Hanzo Secures Patent for Spotlight AI, Enhancing Generative AI Capabilities in Collaboration Data Analysis

Hanzo has been granted a new patent protecting its approach to generating actionable AI signals from dynamic, unstructured collaboration environments such as Slack, Teams, and Confluence, where traditional eDiscovery tools struggle to operate at scale. Keyword searches often fail to capture the context of modern chat platforms. Hanzo addresses this challenge with Spotlight Signals, a GenAI-powered capability that interprets the human element of collaboration data. By mapping relationships, sentiment, and behavioral changes as they evolve, Spotlight Signals cuts through the noise to identify genuine risk and relevance. This approach provides legal and compliance teams with defensible, explainable signals, ensuring they can identify critical issues without wading through false positives.

In production environments, this approach has delivered up to a 99% reduction in data volumes requiring human review, significantly accelerating investigations, audits, and eDiscovery workflows while reducing cost and operational burden. Dave Ruel, VP of Product at Hanzo, stated that this patent validates the company's conviction that modern collaboration data requires a fundamentally new approach. He emphasized that you cannot solve today's complex data challenges with yesterday's keyword searches. Spotlight Signals is designed for the complexity, scale, and nuance of how teams actually work today. It understands the context of human chat conversations, not just the text, while offering the ability to cut through tremendous amounts of noise with surgical precision.

The announcement builds on Hanzo's breakthrough industry awards for AI innovation in 2023, 2024, and recently in 2025, further validating the company's position as a leader in applying generative AI to complex data types. Unlike generic AI tools adapted for enterprise use, Hanzo's technology is purpose-built for modern collaboration data with high-stakes audits, investigations, and eDiscovery. With this latest patent, Hanzo continues to extend its leadership in generative AI for collaboration intelligence, thus helping In-House teams move faster, reducing legal fees and making decisions much earlier while maintaining accuracy, defensibility, and trust. For more information, visit https://www.hanzo.co.