Earlier this month, we hosted CEOs, marketing and BD leads from across the legal sector to discuss the opportunities and challenges they’re seeing with AI adoption across the legal sector.

From cross-selling to copywriting, client liaison to capturing data, we covered a lot of ground over lunch on the 40th floor of Heron Tower.

For those who couldn’t join us, here are our six key takeaways:

1. AI Ownership

With firms of different sizes, focuses and locations all together in one room, we wanted to understand who owns AI within each firm. And the answer was a mixed bag. From CEOs to FDs, Heads of Risk to Heads of Innovation, and even Heads of AI, there wasn't one clear answer.

What everyone agreed on is that AI strategy needs to be owned by someone who can map it onto the needs of every part of the business and, ultimately, has the authority to drive change.

2. Not just legal Ops

The conversation around AI ownership quickly moved on to AI policy—and who those policies are designed for. While law firms are rightly risk-averse, many AI policies are created with Legal Ops teams front of mind, which can limit innovation across other business functions.

Instead of blanket policies that block interaction with AI, there must be a more nuanced approach that protects client data while still enabling learning and innovation, ideally with a sandbox environment for wider business functions.

3. The CoPilot paradox

An interesting contradiction emerged: most firms are now using AI in some form through Copilot, yet many still have stringent AI policies that prevent innovation beyond that baseline.

But if every firm has access to the same tools, and policies prevent teams from experimenting or building on top of them, how can firms truly differentiate?

Innovation requires experimentation—but risk-averse policies are keeping firms locked into the same standard capabilities as their competitors. The firms that will stand out are those that create space for their teams to push beyond basic AI adoption and develop innovative, client-centric applications.

4. Creating guardrails for the digital native generation

One thing all attendees agreed on: the younger generation is leading the charge when it comes to AI usage. While some firms had given these digital natives opportunities to experiment, find better solutions, and improve efficiencies, others were still balancing the enthusiasm for AI with tightly worded policies that prevent experimentation.

Firms can't afford to bury their heads in the sand. This younger workforce is experimenting with AI, whether on company devices or their own. Instead of trying to prevent it, a better approach is to set clear guardrails that harness their interest and create conditions for genuine innovation.

5. Getting the data right

There are myriad ways AI can be used, from CRM systems to marketing automation, but one of the biggest challenges is the way unstructured data is captured (or, in some cases, not captured at all).

Before firms invest in AI products or try to differentiate with an AI offering, the foundations need to be in place. That means capturing and structuring your data properly so it's usable and valuable to AI tools.

6. Communicating AI use to clients

Will AI capabilities become a minimum standard that clients expect? Will they embrace it as a sign of innovation? Or will it raise data security concerns?

For some clients, AI signals efficiency and forward-thinking. For others, it could raise questions about data security—or even undermine confidence in the expertise being delivered. But if firms are using AI to solve client problems more effectively and deliver a better service, surely that’s a positive step?

So, what's next?

There’s no one right answer. AI is something all firms are thinking about. Some are further ahead than others, some face unique challenges, and some trials span across the industry.

But AI is a when, not an if. Firms that want to be on the front foot need the right people driving AI policy, meaningful guardrails for staff, and well-structured, useful data that AI can use.

Want to talk to us about how we’re integrating AI for law firms?