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National Grid Partners

With demand for electricity growing exponentially, National Grid is embracing new technologies that can address pressing business challenges and deliver a more robust, resilient, and secure energy network for customers and communities. We need to work more efficiently, unlock greater productivity, and anticipate challenges and opportunities.

As the company’s investment and strategic innovation arm, National Grid Partners seeks out solutions that can help address these challenges — particularly in today’s fast-changing business environment, which requires companies to respond swiftly to new regulations and other developments.

Enter Luminance, whose pioneering legal-grade AI — developed by experts from the University of Cambridge — automates every touchpoint a business has with its contracts. The technology helps streamline the creation and negotiation of contracts and other legal documents and makes it easy to identify key information, potential risks, or compliance issues.

For example, the artificial intelligence platform can analyze draft agreements with potential suppliers and suggest revised language — speeding up negotiations and freeing bandwidth for other tasks. Luminance also can search through contracts to identify areas for cost savings or make sure agreements are in keeping with National Grid’s sustainability goals. And when rules and regulations change, the tool can quickly scan thousands of contracts to make sure a company remains in compliance.

“Luminance’s AI platform has so many potential applications for us. It’s secure, easy to use, and can really add value by ensuring contracts are fit for purpose and meet our exact requirements.”

National Grid’s engagement with Luminance began with a proof-of-concept in summer 2023, during which the tool analyzed a subset of agreements from National Grid’s U.S. procurement team. Very quickly, the AI platform identified an early payment discount with a supplier, leading to significant cost savings. That was a lightbulb moment for Chesney and the entire procurement team.

The team officially began working with Luminance’s platform in spring 2024, and National Grid Partners invested in the startup at the same time. National Grid’s US and UK procurement teams have been first to take advantage of the platform, but the company is looking to roll out the AI tool across other parts of the business, including its treasury department, central insurance team, and National Grid Electricity Distribution, the UK’s largest electricity distribution network.

“National Grid is an unbelievably exciting company to work with. They are highly regulated, they have lots of different departments with different types of contracts, and they are all looking to gain insights and accelerate the work that they’re doing.”

Each business unit has different challenges to address, but Luminance’s AI tool becomes increasingly attuned to each team’s needs as it ingests more information.

“Every time a user interacts with the platform, it learns what that user or business unit is interested in,” says Lightbody. “Say you’re negotiating a wind lease — the platform will learn the points you always want to see in the contract, the things you would never agree to, and the areas where you’re open to negotiation. You’re basically immortalizing the way the business operates, so even a new employee can jump right in and get those insights immediately.”

For some companies, AI can be little more than a buzzword. But National Grid is making it a core part of operations, helping teams work more productively and efficiently. Driving insights and making everyday tasks easier for the company’s lawyers, contract managers, and procurement buyers will help us strengthen the power grid and deliver more value for customers.

“We’ve got big projects in the works, and to achieve our goals, we’ve got to work smarter rather than harder,” says Chesney. “This is a great opportunity to do that, and we’re really excited to see what’s to come.”

National Grid Partners, the corporate venture capital arm of National Grid, is an investor in Luminance and in dozens of other startups that are helping make the energy system more robust, resilient and affordable. National Grid uses the Luminance platform to streamline negotiation and analysis of contracts and other legal documents critical to accelerating the deployment of energy and smart grid assets.

Luminance: Harnessing AI to Increase Efficiency