Artificial intelligence (AI) has established itself as one of the most powerful transformation engines in the field of corporate compliance, which encompasses the procedures and good practices for the regulatory compliance of companies. In a business environment marked by regulatory complexity, the globalization of supply chains and growing social pressure due to transparency, AI is allowing organizations to automate controls, anticipate risks and dynamically adapt their compliance policies. This advance not only optimizes internal processes, but also reinforces confidence and collaboration with suppliers, opening a new scenario in risk management and business governance. In the opinion of Lucia Sánchez-Acaña, director of global risks and sustainability of Qualitas Energy and vice president of the Spanish Association Compliance (ASCOM) it is essential to “monitor compliance with the suppliers, since one of the main Risks if a correct prior analysis is not carried out and a monitoring of the business relationship. In this sense, Javier Puyol, lawyer and magistrate in leave, highlights that “the integral risk assessment is a central pillar in the contemporary management of compliance, and its scope cannot be limited to the organization's intern. In a globalized context, the supply chain represents a critical area of exposure to risk, since the ethical and legal behavior of suppliers can directly compromise the integrity, reputation and legal responsibility of the company Contractor ”. The AI has transformed the compliance making it more proactive and close. The reality is that technology is only the medium; The end is a more ethical, sustainable and competitive company. For Gonzalo Ruiz de Villa, global technology director of GFT Consulting “Artificial intelligence is opening new opportunities in the relationship with business suppliers. By facilitating control automation, early detection of risks and dynamic adaptation of policies, processes are optimized, transparency is reinforced and strengthens relations in the bridge supply chain between corporate responsibility between corporate responsibility and daily operation”. The new relationship between companies and their suppliers cannot move away from the rigorous standards of community law in terms of data protection, probably the most demanding, complete and supervised of the world. In this sense, Sánchez-Raña does not consider that monitoring can mean a conflict, «since they are generally contractually regulated relations that incorporate specific clauses in data protection.» Puyol considers it «a strategic and reputation need, and can be carried out by fully respecting the principles of data protection through proportional, contractual, technological and ethical measures.» The new compliance has revolutionized the supplier-client relationship by demanding constant supervision, an ethical commitment and a continuous adaptation to normative changes. For Óscar Jacobo Bacelo, Senior Lawyer of IP & Data Privacy in the Global Ontier firm, “the use of tools that facilitate the automation of controls or their real -time monitoring, as allows the implementation of solutions with artificial intelligence, is in principle lawful, as long as access to personal data by the contracting organization finds amparo in the contract for the provision of services and does not exceed its scope”. Teresa Mínguez, Compliance Officer and deputy of the Governing Board of the College of the Advocacy of Madrid (ICAM) emphasizes that “European legislation on data protection allows and encourages the monitoring of compliance with suppliers, provided that the principles of proportionality, privacy and traceability are respected” so, we are not only before a technological challenge, but also human and organizational. The compliance of the 21st century is necessarily, experts, a space for dialogue between innovation and ethics, between efficiency and responsibility. And in that dialogue, artificial intelligence has much to contribute, but also much to learn from the experience, judgment and values of the people leading organizations. «Algorithmic transparency, and the need to explain how and why an AI system makes certain decisions, especially in sensitive sectors such as banking, health or human resources, equity and non -discrimination or the need to avoid unjust biases and results derived from the training of AI models with historical data that reproduce situations of evident inequality» are unavoidable, according to Javier Puyol. Thus, Teresa Mínguez reflects, “in these new governance models, an amplifying transition of the legal and compliance function is reflected, from the traditional legal defensive shield towards a facilitating and protective function of the reputational value, corporate resilience and the improvement of the competitive position of the company in global markets. It is no longer only about preventing sanctions, but also of building an internal culture of compliance, confidence and responsibility tool and resilience processes. ” This reality, says Sánchez-Acuña, is a transformation in the client-professional relationship making it closer «since it is not only established for operational and financial purposes.» In short, as Ruiz de Villa points out, «by implementing these tools with transparency to suppliers, the relationship with them is strengthened while an ethical and efficient surveillance of the supply chain is achieved.»
Lawyers and engineers
The incorporation of artificial intelligence into compliance is a conceptual turnaround of it. The lawyer Javier Puyol warns that «now the creation of multidisciplinary committees that integrate legal experts, engineers, philosophers, data scientists and responsible for corporate ethics is required, in which the focus of the compliance is expanded towards the management of technological, reputational, ethical and social risks.» Regulatory compliance is no longer only a legal technique, but a “bridge between corporate responsibility and the daily operation that has turned the supplier-client relationship into an interdependent compliance ecosystem where trust is based on shared data, commitments and values and where reputational coherence is necessary,” describes Teresa Mínguez (ICAM).
