Video: 10 Minute IT jams - An update from InfoTrack

The property and legal technology sector is undergoing rapid change. Infotrack, a key player in the industry, continues to innovate in how information is accessed and managed for legal, finance and conveyancing professionals across Australia and worldwide.

Speaking to 10 Minute It Jams, Brendan Smart, Infotrack's country manager, explained the company's vision and recent achievements. "Infotrack is the leading software-as-a-service technology innovator," he said. "We work with a range of professional services from legal and conveyancing to banking and finance."

The core of Infotrack's offering lies in its suite of cloud-based productivity tools, aimed at professionals in areas like family law, wills and estates, mergers, and acquisitions. "All of our solutions are seamlessly integrated with our clients' workflows but, more importantly, with their desktop and case management system," Smart said. "What that does is reduce data entry, importantly reduce human error, and it increases their productivity and efficiency."

Recent recognition has confirmed Infotrack's efforts, including accolades from the Australian Business Awards for business excellence and process improvement.

Smart outlined several of the company's latest initiatives. "One of those is our e-filing and court syncing solution, which essentially takes a matter within the lawyer's case management system and syncs it to the corresponding matter in the Commonwealth courts portal," he explained. The tool automatically downloads documents into the legal professional's system when they are lodged, ensuring a secure data transfer, accurate billing, and more efficient workflows.

Innovation is not limited to established practice areas. The company has also started early-stage development on a family law-focused product to "substantially alleviate some of the challenges in family law," as well as a national death notice matching and will location service. As Smart put it, "We're never short of innovations."

Industry trends are hard to ignore, particularly the influence of artificial intelligence on the modern workplace. "Like most tech companies, Infotrack is working with artificial intelligence," Smart said, but he was quick to address a common concern. "There is this fear in the legal industry that AI is going to replace lawyers. I can categorically say that will never happen."

Rather than introducing AI for its own sake, Infotrack is focused on augmenting its clients' capabilities. "We're trying very hard not to build products with AI just for the sake of building products," he added. The intention, he said, is to make clients more efficient and available to their own clients.

Beyond convenience, security remains front and centre for the company. "Cyber security is always at the forefront of our minds," Smart said. Infotrack's defence-in-depth approach protects sensitive client data and underpins its cloud products, such as Secure Exchange, which provides a cyber-safe environment for every step of a property transaction. "Clients rely on our ability to deal with their data and store information securely," he continued, citing the company's ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certifications.

Climate change is another consideration influencing Infotrack's approach. "We are also focused on climate change and the risks that these present to property owners and their transactions," Smart said, noting that the company is currently developing reporting tools to help clients assess property risks from fire and floods, among other hazards. "We're working with a report at the moment that can assist our clients with their duty of care and assist their clients in making the right decisions when they invest in property."

Infotrack's global footprint is expanding, with operations stretching from Australia to the United Kingdom and the United States. "Australia is the heartbeat of our business; however, we've got a very strong global presence," Smart said. The product suite varies by market, with the UK business focusing on conveyancing and property law, and the US operation concentrating on electronic court filing and litigation services. "In the UK, we are the second-largest legal information broker and technology innovator. In the US, we're actually the largest national provider of electronic court filing services," he said.

Yet, as much as technology and expansion drive the business forward, Smart said the secret to Infotrack's success lies in its company culture. "Despite being over 20 years old, we've fought very hard to hang on to what we like to call that startup culture," he said. Early practices that underpinned the company's growth, such as soliciting honest feedback from every new starter after their first week, still shape the daily experience for staff.

He shared a telling anecdote: "My favourite response to date was from a lady who joined us and, after her first week, said she places the same amount of excitement on coming to work at Infotrack as she does seeing her kids every morning. That's a hard one to top."

Recognition for workplace excellence came recently, as Infotrack was named Australia's fifth-best workplace by Great Place to Work, awarded Employee of Choice by the Australian Business Awards, and listed as one of the best technology workplaces.

Smart saw this not as a coincidence, but a direct result of ongoing investment in people. "To be the best, you have to attract and retain the best," he said. "As an executive team we work very hard on our culture and spend a lot of time thinking about what we can do to enhance it, as do our people."

He believes that culture is as important as technology in determining business success. "It's a cliché, but Infotrack's people spend as much time with their colleagues as they do with their own families. Almost everyone here embodies our ethos of effort and obligation - nobody's happy with good enough, everyone wants to be the best both for our clients and each other," he said.

As the interview wrapped up, Smart summed up Infotrack's philosophy: "We're constantly looking for new ways to reward our teams and our people's investment in Infotrack."