It will implement its first case management system and invest in more automation, technology assisted review (TAR) and artificial intelligence (AI), according to its 2026–27 business plan, published last week.
SFO interim director Graham McNulty said the ‘increasing sophistication’ of AI was making it easier to dupe victims, while cryptoassets gave criminals the means to hide their gains at ‘the click of a button’.
However, those same technologies created ‘significant opportunities for the SFO. Automation, AI and big data all provide ways to radically change our approach to intelligence analysis. Proactively tracking suspects and suspicious activity has never been so easy’.
WilmerHale partner Lloyd Firth welcomed the focus on innovation, but noted the business plan revealed the SFO ‘does not have a case management system in place and is only now making tentative use of TAR’.
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