Japanese-owned Ajinomoto Europe picks Luminance AI to strengthen governance
Ajinomoto Europe is an affiliate of the Ajinomoto Group – a global leader in food and biotechnology – and has adopted Luminance's AI platform to streamline contract review and strengthen governance across its European and African operations.
With a small in-house legal team responsible for managing a wide range of contracts across multiple jurisdictions, Ajinomoto Europe was seeking an AI-powered solution to improve efficiency, reduce risk and ensure greater consistency in contract review and oversight.
Luminance was chosen to support these objectives by accelerating review processes while providing deeper insight into contractual risk.
“AI is essential to help our legal team work more efficiently while maintaining high standards of control and compliance,” said Gabrielle Chedal, Legal Director at Ajinomoto Europe. “Luminance’s powerful AI, intuitive platform and personal approach really impressed us.”
Luminance stood out due to its advanced Legal-Grade™ AI and deep legal specialism, complemented by a highly consultative, customer-focused approach that gave Ajinomoto Europe confidence in the long-term value of the partnership.
Luminance will enable Ajinomoto Europe to accelerate contract reviews, standardise processes and gain granular insight into business activity. As a result, the legal team will be able to focus more time on strategic priorities while ensuring consistency and risk mitigation across the business.
“Ajinomoto Europe is a great example of an organisation using AI pragmatically to support a lean legal function operating at scale,” said Eleanor Lightbody, CEO of Luminance. “Their focus on efficiency, governance and standardisation aligns perfectly with our mission to help businesses move faster while staying firmly in control.”
The Ajinomoto Group has offices in 31 countries and regions with 121 businesses operating worldwide. In fiscal year 2024, sales totalled 1.5305 trillion yen (US$9.963bn, UK £7.28bn).
Developed by AI experts from the University of Cambridge, Luminance’s Legal-Grade™ AI redefines enterprise decision-making, turning contracts from administration burden into strategic intelligence. The technology is trusted by more than 1,000 of the world’s largest enterprises across 70+ countries.
Luminance is already used by leading organisations operating at similar scale and complexity to Ajinomoto, including Hitachi (projected March 2026 turnover of $66bn-$70bn, National Grid (£18.378bn) and LG Chem ($33bn-$35.9bn).