As a corporate investigator, you know that there are nuances to internal investigations that fluctuate over time. 

While the basic mandate stays the same—investigate potential wrongdoing and noncompliance to determine what happened and what the company should do about it—many of the details can change from year to year. These may include the types of events that trigger investigations, the technology and methods that bad actors use to commit or conceal their misdeeds, the specifics of investigatory timeframes and budgets, and the availability of new technology and tools that you can use to do your job.

These changes require investigators to constantly reconsider their approach to internal investigations and adapt as necessary. 

In this post, we’ll explore eight ways that internal investigations may change in 2023 and discuss how these trends will affect investigation teams. We’ll close out by sharing our tips on how to prepare as the new year approaches. 

Contents:

Trend #1: More investigations will rely on data generated by collaboration tools 
Trend #2: The remote investigation trend will persist
Trend #3: More companies in the EU will need to implement internal reporting systems for whistleblowing
Trend #4: The number of cybersecurity and fraud incidents will continue to rise
Trend #5: The cost of investigations will continue to rise
Trend #6: Automated early case assessment (ECA) will become more common
Trend #7: Investigations will continue to move to cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) infrastructures
Trend #8: Technology will play an increasingly central role in internal investigations
Modern technology is the solution to your most pressing investigation challenges

Trend #1: More investigations will rely on data generated by collaboration tools

Collaboration tools such as Zoom Business, Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, Slack, and Trello are expected to become even more widely used in 2023.

The percentage of workers who use collaboration tools has increased from just over 50% in 2019 to nearly 80% in 2021—and this growth is unlikely to slow down. This trend is due, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing increase in remote work. The trend is expected to continue in 2023 as more organizations adopt long-term remote and hybrid workplace models that rely on collaboration tools to keep dispersed teams connected and communicating.

This increased use of collaboration tools has given rise to a tremendous volume of new data that may be useful or even dispositive in internal investigations. Data created by collaboration tools can be just as relevant to internal investigations as emails and electronic documents. Therefore, the increase in this type of data will necessarily affect internal investigations in 2023 and require investigators to adapt accordingly. 

As remote and hybrid workplaces evolve, the number of remote investigations will also continue to rise, which brings us to our next trend.

Trend #2: The remote investigation trend will persist

As with remote and hybrid workplaces generally, the number of investigations that occur remotely will also continue to rise.

Tools that enable technology-assisted review (TAR)—which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze data—allow investigation teams to conduct part or all of their investigations remotely. By making this technology a part of your investigative practice, you can conveniently work from any secure location and investigate claims within your organization more discreetly.

While the rise of remote work and investigations is a global trend, our next trend for 2023 is region-specific.

Trend #3: More companies in the EU will need to implement internal reporting systems for whistleblowing

When it comes to internal investigations in the EU, an update to the EU’s Whistleblower Directive is sure to shake things up in 2023. 

The directive requires companies and government organizations to implement internal reporting mechanisms for whistleblowers. The EU Expert Group has interpreted the directive to require such organizations to institute a local internal reporting channel and let whistleblowers choose between reporting at a local or group level. 

The directive originally applied to organizations with 250 employees or more. But as of December 17, 2023, the mandate will also apply to organizations with 50 employees or more. The expansion of this directive will affect the internal investigation landscape by changing the way organizations receive reports. It may also generate more reports, expand the scope of existing investigations, and trigger new investigations.

While the EU Whistleblower Directive is specific to EU-based organizations, cybersecurity threats and fraud are unfortunately universal. 

Trend #4: The number of cybersecurity and fraud incidents will continue to rise

Because there is more electronic data now than ever before, cyberattacks and fraud are becoming increasingly prevalent triggers for internal investigations. 

Experts predict that we will see a “continued sharp rise” in cyberattacks in 2023. These attacks include everything from malware to hacking. Likewise, corporate fraud and scams have steadily increased in recent years and show no signs of slowing down.

This trend could result in a greater need for internal investigations, accompanied by the need for faster results and recommendations. 

By leveraging technology to investigate cyberattacks and fraud, you can avoid cumbersome manual data evaluation processes, rapidly eliminate irrelevant data, and focus on the most useful data. This will save your organization time and money and allow it to resolve security risks and fraud incidents more quickly.

Increasing efficiency and cutting down on costs will be especially important in 2023, in light of our next trend.

Trend #5: The cost of investigations will continue to rise

The cost of investigations rises every single year. Some of these cost increases are attributable to the rising volume and complexity of corporate data. For organizations that hire outside counsel and investigators to help with tasks such as document review, investigation expenses can be even higher.

Internal investigation teams can decrease their dependence on outside counsel by becoming more well-versed in technical areas and investing in eDiscovery technology to assist with their investigations.

One way to quickly estimate the cost of an investigation, balance the cost against potential risks, and develop an overall investigative strategy is to gain a comprehensive picture of your data and the situation early on, as our next trend indicates. 

Trend #6: Automated early case assessment (ECA) will become more common

Early Case Assessment is an essential part of the investigative process. 

Generally speaking, ECA is the process of rapidly zeroing in on and evaluating the most relevant information at the outset of a legal matter. But investigators can and should perform ECA at the outset of an investigation as well. 

ECA allows investigators to: 

•    determine potential legal liability,
•    calculate risk,
•    project the costs associated with an investigation,
•    weigh the viability of different investigative techniques, and 
•    develop an overall strategy for the investigation.

More and more investigators are using in-place search solutions like Live Early Data Assessment (Live EDA) to perform automated ECA early in the investigation process. By doing so, investigators can work more strategically and efficiently and reduce the costs of investigations.

Another way that corporations will continue to streamline their processes and cut costs is by migrating applications and workflows to more modern infrastructures, as we’ll discuss next.

Trend #7: Investigations will continue to move to cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) infrastructures

Companies are increasingly migrating applications and workflows from on-premise to cloud and SaaS infrastructures, in part due to the increasingly remote workplaces many of us find ourselves in. 

The cloud is an attractive centralized alternative to outdated on-premise servers and systems with smaller capacities and less reliable firewalls. Cloud migration can also be more cost-efficient while increasing overall security, scalability, and flexibility. 

Similarly, SaaS platforms—such as Microsoft Office 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud—allow companies to use software from their computers without downloading it, removing the need for resource-intensive installation and management. 

As companies continue to make these changes, their in-house investigation teams must adapt their investigative strategies to suit cloud- and SaaS-based data sources. This requires investigators to perform remote investigations, as discussed above, and leverage tools to locate and process data that they cannot physically access.

That brings us to our final trend for 2023.

Trend #8: Technology will play an increasingly central role in internal investigations

Technology is already a key consideration in internal investigations, but it will assume an even more important role in 2023. Adopting new technology will be more necessary than ever to conduct internal investigations and keep up with the growth of complex data such as audio files, graphs, databases, and foreign languages.

In-place search solutions and end-to-end eDiscovery tools are essential to streamlining internal investigation workflows. 

ZyLAB ONE, for example, is an eDiscovery platform that automates the legal hold process and assists investigators in searching, reviewing, and analyzing data in place. The platform can handle large volumes of data and different types of data with ease and efficiency, allowing you to work faster and stay on budget.

Modern technology is the solution to your most pressing investigation challenges

2023 will no doubt bring new challenges to the realm of internal investigations. 

But with modern legal technology, you can rise to those challenges, conducting efficient and effective investigations that suit your organization’s time and budgetary constraints, help insulate it from liability, and prevent future financial losses.

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