The Ombudsman Group turns to AI for dispute resolution for the first time
The Ombuds Group (TOG) – one of the UK’s largest alternative dispute resolution (ADR) organisations – is utilising AI to augment its dispute resolution for the first time. The Group, which manages disputes spanning rail, retail, home improvement, furniture, finance, energy brokers, TV and music licensing – has chosen UK-based Ctrl AI, an AI-enabled dispute resolution platform developed by operational leaders from the legal world and backed by Mishcon de Reya.
Ctrl AI is a purpose-built platform that combines human expertise with AI-powered reasoning to handle complaints and disputes efficiently. It integrates with Tizo’s case management software (CMS) – used by TOG – but is designed to sit on top of any existing CMS an organisation uses. Ctrl AI’s platform enables more efficient case handling and ensures every decision is 100% fully auditable. In addition to TOG it is also currently used by law firms such as Winston Taylor.
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Kevin Grix, Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman, TOG
UK-hosted, Ctrl AI is specifically built for regulated ADR work and is designed to be verification-first, meaning every AI output is reviewed and signed off by a named handler. Its customer data is never used to train external models and it’s fully auditable, aligning with the Ombudsman Association AI Principles (2024) and the DMCC Act 2024.
TOG is an independent, not-for-profit, government-approved organisation established in 1992 by the Office of Fair Trading and handles thousands of complaints a year. The Ctrl AI roll out will cover all its schemes, marking the first time the Group has used AI in this way, helping it to allocate its resources to ensure that its work helping consumers and raising industry standards is optimised outside of its case work duties
Kevin Grix, Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman, TOG, commented: “Across all of the schemes we operate, volumes of consumer complaints are on the rise and the work is getting more complex. Complaints are also increasingly written by AI. What drew us to Ctrl AI was its verification-first design – the AI does the heavy lifting around evidence and consistency, while our handlers stay firmly in charge of every decision. It sits on top of the human-centric systems we already have in place, integrates seamlessly with our existing CMS, Tizo, and it is built around the standards a regulated scheme needs to meet. In combining Tizo’s case management software with Ctrl AI, I believe we are bringing together the two market leading systems available in ADR.”
Anup Kollanethu, Co-Founder and CEO, Ctrl AI, added: “We are delighted that The Ombuds Group is adopting Ctrl AI and are looking forward to working together. The fact a leading ADR organisation is adopting Ctrl AI across its full portfolio shows that AI in regulated dispute resolution is no longer experimental; it’s becoming part of the core infrastructure. We’ve always drawn on our experience in building Ctrl AI products – developing around how schemes actually operate – with CMS-agnostic, verification-first, and audit-by-design.
“Ctrl AI is designed to allow teams to enhance their existing systems while meeting the standards they’re held to. We’re extending this model across more schemes and continuing to grow our integration ecosystem with CMS providers, so more organisations can adopt AI in a way that’s practical and trusted.”
Adoption of AI will be a key topic at The Ombudsman Association Annual Conference on 9 – 11th June 2026, when The Deputy Chief Ombudsman from TOG, Judith Turner, will be hosting a workshop on how member organisations are using AI to increase effectiveness. Ctrl AI will sponsor the event.
