Long seen as a bastion of tradition, the world of notaries is undergoing a transformation powered by artificial intelligence. A conversation with Nicolas Baum, notary, and Frédéric Ollier, digital entrepreneur.

 

How did your partnership begin ?

Frédéric Ollier: My background led me to explore the idea of launching a digital solution focused on managing the «before and after» of death. Although that project never came to life, it made me realize that the notary sector was ripe for innovation. That’s when our conversations started.

Nicolas Baum : What strikes me about our profession is the paradox we live in: we’ve adopted certain technologies for drafting legal documents, data exchanges using specialized formats, and managing electronic datarooms. Yet, in many areas, like Excel spreadsheets and Word files, we’re still using outdated tools. So far, the notary world hasn’t really benefited from the AI revolution.

How do you collaborate in practice ?

NB : Entrepreneurs and engineers come in to observe how we work and brainstorm solutions that could improve daily operations—for both us and our clients.

FO : The idea is to truly understand the day-to-day challenges notaries face and co-create tools that meet their needs. Notaries have been very open to this process because there’s a strong appetite for modernization in the field.

What exactly are you working on ?

FO : We’re incubating a startup called Louverdi. The project aims to build a tool that integrates legal, tax, and wealth management expertise. The goal is to streamline as much as possible so notaries can focus on high-value, client-centered work.

NB : This will fundamentally change how we interact with clients. Traditionally, notaries analyze private information and then share their findings with the client. Moving forward, we want the client to play a
more active role—using simulation tools and AI agents to explore options alongside us.

What real-world applications do you envision ?

FO : Think of simulations that help families better protect their loved ones, plan for international relocations by anticipating legal and tax implications, or optimize bank loan management by pinpointing the best time to renegotiate. Overall, we aim to deliver an incredibly rich service offering, supercharged by AI.

NB : Family and financial situations are becoming increasingly complex—blended families across multiple countries, unpredictable career paths, greater mobility. Our ambition is to harness data to empower decision-making—whether it’s investing, planning for retirement, gifting assets to children, or preparing for marriage. Analyze, simulate, decide— that’s the future we’re building with technology.

Nicolas Baum (E.14) : A graduate of HEC and Paris II, he has been managing partner of the Baum law firm since 2004. He is also a professor at ESTP Cachan and an author for LexisNexis.

Baum Notaires : Founded in the 19th century, the Parisian firm now boasts six associated notaries and around sixty employees. The firm specializes in nine areas, from real estate financing consulting to family law

Frédéric Ollier : A graduate of Polytechnique, he has taken part in a number of entrepreneurial ventures in the digital sector, in the fields of mobility, online psychology and now legal.

 

Written in collaboration with Baum Notaires

 

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