Investors, consumers, and big businesses are obsessed with AI across nearly every industry sector. In the legal industry, adoption rates are clearly skyrocketing with nearly all (89%) of legal professionals reportingthat they use AI tools, with or without permission from their organization. According to Anthropic’s February 2025 AI Economic Index, legal topics were among the most frequent uses of its Claude chatbot.
Senior leaders in the legal industry believe AI to be their most concerning challenge in 2025. Why? Often, businesses are purchasing AI solutions without a meaningful plan for how to seamlessly and successfully deploy the technology across departments. According to some recent data, a lack of clear use cases (31%), limited training (37%), and implementation costs (29%) are preventing legal teams from fully reaping AI’s potential at work.
As cost centers, in-house legal teams must have the best tools at their disposal to accomplish the lofty goals of the business. AI offers face-value efficiencies: but what if the AI creates more work for them in the long run because teams don’t know how to deploy it effectively and use it to its best advantage?
This responsibility can often fall on CTOs — but is in reality a cross-team responsibility. CTOs are not just Chief Technology Officers, they also need to be Chief Translation Officers, and should prepare their teams with best practices for using AI at work. If leaders do not take the time to provide meaningful recommendations on how to use AI, they run the risk of a wasted investment: the tools may only be used a handful of times, and some will never use them again.
Step 1: Get the team’s opinion first and foremost
The first thing tech leaders (i.e. CTOs) should do is ask teams which parts of the job they least enjoy. This is the best way to discover true pain points and introduce technology that can actually address their needs. This can be done through an anonymous survey, live feedback session, or casually in the office. AI can only be effective when it’s put to good use so it’s important for its investors to know which solutions will address the niche pain points of their workflows.
Step 2: Find the superusers using the tools
Leading by example is the second step to the path of successful implementation. CTOs should find their ‘superuser’ who will go all in on the technology and encourage their peers to do the same. Leadership can give suggestions and advice, but employees will see more value in understanding how a colleague is benefiting from AI in their own day-to-day so that they do the same.
Step 3: Demonstrate real impact early on
Don’t tell employees how their work will be improved, show them.
As CTO, it will fall on you to champion and emphasize the ways human judgment and expertise can be amplified in workflows if AI is properly integrated. Find specific use case examples in your industry that changed for the better due to the implementation of AI. For example, if you’re introducing AI to an in-house legal team then communicate value in a way that lawyers can understand. Share with them the hours that can be saved on reviewing a contract and the high-level work they’ll be able to focus on when they’re not bogged down on edits. Clearly communicate how all this will help the business reach its larger goals.
Step 4: Keep it simple for everyone
The final step is to choose AI tools with minimal set-up. This will enable CTOs to focus on user experimentation rather than endless tech set-up and training. When vetting a vendor, ask them how long adoption typically takes and if they have suggestions on how to deploy seamlessly across teams.
AI is a new tool for everyone and there is no handbook on how to make it work for you or your business. User experience with AI is personal and up to the employee’s interest, but business leaders should guide how it can be used to improve efficiency or create new business. Without a meaningful deployment process, AI agents are doomed to be left in the adoption phase and barely used by in-house legal teams.
These systems should operate seamlessly and act as an agent for the lawyers instead of a burden that adds to their workloads. Think like Robin is to Batman – critical for his success and always in the background when he is needed most. There is massive potential for innovation when it comes to the legal industry. We just need to put the time and effort into explaining how to make this innovation work best for in-house legal teams.
