It’s fair to say artificial intelligence has blown up in the years following ChatGPT’s public preview launch in November 2022, but we’re quickly moving from experimentation to implementation, with AI agents promising to automate AI’s assistance even more.
However, with this increased non-human assistance has come plenty of controversy, not least AI-generated content copyrighting and staffing concerns.
Speaking with Zendesk’s Chief Legal Officer, Shana Simmons, at the company’s recent Relate 2025 conference, I learned not just how the customer experience company continues to be ethical in its use of AI, but how all companies can do the same.
Regulation is changing in favor of innovation
Key to Zendesk’s strategy are four key principles: privacy and security by design, maintained customer control, accuracy, and feedback. To me, transparency was the key driver for all of these elements, and that’s what I aim to explore in this article.
Although current AI regulation promises to foster, not impede, innovation, it’s clear to me that a lack of guidance has left many organizations without any certain direction.
However, this is all changing. Simmons noted that developments in regions like the US and EU have allowed mindsets to shift away from being overly restrictive in favour of innovation, citing the withdrawal of the EU’s AI Liability Directive, which had initially been introduced to allow citizens to sue for AI-related harms.
In an interview with Simmons away from the main stage, I queried how lawmakers can be more effective with innovation in mind.
She told me that Zendesk actively works with legal institutions and industry groups to offer guidance from the ground on a technical level. While smaller startups may not be in a position to do this, my hope is that this type of involvement and collaboration from companies, customers and lawmakers will shape a better, safer and more innovative future.
AI is an assistant, not a threat
Another critical issue I discussed with Simmons was the potential impact of AI on employment – her response didn’t shock me and instead aligned with an emerging viewpoint I’m hearing from leaders all the time.
Contrary to common and supposedly misguided concerns, Simmons views generative AI as an invaluable tool for enhancing productivity and accuracy, not a threat to the human workforce. As such, we can expect to see the reshaping of roles in the future rather than the total elimination of careers.
“It is up to you to figure out how to use it to make the best version of yourself. For me, I use it sometimes as a companion, someone to intellectually spar with for ideas. Sometimes, I use it as a junior attorney. Sometimes, I use it just to check my work as a copy editor,” Simmons said.
This concept reminded me of a comment I’d previously shared from AI expert Tak Lo – he said that the tech would lead to a “net job creation [and] new job creation” of jobs, not the demise of human workers.
How SMBs can play a role in shaping the AI industry
Although Zendesk is no longer publicly traded, we do know that it was acquired in 2022 for the mighty sum of $10.2 billion, which highlights the scale of the company and how it’s able to offer compliance across the board, including GDPR in Europe, LGPD in Brazil and other state regulations in the US.
Inspired by Simmons’ enthusiasm and to wrap up my discussion, I asked the Chief Legal Officer what advice she would give to smaller companies with fewer resources who still want to stay ahead of the curve and shape the future of AI.
“You don’t have to be a Chief Legal Officer to understand the regulations but also to understand your customer,” she advised.
That core principle of transparency cropped up once more, too: “Customer empathy, customer obsession, customer trust is at the forefront. And if you are always doing the right, the ethical, and thinking about that customer first, you, I think, will do the right thing at the end of the day.”
Apart from focusing on customers, Simmons said that smaller businesses should familiarize themselves with regulatory environments. The idea of never stopping learning extends beyond learning about AI to keeping up-to-date with the regulatory environment.
In summary, while there are steps all businesses can take to contribute to the ever-changing legal landscape surrounding AI, our discussion made it clear to me that the human-centric approach prevails, and everything else will follow naturally.
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