AI, Trust, and Digital Justice: Pavani Sibal on Building the Next Generation of ODR Platforms
Pavani Sibal is a dual-qualified corporate attorney in England & Wales and India with over two decades of experience across infrastructure, energy, renewables, environmental technologies, and education sectors.
She is currently Head of India at AOI International Limited and also serves as a Civil/Commercial Mediator and International Negotiator with DDRS, alongside advisory roles at Presolv360. With a strong global career spanning the US, UK, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, she has previously held senior General Counsel roles, leading complex cross-border transactions, governance, and dispute resolution initiatives.
We managed to ask her following questions:
With businesses increasingly operating in digital ecosystems, how do you see ODR evolving as a core technology layer rather than just a legal alternative to litigation?
As digital commerce, platform economies, and cross-border transactions scale, ODR must evolve beyond being viewed as merely an “alternative” to courts. I see ODR becoming a foundational governance layer embedded directly into digital ecosystems much like payments, identity verification, or compliance tools. Instead of disputes being external disruptions, resolution mechanisms will be designed into platforms by default, enabling real-time conflict management.
This aligns with traditional dispute resolution values whose cornerstones are speed, neutrality, party autonomy while leveraging technology to reduce friction. Smart contracts, platform rules, and escalation protocols can trigger ODR seamlessly. In this sense, ODR becomes preventive infrastructure, not just remedial law. For businesses, it transforms dispute resolution from a cost center into a trust-building, operational resilience tool.
As a Digital Dispute Resolution Specialist, what technologies AI case triage, virtual hearing rooms, automated negotiation tools will define the next generation of ODR platforms?
The next generation of ODR platforms will be defined by intelligent orchestration rather than isolated tools. AI driven case triage will classify disputes by complexity, value, and emotional intensity, routing them to negotiation, mediation, or arbitration pathways automatically. Virtual hearing rooms will mature into secure, evidence aware environments with real-time transcription, multilingual support, and procedural nudges rooted in due process.
Automated negotiation tools especially blind bidding and outcome range modeling will resolve high volume commercial disputes efficiently. Importantly, these technologies must reflect ADR principles: consent, confidentiality, and fairness. The goal is not to replace human neutrals, but to augment their effectiveness, allowing experts to focus on judgment and creativity while technology handles structure, scale, and speed.
Cybersecurity and data privacy are major concerns for digital platforms. What safeguards or tech standards are essential to make ODR secure enough for high-stakes corporate disputes?
For ODR to be trusted in high-stakes corporate disputes, security must be treated as procedural justice, not just IT hygiene. End to end encryption, zero trust architectures, and role based access controls are non-negotiable. Platforms must comply with global standards such as ISO 27001, SOC 2, and India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act. Equally important are audit trails, tamper evident evidence repositories, and clear data residency protocols especially for cross border disputes.
From an ADR standpoint, confidentiality obligations must be technologically enforced, not merely contractually promised. Independent security audits and transparent breach response frameworks are essential. Trust in ODR will ultimately depend on whether parties believe their data and strategic positions are safer online than in traditional physical forums.
Do you believe AI can help predict or prevent disputes before they escalate particularly in complex sectors like infrastructure, energy, or renewables?
Yes, AI has immense potential not just to resolve disputes, but to anticipate and prevent them, particularly in complex sectors like infrastructure and energy. By analysing contracts, project timelines, communication patterns, and historical dispute data, AI can flag early warning signals scope creep, payment delays, regulatory friction before positions harden.
This aligns closely with traditional dispute avoidance mechanisms such as dispute boards and early neutral evaluation, but at digital scale. In renewables and PPP projects, where delays are costly and multi stakeholder, predictive analytics can prompt timely renegotiation or facilitated dialogue. The key is responsible deployment: AI should inform human judgment, not replace it. Used correctly, it shifts dispute resolution upstream from crisis management to relationship preservation.
Looking ahead, do you envision ODR becoming part of India’s larger digital governance architecture, similar to what Aadhaar or e-courts achieved for identity and justice access?
I strongly believe ODR is poised to become a core pillar of India’s digital governance ecosystem, much like Aadhaar for identity or e Courts for access to justice. India’s scale demands resolution mechanisms that are fast, affordable, and digitally native. ODR fits naturally with initiatives such as Digital India, ONDC, MSME facilitation, and regulatory sandboxes.
With appropriate statutory recognition, interoperability standards, and public private collaboration, ODR platforms can handle commercial, consumer, and even sector-specific disputes efficiently. Crucially, this is not about replacing courts, but decongesting them while preserving legal legitimacy. India has the opportunity to lead globally by embedding dispute resolution into its digital public infrastructure turning justice delivery into a service that is accessible, predictable, and future-ready.
You are on the Board of Presolv 360, India’s largest ODR. How do you see that relationship as CEO of ADRODR India?
As CEO of ADRODR India, I view my role on the Board of Presolv 360 not as a conflict, but as a bridge between scale and standards in India’s evolving ODR ecosystem. Presolv 360 represents platform maturity, market depth, and operational learnings at scale. ADRODR, on the other hand, is positioned as a thought leader in governance design, complex disputes, and policy-aligned innovation.
The relationship is one of constructive complementarity, governed by clear ethical walls and disclosure, as is standard in traditional arbitration practice. Historically, ADR has thrived when institutions cross pollinate ideas while maintaining independence. This dual vantage allows me to contribute to ecosystem wide credibility, interoperability, and best practices ensuring ODR in India grows responsibly, not fragmentedly.
