny”.

[10:33] On June 5th, Zywave joins us to discuss “Today’s Escalating Risk Trajectory: What’s the Cause and What’s the Solution?”.

[10:413] On June 17th, Origami Risk returns to present “Strategic Risk Financing in an Unstable Economy: Leveraging Technology for Efficiency and Cost Reduction”.

[10:54] More webinars will be announced soon and added to the RIMS.org/Webinars page. Go there to register. Registration is complimentary for RIMS members.

[11:05] Spencer Educational Foundation’s Grants program is starting soon. Spencer’s goal to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals is achieved, in part, by its collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the U.S. and Canada.

[11:23] Since 2010, Spencer has awarded over $3.3 million in General Grants to support over 130 student-centered experiential learning initiatives at universities and RMI non-profits. Spencer’s 2026 application process is now open through July 30th, 2025.

[11:43] General Grant awardees are typically notified at the end of October. Learn more about Spencer’s General Grants through the Programs tab of SpencerEd.org.

[11:54] Back to the Conclusion of my Interview with Chris Maguire of Thomson Reuters!

[12:27] Chris refers to RIMScast Episode 335 with Jeff from Academy Sports. Jeff talked about how the Compliance function now sits in the General Counsel’s office. At Thomson Reuters, more of the Compliance group has moved into the General Counsel’s office in the last year.

[12:48] The General Counsels are being charged with understanding the full weight of risk across an organization, from reputational risk to who you should or should not do business with.

[13:16] The Sales organization at Thomson Reuters has discussed that a lot with the GC office, from a reputation, sanctions, and everything perspective. A lot of GC offices now include the Compliance role.

[13:50] Chris’s ERM philosophy is Trust. Companies need to trust who they are doing business with. Companies need to trust that their employees have what they need to make decisions not to deal with a risky customer, but to follow the laws and rules of global companies. It’s trust.

[14:29] There is so much change going on. Chris talks about values that resonate. One Thomson Reuters value is Act Fast, Learn Fast. You have to move and learn. Companies can help you, but it is on individuals to take the responsibility to act fast and learn fast about what is changing.

[14:59] Thomson Reuters is bound by the Trust Principles. It started with Reuters in the 1940s around WWII, but it goes back to its 150 years of legal content.

[15:17] The information Thomson Reuters provides its customers has to be free from bias. It has to be right. It has to be updated. It can’t be an opinion about a philosophy. It has to be fact-based. It has to provide customers with the information they need to get work done.

[15:36] Applying AI on top of trusted, unbiased, correct, up-to-date information is going to be vital, moving forward. Act fast, learn fast, and trust.

[15:57] Chris believes the legal industry hasn’t always been the fastest-moving industry. The technology is now there to allow us to move more quickly and learn more quickly. That’s an exciting thing!

[16:23] Chris says AI is no longer a future concept. It’s here. It’s transforming our lives; it’s starting to transform our business environment. If you don’t adapt quickly, you’re going to be at a significant disadvantage.

[16:36] For people in General Counsel’s offices, people in compliance functions, the value is your expertise, your knowledge, and you as a human, and what you can bring to the situation.

[16:48] If AI can help you get there, and give you a platform on which to add your judgment and expertise, knowledge, and professional opinion, that’s a hugely valuable thing.

[17:01] Thomson Reuters doesn’t see AI taking away jobs. We see people who use AI, potentially taking away the jobs of people who don’t use AI. It all comes back to the humans and how they use it. There’s never been a time when Thomson Reuter’s expertise has been more important.

[17:34] Chris, it has been such a pleasure to have you here on RIMScast! I do appreciate that you listened to some previous episodes! Get my unique download count up there!

[I7:50] I appreciate that we’re reaching a very important segment of our audience and our RIMS membership. I think they’re going to learn a lot in this episode. Thank you!

[18:02] Special thanks to Chris Maguire for joining us here on RIMScast. Links to RIMS coverage about AI, legal, and compliance risks are in this episode’s show notes.

[18:13] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes.

[18:41] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let’s collaborate and help you reach them! Contact pd@rims.org for more information.

[19:00] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email membershipdept@RIMS.org for more information.

[19:18 ] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today’s risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[19:34] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management.

[19:48] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. You can email Justin at Content@RIMS.org.

[19:55] Thank you all for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! We appreciate all your kind words. Listen every week! Stay safe!

Links:

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“Balancing Innovation and Compliance When Implementing AI” — Risk Management magazine, April 2025

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Spencer Educational Foundation — General Grants 2026 — Application Deadline July 30, 2025

2025 Coast-To-Coast Risk Management Challenge — Applications Open Through May 23

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