John Buyers

John is a commercial outsourcing and information technology specialist with over twenty years’ experience of large-scale domestic and international transactions. John also heads up our artificial intelligence and machine learning client team.

He joined Osborne Clarke in 2013, and leads the firm's commercial practice. He is very experienced in the creation and negotiation of large scale managed services agreements, including outsourcings, system integration agreements and SaaS based licenses. He has a diverse practice, which also includes exposure to Middle Eastern markets in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

John leads Osborne Clarke's international artificial intelligence and machine learning client team, and has released a second edition of his book on the legal implications of these new and innovative technologies. He is currently advising a number of private sector and public sector clients (including a large UK healthcare trust) on the use and implementation of machine learning systems, and recently advised a global software services company on the liability issues of deploying AI within Europe. He recently completed a large outsourcing on behalf of a big four accountancy practice to implement an AI powered solution for an international bank to automate its client due diligence processes.

John also has extensive experience of PPI (payment protection insurance) and IRD (interest rate derivative) remediation outsourcing. He structured and devised the UK’s first Sharia’h compliant outsourcing, which was to set up the UK’s first dedicated Sharia’h compliant insurer, Principle Insurance Holdings, and set up an innovative on-line portal that handles all of the UK’s routine road traffic accident claims.

John's team won the National Outsourcing Association's Outsourcing Adviser of the Year award in 2008. He is a member of Outsource Magazine's editorial board and part of ITechLaw's policy committee on developing an ethical framework for the use of artificial intelligence. John is also a ranked practitioner in Chambers and Partners Guide to the Legal profession.

John Buyers – practical, direct and uncluttered in his approach."

Legal 500