In the summer of 2015, John T. Chambers, former CEO of Cisco Inc., (largely credited for the technology company’s growth from a mid-size company with revenues of $70m to a technology behemoth with a run-rate of approximately $40 billion) stated that with the advent of cloud technologies, machine learning and other digital technologies, only 40% of businesses would serve their clients in a meaningful way within the next decade. From his perspective, businesses without a sound digital strategy would pay the ultimate price, obsolescence. As he bowed out from his tenure as CEO, he left the next generation of business leaders with a daunting prophecy; disrupt or get disrupted!  

The coronavirus pandemic has caused global economic shock as the human race has been forced to batter down the hatches in a bid to survive this generation’s first true existential threat. The latter shock has culled a significant percentage of businesses which have been forced to close shop due to a range of factors. Key among these factors is the failure to leverage digital technologies in their business processes.   

Indeed, the legal services industry in Kenya has not been spared. We were forced to adopt remote working capabilities to ply our trade. In analyzing the reaction of the legal industry to this new reality, the words of Vladimir Lenin come to mind, “For weeks, nothing can happen, and then in weeks, decades can happen”.  As one of our authors in this newsletter aptly puts it, lawyers have had to trade in their leather-bound briefcases for webcams.  

The turbocharged digitization era experienced in Kenya is the inspiration behind this newsletter.  The writers explore topics documenting key developments in various sectors as well as emerging legislation impacting digitization and business processes. Each piece has been handpicked to show varied aspects of the new reality which we occupy. In essence, this newsletter is a body of work designed to intrigue and give confidence to any Kenyan who has been grappling with the relationship between law and innovation. The future is now. 

We hope that you enjoy reading this newsletter, half as much as we enjoyed preparing it.  

Editor-in-Chief

Oscar Mbabu

Associate, Corporate and Commercial Law