Key Takeaway: Early adoption of technology for legal investigations delivers faster, more accurate, and cost-effective results. With investigation volumes and electronically stored data rising sharply, teams using eDiscovery tools and automation uncover insights sooner, reduce manual workload, and establish defensible processes.

The shift from manual, document-heavy processes to automated workflows is a strategic advantage. Hesitation to adopt new technologies leads to slower outcomes, higher costs, and missed opportunities.

According to the 11th annual Be.aliant Whistleblowing Channels Study, Brazil experienced a 180% increase in reports per 1000 employees between 2017 and 2025.

Early adopters are moving faster, uncovering insights sooner, and reducing the burden on internal teams. There is more online data, and the volume of evidence has increased exponentially in this period, with more pressure for conclusive investigations. The tools are ready, and the value is real. The only thing that’s missing is confidence across job roles in corporate investigations teams to apply them, as well as the ability to coordinate decision makers within legal departments.

How Technology Enables Investigations

Legal and compliance teams face pressure to conduct investigations quickly while ensuring that no evidence is left uncovered. Whether it’s internal compliance, regulatory response, or litigation prep, the job to be done is clear: find facts quickly, reduce risk, and empower critical investigative outcomes.

Technology enables teams to ingest and analyze data in real time, reducing manual effort and accelerating investigations. eDiscovery technology supports investigation teams in spotting patterns, anomalies, and event relationships that manual review might miss. By surfacing relevant connections and inconsistencies, these tools improve the accuracy of findings and reduce the risk of oversight. The result is a more complete and defensible investigation.

Technology further simplifies the review of these findings by organizing data, tagging key information, and generating reports automatically. Investigation teams spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time on strategic analysis, improving productivity, and reducing burnout.

Every step of an investigation enhanced by technology is tracked and documented. HR and compliance teams can demonstrate how decisions were made, building trust with internal stakeholders, clients, and regulators. 

These aren’t theoretical benefits. They’re measurable outcomes that directly impact cost, speed, and confidence. 

Why Adoption Is Still Lagging

Despite the clear value of modern investigation approaches, unsubstantiated or inconclusive outcomes increased from 23% in 2014 to 40.2% in 2025, representing a 73% rise, according to Be-Aliant research.

This increase reflects persistent gaps in investigative capacity, including limited access to fit for purpose technology. Many legal teams continue to rely on manual workflows that demand significant time and sustained human attention to piece together facts and relationships. 

As data volumes grow and matters become more complex, these approaches strain resources and increase the risk of incomplete findings. Investigations involve sensitive information, high stakes, and interdependent evidence, which makes accuracy essential. Technology can accelerate evidence analysis, but human oversight remains critical to ensure results are defensible, and tools are applied effectively within existing systems. Technology is well used in compliance, including due diligence, background checks, training, and whistleblower channels. Hesitancy comes at a cost in an increasingly digital compliance industry. Manual investigations are much slower, more expensive, and harder to scale. They leave room for human error and inconsistent results, not to mention hours spent on human review.

Investigations technology positions compliance and investigations professionals to work hand in hand with automation to ensure a secure and efficient investigations process. The goal isn’t to automate decisions; it’s to give your organization the enhanced tools to make those decisions faster and with more confidence.

Building Trust Through Use

Trust in investigations technology, and subsequent use of AI, doesn’t happen overnight. It’s built through experience, validation, and results. That’s why a phased approach works best.

Start small. Use technology in parallel with existing workflows. Compare results. Look for consistency. Then, expand to low-risk, high-impact tasks like internal reporting or summarizing email threads. Over time, confidence grows. HR and compliance teams begin to rely on the tools not just for speed, but for insight. The teams that thrive will be those who know how to harness the power of AI.

The Opportunity for Legal, Compliance, and Investigations Teams

There is no doubt that technology in investigations in Brazil is still maturing. This poses a challenge, but it is also an opportunity. Teams that adopt now shape these tools as they evolve. They define best practices, set expectations, and lead the market.

Automating these processes provides a competitive advantage. Internal stakeholders expect cost control and efficiency. Regulators expect defensible processes. Technology helps to meet all three.

The question isn’t whether to adopt. It’s when. And the answer is now.

The original version of this article can be found on LEC’s website here. 

Learn More about Epiq Internal Investigations.



Bruno Massard, Managing Director, Legal Solutions, Epiq
With over 20 years of experience in multinational companies in the areas of Governance, Risk, and Compliance, Bruno leads the Epiq business across Latin America. He has specific experience in Corporate Governance, Strategic and Operational Risk Management, Internal Audit, SOx, Investigations, Compliance, Fraud, and Corruption Prevention. Bruno has participated in the largest corporate investigations carried out in Brazil.