Artificial Intelligence has arrived at your legal department’s doorstep, briefcase in hand and ready to work. At SpotDraft Summit 2025, industry leaders gathered to delve into the strategic, efficient, and practical applications of AI.
The summit featured a series of CLE-accredited sessions on building an AI-ready legal team, strategic influences, approaches to choosing AI tools, engaging outside counsel, and leveraging AI agents for scalable impact. The event concluded with an awards ceremony celebrating customer excellence, followed by a lively after-party.
The day began with a keynote by Sean West, co-founder of Hence Technologies, exploring the complexities at the intersection of law, politics, and technology, an interplay he aptly labeled the "Unruly triangle."
Sean described an evolving global landscape where traditional norms and international legal structures are in decline, creating a volatile environment he dubbed the “unruly triangle.” He stressed the need for companies to proactively weave their legal strategies with technological and political changes to navigate this new reality effectively.
Highlighting the urgent need for adaptive strategies, Sean noted,
"We are living through an international rule of law recession, presenting real risks for businesses as the global infrastructure decays."
Here’s a recap of key discussions around hiring for an AI-ready team, selecting and managing AI tools, SpotDraft’s vision for AI in legal workflows, and more.
Building a legal team that's ready to embrace AI
The first panel centered on what it takes to build a legal team ready to embrace AI, emphasizing that the future of legal work blends tech-savviness with human insight. The panel featured Tom Stephenson, VP of Community at Legal.io, Anne Kerwin, Managing Director at Kirwan Associates, Anna Richards, Director of Legal Ops at John Deere, Andrew Epstein, General Counsel at Demandbase, and Micki Nute, Associate General Counsel and Chief of Staff, who shared how their teams are actively hiring for roles like process automation specialists, encouraging curiosity, and pushing internal AI adoption—not just as a trend, but as a core capability.
The discussion highlighted that while AI isn’t replacing legal talent, it is reshaping workflows, skill sets, and hiring priorities. From automating NDAs to enrolling in prompt engineering courses, panelists stressed that adaptability, openness to change, and a focus on thoughtful implementation are key.
Strategic influence for legal leaders in the age of AI
In a lively fireside chat led by Cecilia Ziniti of GC AI and Megan Neidermeyer, CLO at Anaconda, the conversation spotlighted how legal teams are stepping out of the shadows to become strategic leaders in their organizations. The session explored how AI tools are transforming legal work from routine execution to high-impact influence, with both speakers emphasizing the importance of communication, practical AI use, and proactive leadership.
Megan summed it up perfectly: “AI right now for lawyers is like having a really smart legal intern. It's really useful, and it's a starting point for you to keep going.”
SpotDraft's vision for AI in legal workflows
At the summit, SpotDraft's leadership team, Rohith Salim, Ramnath Shenoy, Madhav Bhagat, and Nikita Midha, unveiled a refreshingly honest and bold vision for the future of AI in legal. Rather than chasing trends or offering generic solutions, they laid out a grounded, practical framework that focuses on making legal work easier, more strategic, and securely AI-enhanced.
The real star of the show was Sidebar, SpotDraft’s latest always-on legal sidekick. It pulls information from top AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude to help with everything from automating compliance checklists to reviewing contracts with your company’s policies in mind. Nikita’s demo showed just how hands-on and proactive this tool is, helping legal teams cut down busywork and actually move the needle.
CTA: Be among the first to harness the power of Sidebar and elevate your legal team’s efficiency and strategic impact.
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Practical approaches in selecting, evaluating, and managing AI tools
This panel took a hands-on approach to AI in legal, diving into how to realistically select, evaluate, and manage AI tools. Moderator Florence Chan led a lively discussion with Kyle Kelly, Jose Lopez, and Akaash Gupta, who shared their real-world experiences of using AI for contract metadata and legal research along with stress-testing vendor promises before adoption.
The key takeaway was that legal teams should start with clear use cases, stay skeptical of overhyped tools, and measure value by how much time and complexity AI can actually reduce. Far from fearing replacement, the panel painted a future where AI helps legal pros spend less time on drudgery and more on meaningful, strategic work.
Engaging outside counsel in the age of generative AI
This panel tackled how generative AI is shaking up the relationship between in-house teams and outside counsel—especially when it comes to budgets and expectations. With legal departments often spending up to 60% of their budget externally, panelists explored how AI is prompting a rethink of traditional law firm models and pushing for greater efficiency.
Joe Green predicted a major shift in the classic law firm structure, while Andrew Woods shared how in-house teams are now under pressure to negotiate AI-driven discounts with their vendors. The consensus is that AI won’t replace elite legal expertise, but it will force firms to deliver more value, faster, and at lower cost, all while adapting to each company's unique risk appetite and stage of growth.
Leveraging AI agents for scalable support in legal ops
This closing session, led by Bryan Lee of Ruli AI, focused on how legal operations teams can smartly integrate AI agents to boost efficiency without expanding headcount. The key theme was to ‘start small, stay grounded.’
Tommie Tavares Ferreira emphasized that implementing AI is a lot like other tech rollouts; success hinges on clear scoping and clean data. Stephanie Corey echoed that, urging teams to begin with low-risk, repetitive tasks before scaling up. Tarek Sultani rounded out the discussion by highlighting the importance of governance and human oversight, reminding everyone that while AI can be powerful, it's not immune to errors, and neither are humans.
Concluding thoughts from the SpotDraft Summit 2025
The SpotDraft Summit 2025 made one thing clear: AI empowers legal teams to elevate their roles, not eliminate them. Every panel and keynote underscored AI adoption as a critical strategic priority, essential for legal teams seeking greater influence within their businesses.
Legal leaders have a unique opportunity to become proactive advocates for AI, leading their companies toward increased efficiency, better risk management, and smarter innovation.
As Jose put it aptly:
“The AI tool that you use today is the worst version of it that is ever going to exist."
So, the time for integrating AI into legal workflows has already arrived. Waiting could mean falling behind.
Experience the summit's highlights and gain a fuller understanding of how AI can revolutionize your legal team.
