Switzerland: Technology

Your medical-device programme appears to be progressing. Regulatory and Quality are advancing the pathway. Product is moving forward. Commercial teams are preparing for customers. Management has a launch date. And still, one unresolved AI, data or cybersecurity issue can affect the next milestone. This is particularly dangerous because the problem is often not visible within any single workstream. It sits between them.

A fundamental mistake in MedTech is to treat AI as another software project. It is not. An AI-enabled medical product can involve product safety, clinical performance, quality management, data protection, cybersecurity and AI regulation at the same time.

Switzerland's new legal framework for automated driving, effective March 2025, permits motorway pilots, driverless vehicles, and automated parking. This comprehensive analysis examines the regulatory landscape, technical requirements, liability allocation, and cybersecurity obligations that companies, investors, and mobility providers must navigate as self-driving technology transitions from concept to reality on Swiss roads.

AI agents no longer merely recommend purchases — they are beginning to select merchants, conclude transactions and pay, within mandates their users define in advance. For Swiss banks and fintechs, this shifts the legal question from whether an institution may deploy an autonomous agent to whether a customer can validly authorise today a payment whose amount, counterparty and timing will only be determined tomorrow. The payment mandate, not the individual payment instruction, becomes the decisive legal control point.

Louis Burrus is a legal professional featured in the lawyer directory at SW Legal. His profile provides access to his professional background, areas of practice, and contact information for those seeking legal representation or consultation.

Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) wird zunehmend bei unterneh mensinternen Untersuchungen eingesetzt. KI beschleu nigt die Dokumentenanalyse, erkennt Muster in grossen Datenmengen, extrahiert relevante Informationen und erstellt strukturierte Gesprächsprotokolle. Diese Vorteile sind insbesondere bei komplexen, grenzüberschreitenden Untersuchungen mit umfangreichen Datenbeständen von erheblicher Bedeutung.

Switzerland has spent the past decade building one of the world's most advanced legal environments for financial technology. The very features that attract fintech and blockchain ventures – early regulatory clarity, the DLT framework, a dense financial infrastructure and a strongly international client base – are now generating a steady stream of disputes of considerable legal and technical complexity. Such disputes arise from payment services, digital banking, lending platforms, crypto-assets and custody arrangements, outsourcing relationships, cybersecurity incidents and regulatory enforcement.

As autonomous AI agents increasingly perform decision-making functions within financial institutions, Swiss fintechs must confront fundamental questions of control, accountability and governance. Existing regulatory obligations remain fully applicable: autonomy in the machine does not displace responsibility in the firm. The task is to build oversight frameworks that keep pace with technological independence rather than yield to it.

Bär & Karrer, a Swiss law firm, provides comprehensive legal services and business solutions. Contact their Zurich office for expert assistance with legal matters, or reach out through their online inquiry form for personalized support.