Overview
Generative artificial intelligence can help organizations work faster, make better use of data, and improve business operations. At the same time, AI is not the right fit for every organization, industry, or business objective, and deploying AI without clear policies, contract protections, compliance oversight, and thoughtful evaluation of its suitability can expose your organization to legal, privacy, cybersecurity, employment, intellectual property, and reputational risks. Foster Swift helps businesses and institutions adopt AI responsibly by developing practical governance frameworks, reviewing AI-related contracts, and advising on the legal risks associated with generative AI and other emerging technologies.
Our goal is simple: to help clients evaluate, adopt, and use AI responsibly while managing legal risk. AI compliance is more than a technology issue. As adoption accelerates, organizations must navigate:
- Evolving federal and state laws;
- Contractual obligations;
- Privacy and data governance concerns;
- Intellectual property issues;
- Cybersecurity requirements;
- Employment law and industry-specific regulations; and
- Environmental, reputational, and ethical considerations associated with AI deployment.
Without effective governance and compliance frameworks, organizations may face regulatory scrutiny, litigation, reputational harm, contract disputes, cybersecurity incidents, and uncertainty regarding ownership and use of AI-generated works.
Foster Swift's technology law attorneys help businesses, educational institutions, nonprofits, healthcare providers, manufacturers, financial institutions, technology companies and many other industries evaluate whether AI technologies are appropriate for particular business objectives and develop practical strategies for the responsible deployment and use of AI.
How Our Team Can Help Yours
- Draft enterprise-wide AI governance policies;
- Review AI vendor, licensing, and technology procurement agreements;
- Advise employers on workplace use of generative AI tools;
- Develop AI acceptable-use, cybersecurity, data governance, and employee-use policies;
- Counsel organizations on privacy, confidentiality, and intellectual property issues involving AI-generated content;
- Advise on copyright, ownership, attribution, originality, and content creation issues involving AI-assisted works;
- Assess whether AI solutions are appropriate for particular business objectives and evaluate the legal and regulatory risks associated with AI deployment; and
- Assist with compliance planning for emerging state, federal, and international AI regulations.
AI Policy Development and Review
Many organizations implement AI tools before establishing policies governing their use. Effective policies help organizations evaluate and govern AI use while protecting confidential information, trade secrets, customer data, and other critical assets.
We assist clients with developing and reviewing:
- AI acceptable-use and employee-use policies;
- Generative AI workplace guidelines and data governance policies;
- Confidential information protection protocols;
- Social media and marketing guidelines for AI-generated content;
- Data retention, storage, and destruction policies; and
- Cybersecurity and information security policies addressing AI-enabled tools and workflows.
Contracts for AI and Technology Solutions
AI solutions often enter organizations through software providers, vendors, consultants, and cloud-based platforms. Contract terms can significantly impact risk allocation, data security obligations, intellectual property rights, and regulatory compliance.
We assist clients with:
- AI software licensing agreements;
- SaaS agreements incorporating AI functionality;
- AI vendor and service agreements;
- Confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements;
- Intellectual property licensing agreements;
- Review of intellectual property ownership, training-data, content-usage, and out-put right provisions; and
- Vendor risk assessments and contract reviews.
Our goal is to ensure clients understand what they are purchasing, how their data may be used, how AI-generated outputs may be owned or licensed, and the protections governing security, liability, and ownership of AI-generated content.
Privacy and Cybersecurity Considerations
Because AI systems often rely on large volumes of data, organizations must ensure AI initiatives comply with privacy obligations, cybersecurity requirements, and contractual commitments governing data use.
We advise clients on:
- Privacy compliance requirements;
- Data collection, use, and governance practices;
- Protection of confidential and proprietary information;
- AI-related cybersecurity risk assessments;
- Vendor security obligations;
- Data retention and destruction practices; and
- Evaluation of data storage, access controls, and third-party AI platform risks.
If your organization is exploring the use of AI tools, evaluating AI vendors, assessing AI’ s role in business workflows, creating AI-assisted content, or reviewing an AI vendor agreement, Foster Swift can help you identify legal risks, develop practical policies, and build a governance framework that supports responsible innovation and implementation.
