The AI in Business Podcast From Tool Sprawl to Defensible Value in AI for Legal - with Christo Siebrits of AbbVie
Oct 13, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Christo Siebrits, Senior Associate and General Counsel at AbbVie, dives into the complexities of integrating AI in the pharmaceutical sector. With over 20 years of legal expertise, he highlights the importance of balancing internal and external data use while adopting generative AI. Christo shares strategies for effective matter-centric workflows and the necessity of human involvement to minimize risks associated with AI outputs. He also discusses the challenges of measuring AI's ROI and offers insights on knowing when to pivot in AI investments.
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Data Comfort Shapes AI Strategy
- Organizations face a core choice: how comfortable are they sharing data with external AI tools versus building internal solutions.
- That choice shapes governance, development cost, and pace of adoption across the company.
Classify Data Before Build Or Buy
- Classify your data: keep the most sensitive internally and consider trusted third parties for the rest.
- Invest in internal development where AI yields the highest value and use external tools for lower-risk data.
Build For R&D, Hybrid For Enterprise
- High-value areas like R&D often justify building secure, internal AI environments.
- Hybrid models can let vendors operate inside your secure environment, reducing external data exposure.