Artificial intelligence is reshaping the legal profession. Many legal operations professionals face pressure to improve efficiency and reduce legal spend. However, integrating new technology requires a careful strategy. Organizations must navigate the balance between rapid innovation and risk management to maintain compliance and protect their data.
To address these challenges, industry experts gathered for the fourth episode of the 2026 Future Ready Lawyer webinar series: Leading Global Enterprises Through Accelerated AI Adoption. Moderator Joy Heath Rush, CEO of the International Legal Technology Association, led a robust discussion. The panel featured Kevin Cohn, VP and GM of Brightflag; Philipp Eder, CEO at Allianz Legal Protection; Marlene Gebauer, Practice Support Attorney at K&L Gates; Sergio Liscia, VP and GM of Wolters Kluwer Legal and Regulatory Legal Software; and Cathy Wolfe, EVP and GM of Wolters Kluwer Corporate and Legal Compliance. Together, they shared actionable strategies for corporate legal departments to embrace AI safely.
Redefining legal skills and cultural transformation
Generative AI handles tasks that once required specialist human expertise. In order to remain competitive, legal professionals must identify the unique skills that set them apart. The technology compresses the time spent on repetitive tasks, giving humans more time to focus on strategic thinking and vendor management.
Philipp Eder noted that AI implementation is a massive change management effort rather than a simple IT project. Leaders must help employees redefine their professional identity. Transitioning from repetitive work to empathetic, strategic advice builds trust and improves vendor relations. It's essential to foster a psychologically safe environment where teams feel comfortable exploring new tools free of negative feedback when something doesn’t work well.
Creating frameworks for reliable data and compliance
Marlene Gebauer highlighted a critical gap from the survey report. While 92 percent of legal professionals use AI daily, only 31 percent feel prepared regarding information security and governance. This discrepancy highlights the need for training and clear oversight.
A federated model works best for large enterprises. This approach pairs centralized guardrails with distributed ownership. Organizations must provide approved tools and engineer human checkpoints directly into workflows. AI is only as good as the data it trains on. Legal departments need to assess whether their data is complete, clean, readable, and free of bias. Leaders must develop data literacy to ensure that the information feeding their models meets these high standards.
Optimizing vendor relationships and legal spend
Corporate legal departments expect their outside counsel to operate efficiently. Kevin Cohn explained that clients should focus on speed and cost outcomes, instead of strictly monitoring how law firms use AI. If an AI tool can deliver the same or better results at a lower cost, law firms should feel encouraged to use it.
Data-driven insights reveal where law firms spend the most time. For example, internal communications often account for 10 to 15 percent of outside counsel fees. Legal ops leaders can use this data to challenge inefficiencies. When automated compliance and AI tools handle routine tasks, companies see significant improvements in cost control. Innovative tools help forward-looking corporate legal departments ease the burden of spend management while strategically contributing to the organization.
Scaling AI responsibly in legal operations
Sergio Liscia emphasized that AI already delivers substantial value. The current goal is to scale it responsibly across the enterprise. Organizations must prioritize security, transparency, and compliance to foster high levels of trust. Cathy Wolfe adds that having a clear strategy helps protect your unique subject matter expertise, while allowing AI to optimize everything else.
By establishing strong governance and supporting cultural change, corporate legal departments can achieve incredible efficiency gains. These practices empower legal ops teams to enhance compliance, strengthen vendor relations, and reduce costs without sacrificing peace of mind.
Want more insights like this? Download the Future Ready Lawyer 2026 report, which dives deeper into how legal teams navigate AI, governance, and client expectations, or register for the rest of the webinar series.
