Ep 008: Shruti Ajitsaria, Head of Fuse, Allen & Overy’s Legal Tech Incubator

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In September 2017, venerable Magic Circle law firm</span> <a href= "http://www.allenovery.com"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Allen & Overy</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">launched</span> <a href= "http://www.allenovery.com/advanceddelivery/fuse/Pages/default.aspx"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Fuse</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">, setting aside a portion of its London office for a collaborative innovation space to develop and test new legal technologies, and it named lawyer</span> <a href= "http://www.allenovery.com/people/en-gb/Pages/Shruti-Ajitsaria.aspx"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Shruti Ajitsaria</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">to head the project. On this episode of LawNext, Ajitsaria joins host Bob Ambrogi to discuss why Allen & Overy started Fuse, explain what it does, and describe its work to date.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ajitsaria says Fuse is not an incubator, per se, but a collaborative technology innovation space that gives legal technology companies the opportunity to work directly with Allen & Overy’s lawyers and clients. It’s a win-win, she says. Companies get the chance to test and refine their products, while the firm’s lawyers get to better understand how technology can help them in their own practices.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ajitsaria was a credit-derivatives lawyer dabbling in angel investing when a pitch from a legal technology startup sparked her interest in legal technology. While on maternity leave, she attended Google Campus’ Startup School, and when she returned to work, suggested and then spearheaded the development of Fuse.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fuse differs from other incubators in that it accepts companies that are beyond early stage. Participants in the current cohort include AI platforms</span> <a href= "https://www.kirasystems.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kira Systems</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and</span> <a