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Artificial intelligence in the family business: how to innovate without losing control
Francisco Santillán Almeida, founding partner of Santillán Abogados, examines the challenges of incorporating AI into business management and intergenerational relations.
Artificial intelligence can improve a family business’s performance, but it can also deepen power conflicts. Who controls the data, frames the queries and selects the results can influence decisions affecting both the business and the family.
In his article Artificial intelligence in the family business under responsible governance, Francisco Santillán Almeida, founding partner of Santillán Abogados, argues that adopting these tools requires a review of how responsibilities are allocated and decisions supervised.
The author identifies applications in exploring financial scenarios, detecting anomalies, reviewing contracts and organising knowledge for generational succession. He cautions, however, that a successor’s digital fluency alone does not establish their ability to lead the implementation of technology.
One risk he identifies is presenting an algorithmic response as a neutral criterion to favour one family branch, exclude a successor or justify a related-party transaction. For Santillán, oversight must make it possible to examine the data used and challenge the results: a human sign-off at the end of an opaque process is not enough.
The analysis distinguishes the roles of the family council from those of the corporate bodies. The former can promote agreements on family information, digital training and technology-related disagreements. The board, or the competent body, must take responsibility for the company’s AI policy and oversight of its risks, while management is responsible for implementing it with legal and technical support.
The proposed measures include taking an inventory of the tools in use, assigning responsibility, starting with pilot projects and strengthening the review of decisions with legal or financial consequences. The article also recommends examining suppliers’ terms, particularly those concerning confidentiality, data processing and exit options.
The article’s central point is that technology can contribute to business continuity when it supports an informed decision that is subject to review. Its adoption requires preserving critical thinking, leadership and the accountability of those who govern the business and the family.
