In a recent Platforum9 session, John Lindsey, Chief Marketing Officer at InCite (an AI-focused legal tech company), talked us through the rapidly evolving legal technology landscape, particularly from a North American perspective. With four decades of experience in technology, Lindsey offered a nuanced view of the current state of legal tech innovation and the challenges firms face in adaptation.
Unprecedented Pace of Change
Lindsey opened with a striking observation about the current pace of technological evolution: “I’ve been in technology for four decades, and I’ve never seen anything move this fast. Even with the advent of the internet, we were at least able to catch our breath. In this case, things are coming out daily, weekly—it’s not monthly and yearly anymore.”
This acceleration has shifted the conversation from “What do you think will happen in five years?” to “What do you think will happen by Friday?” Such rapid development creates both tremendous opportunities and significant challenges for legal organizations attempting to keep pace.
The Rise of Generative AI
The most significant recent development, according to Lindsey, has been the emergence of “agentic AI” that moves beyond simply following explicit instructions to making autonomous decisions.
“It isn’t just predictive anymore,” Lindsey explained. “It takes initiative and does things independently on its own. It’s making decisions, preparing itself to create responses… functioning in a completely different ecosystem and able to make decisions in some sort of autonomous manner.”
This capability is “blowing the industry up” by transforming workflows, lifecycle management, and data security approaches. While the excitement is palpable, Lindsey emphasized that such powerful technology requires appropriate safeguards: “It needs to be auditable, controllable, and built with ethical guardrails in place so things don’t get out of control too fast.”
Market Adoption Patterns
The adoption of AI technologies in legal is following distinct patterns, with firms primarily embracing applications where:
- The risk profile is low – Content creation, website personalisation, predictive analytics, and customer insights represent “low-hanging fruit” where AI adoption is accelerating.
- Value proposition is clear – Tools that demonstrably make processes “better, faster, cheaper” are gaining rapid buy-in.
- Technology is affordable – AI has democratised access to sophisticated capabilities, allowing smaller firms to compete more effectively with larger ones.
This last point represents a significant shift in the market dynamics. As Lindsey noted, “It has made technology that maybe was out of reach for some of the smaller firms affordable. This gives firms the ability to scale and grow in a capacity that they didn’t really have before.”
Integration Challenges
Despite rapid progress, Lindsey identified several critical challenges that organisations face in effectively implementing AI technologies:
1. Data Quality Issues
One of the most pressing concerns is data quality and governance: “I think one of the places that we’re in a very dangerous place is that we need to absolutely be assessing where people are with their data, particularly in a highly regulated industry like this.”
The effectiveness of AI systems depends on the quality of the data they process, yet many firms have not maintained good data hygiene practices. As Lindsey put it, “It’s garbage in, garbage out… going back and doing proper data hygiene” is essential.
The challenge is compounded by the fact that many firms, particularly smaller ones, lack internal data architecture expertise. While cobbled-together systems may have functioned adequately before, today’s AI depends heavily on clean, well-structured data to produce reliable results.
2. Integration With Existing Systems
Another significant challenge involves ensuring that new AI tools work effectively with existing systems: “One of the biggest problems we suffer from over here is… products that are trying to leverage AI but are not really playing well with others.”
Lindsey noted that his organisation frequently helps build interfaces that allow platforms to “not be siloed anymore so that everyone can take advantage” of AI capabilities. The good news is that this situation has “gotten significantly better” over the past six to eight months as vendors increasingly focus on integration.
3. Education and Change Management
Perhaps the most fundamental challenge is education. Many legal professionals don’t fully understand what problems AI can help them solve or how to prepare their organisations for implementation.
“Educating them as to what problems they have is really the first step,” Lindsey explained. “Before you think about any kind of technology… let’s really determine what the pain points are, what your goals are, how you’re going to leverage a lot of this new AI technology.”
This educational gap isn’t due to intentional resistance but rather stems from a lack of understanding: “I think the answer is no [they’re not taking it seriously], but I don’t think it’s intentional. I think it’s because they don’t really understand what the problem is yet.”
Market Trends and Consolidation
Looking at the broader legal tech landscape, Lindsey predicted significant consolidation in the near future. With AI-powered tools increasingly able to perform functions that previously required specialized applications, many purpose-built solutions may become obsolete.
“If you are an owner of a legal tech product that you feel like has got a shelf life where you might be getting rolled up or getting beaten by an AI product… I think a lot of the companies are going to be willing to take those buyouts and get rolled up because I think they see that they may get consumed by what AI’s doing.”
This consolidation is likely to be accelerated by private equity’s growing interest in legal tech, exemplified by Legora’s recent $80 million funding round at a $670 million valuation. As Lindsey noted, “When PE moves into markets… it’s going to be impossible to avoid.”
Democratisation of Development
Another significant trend is the democratisation of technology development through low-code/no-code platforms: “You don’t need to be a developer to develop these tools anymore.”
This shift enables domain experts to create solutions without requiring extensive technical expertise: “A lot of people that had a lot of this in their mind that did not have the development workforce to go out and build it—they don’t need it anymore.”
The result is a proliferation of new tools that combine deep legal expertise with technological capabilities, potentially leading to solutions that are better aligned with practitioners’ actual needs.
The Future: Education as a Catalyst
When asked about what to expect in the coming months, Lindsey highlighted educational initiatives as a potential game-changer. He specifically pointed to law professor Tom Martin’s creation of a generative AI and legal delivery services class made freely available to law professors across the United States.
“That’s an amazing start because… where does all this happen? It’s all going to happen at the grassroots level at some point, because people that are coming into these firms that are really ready for this whole next wave of technology are going to be extremely more impactful.”
By equipping the next generation of legal professionals with AI knowledge from the beginning of their education, the profession can potentially accelerate adaptation and innovation: “If all of our institutions start teaching people how to behave when they get into a law firm and how to use this technology effectively… those are all the things that are going to change the game over the next 24 months.”
Conclusion: A Time for Optimism
Despite the challenges, Lindsey’s overall perspective was unmistakably optimistic. The potential for AI to transform legal practice—making it more accessible, efficient, and perhaps even more creative—represents an extraordinary opportunity.
As he concluded: “If you’re not fired up watching what’s going on right now, you’re not breathing. You gotta be fired up. This is amazing stuff.”
For legal organisations at all levels, the message is clear: while the pace of change presents challenges, it also creates unprecedented opportunities for those willing to invest in understanding, preparing for, and embracing the AI revolution. The technology will continue to evolve rapidly, but firms can control how they prepare their people and processes to leverage these powerful new tools effectively.
