������Ƶ

It crops up in pitch decks. It’s plastered on firm websites. Sometimes it even appears – with dramatic pause – at town halls, usually paired lovingly with its milder cousin: innovation. Together they hint at ambition, momentum and change.

Lately, they’ve found themselves hitched to a new star: AI.

The interest is real. Significant investments are being made. Pilots are underway. Associates are whispering about prompt engineering. Partners are asking whether clients will actually notice. Confidence and curiosity in AI tools is growing.

At a glance, it looks like change.

Research that used to eat up half the day now takes minutes. First drafts arrive via prompt, not paralegal. Internal know-how is finally searchable, not scattered. The machine hums in the background, subtly recalibrating the rhythm of the legal day.

It feels like transformation. But not quite.

Beneath the sleek dashboards and AI-enhanced outputs, much of the core remains unchanged.

The client still gets a memo, carefully typed and PDFed. A contract based on that well-loved precedent from 15 years ago. Advice still billed by the hour. The wrapper’s shinier, sure. But the service? Comfortingly familiar.

Even with a bit of AI in that process, that’s not reinvention. That’s operational maturity.

Now, don’t get me wrong. That maturity matters.

But let’s not mistake it for a fundamental shift. True transformation means changing the thing itself – not just how it gets done.

When Netflix swapped DVDs for streaming, it didn’t just accelerate delivery. It totally changed distribution model. When it started producing its own content, it rewrote the rules again. Today, it’s not just an entertainment platform – it’s a data company that tells stories.

When IBM moved from hardware to cloud, AI and strategic consulting, it didn’t just retool its offering. It redefined its purpose and its market.

Even LEGO, which could have just doubled down on plastic bricks, reimagined itself through films, games and experiences. Honestly, if someone pitched the LEGO movie to you, would you have backed it? I don’t think I would have. Someone in LEGO saw the vision and backed a new operating model. Not because bricks were obsolete, but because they could see that their value would stretch further when applied creatively.

Transformation, in its true sense, is not a faster treadmill.

It’s a new road entirely.

So ask yourself: what has legal really changed?

Yes, we’ve made tasks quicker. Yes, we’ve automated bits and pieces. Yes, internal efficiency is up. But the underlying business logic – the mechanics of how lawyers deliver their work and how they define their value – has largely stayed put.

Which is why, despite the buzz, many firms find themselves improving parts of the system without questioning the whole. They make the engine leaner, but the direction of travel is unchanged.

This is where AI becomes interesting. Not just as a tool, but as a nudge.

Used well, AI isn’t just automation. It’s diagnosis.

It can tell you where your profitability lags. It can simulate delivery models you’ve hesitated to try – subscription or fixed-fees. It can help you explore new services without committing to the extra headcount. Build business cases before building teams.

But only if you stop asking small questions.

Asking “can we do this task faster with AI?” is a good place to start

But then ask “why are we doing this at all?”

“How many hours can we save?” is a good question. But “what might we create that clients don’t even know they need yet?” is even better.

Don’t ask “how can AI make us a better law firm?” Ask: “What could a legal business look like if it had been built with AI from day one?”

That last question isn’t blue-sky thinking. It’s timely.

The market is shifting, whether we like it or not. AI is here and expectations are changing. The risk isn’t being too bold. It’s assuming that marginal gains will be enough.

Real transformation asks what legal work could become.

Imagine services that are predictive, not reactive. Advice that adapts in real-time. Legal products that respond to context, not just instructions. Where outcomes matter more than effort. Where clients don’t just buy time – they buy momentum, clarity, confidence.

Not just a smarter way to do old things. It is about having a smarter set of things to do.