Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Utilities and energy companies are increasingly utilizing AI to optimize physical infrastructure, enhance market and commercial outcomes, and improve internal productivity. For example, power grids are experiencing significant technological advancements, with customer services being revolutionized with the help of new LLM tools. As AI continues to integrate into various sectors, the associated electricity load from data centers supporting this growth has emerged as a significant end user of electrical power.

At CRA, we leverage AI to assist our utility clients in accommodating increasing renewable energy penetration and demand growth, while maintaining their commitment to providing highly reliable power. We help clients understand and communicate the risks associated with different investments to ensure compliance.

CRA’s energy experts utilize AI models to forecast future energy needs, predict electric vehicle adoption, and simulate extreme events. Additionally, we have developed AI-driven models to assess the profitability of clean hydrogen projects (CRA H2Risk) and evaluate the reliability and market exposure of a utility’s potential electricity-generating portfolios (CRA ERISK).

As AI and machine learning technology continues to adapt, various industries have started to implement the technology, including financial institutions like banks, FinTechs, and Credit Unions. This technology offers the potential to improve outcomes for customers and institutions alike, through lower default rates, higher loan acceptance rates, increased fraud protection, improved marketing, and lower costs. However, the use of more complex models and the speed at which they can be developed and deployed, pose potential safety and soundness, fairness, legal, and regulatory risks.

CRA’s Financial Regulatory Compliance expert consultants help financial institutions assess their models to identify and reduce risks. The teams regularly preform equity and fairness, or disparate impact assessment, model validations, and reviews of model governance. Through this review, CRA’s experts can not only identify challenges, but can work with clients to recognize the opportunities to improve their models, documentation, policies, and procedures.

CRA experts employ their technical expertise in AI and forensic methodologies to enhance the efficiency, accuracy, and depth of forensic investigations, leveraging advanced technologies to uncover comprehensive insights from complex digital environments while adhering to legal and ethical standards. Our professionals execute advanced analytics through the deployment of AI and machine learning techniques to gain insights and identify trends in data that cannot be achieved through traditional analytics.  Our consultants also leverage AI to enhance investigations by summarizing activity or large sets of data and identifying meaningful parts of lengthy materials to reduce the manual time needed to uncover facts. Using this specialized knowledge of AI tools and techniques, our experts can identify relevant documents from large sets of unstructured data in eDiscovery, convert audio or visual content to text, identify anomalous network activity in log files that could be the result of a cyber threat actor, or automate categorization of data in the context of digital forensic analysis. We provide expert testimony based on thorough reports that explore the conclusions derived from these methodologies to stakeholders, law enforcement, legal teams, or corporate investigators.

CRA’s Investigations & Compliance experts assess the potential risks and challenges posed by AI systems, identifying potential vulnerabilities, and conducting adversarial testing, facilitating that AI systems are implemented, maintained, and audited in a matter to comply with ethical, legal, and industry standards. Consultants assist in developing robust governance frameworks and policies for using AI technologies, establishing protocols for monitoring and auditing their systems, assessing data quality and versioning controls, evaluating compliance with data protection regulations, providing training on recognizing AI bias, and implementing strategies to mitigate the associated risks.

CRA’s Intellectual Property (IP) professionals are at the forefront of valuation issues regarding generative AI. Our multi-disciplinary team helps companies to maximize value and manage the risks associated with AI-oriented IP. Our industry-leading experts address financial and economic damages in high-stakes disputes involving generative AI and related IP rights, including copyrights, patents, and trade secrets.

Clients benefit from our unique combination of experience both inside and outside the courtroom.  We prepare rigorous, persuasive analyses designed to withstand the highest levels of scrutiny. Our team’s unmatched, first-hand IP licensing experience combined with insights gained from analyzing thousands of IP transactions informs practical solutions for complex transactions and business decisions involving generative AI and IP.

CRA’s IP professionals routinely tackle the most difficult issues related to valuation, finance, strategic licensing advice, and economic damages in a broad range of industries.  Whether in disputes, business decisions, transactions, or compliance matters, we bring considerable experience across all types of IP, legal forums, and transactional contexts to guide clients through the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

AI tools can impact all phases of human resource management, from sourcing candidates and evaluating resumes to performance reviews for informing compensation and internal mobility decisions. AI can be a powerful and invaluable asset to overloaded HR departments in this era of constantly changing labor markets.

However, as AI tools are new and constantly developing, there are federal and state regulatory concerns for inequalities in employment decisions caused by AI tools. Realizing AI benefits, while complying with regulations and avoiding adverse impact claims, requires the same level of due diligence afforded to any significant change to the firm’s HR function.

CRA’s Labor and Employment professionals possess extensive experience evaluating adverse impact claims and responding to regulatory and litigation concerns for clients in numerous industries and jurisdictions, giving them extensive expertise to advise firms in adopting and evaluating AI tools.

We understand the complex and evolving challenges facing life science manufacturers today. Artificial Intelligence has emerged as a transformative force in helping to create efficient, data-driven, cutting-edge solutions. Our Life Sciences AI consultants are familiar with using and implementing AI tools to assist in developing targeted and impactful commercialization strategies, identifying accelerated clinical development plans, applying historical and analogue data to enhance negotiation strategies, and mitigating risk from potential policy and litigation threats.

Beyond tools, our Life Science focused consultants offer the expertise to determine when and how these tools can be applied to solve client challenges in a way that best leverages available data and validated frameworks to ensure reliable and actionable output. We focus on identifying relevant AI applications, developing seamless integration plans, and extracting valuable insights to inform strategic decision-making.