CMO Series Live Session Summary: 'The AI Revolution and What it Means for CMOs'

I recently attended a fascinating session titled "The AI Revolution and What it Means for CMOs," featuring an outstanding panel of legal industry leaders: 

• Bridget Mary McCormack, CEO of the American Arbitration Association
• Darth Vaughn, Associate General Counsel and Managing Director of Policy and Legal Operations at Ford Motor Company
• Jen Leonard, Founder of Creative Lawyers
• Jim Metzger, CFO of Reed Smith.

Each speaker shared valuable insights on how AI is already transforming the legal industry, offering different perspectives on everything from how work is performed and services are delivered to how firms grow, compete, and meet evolving client expectations.

Here's what I personally took away from the session:

The Legal Industry: The First Movers Advantage

AI is driving one of the most significant transformations the legal industry has ever seen, and the pace of development is accelerating quickly. As Darth emphasised, the real risk isn’t adopting AI, it’s standing still. Firms need to benchmark themselves against where the industry is heading, not just where their peers happen to be today. Falling behind can happen much faster than many expect.

We’ve seen similar inflection points in other industries. In the US rideshare market, early adopters like Uber and Lyft reshaped the entire landscape. Drivers, platforms, and companies who embraced the model experienced explosive growth, while traditional taxi companies that hesitated lost substantial market share and have struggled to recover. In New York City alone, the total value of taxi medallions dropped from a peak of over $1 million each in 2014 to under $150,000 within a few years, wiping out billions in market value across the sector. The legal sector is now facing a comparable moment. Firms that adopt AI early won’t just see operational efficiencies, they’ll open the door to entirely new markets, services, and client segments.
 

AI Isn’t Here to Replace Lawyers, It’s Here to Replace Tasks
As Darth put it, we’re entering the era of “super assistants”, with AI tools that work 24/7, handle repetitive or time-consuming work, and enable lawyers to focus on higher-value activities. As Jen noted, the possibilities are only limited by your own creativity. With the use of AI, firms can finally break the ceiling of work that was once limited by company size and time constraints. Now, firms must brainstorm how to integrate co-intelligence to scale everyday tasks and eliminate work that doesn't add value. 

Jim prefaced this by giving a practical example of how junior lawyers are already leveraging AI to draft standard documents like NDAs in a matter of minutes - work that would traditionally take hours. Rather than spending significant time creating these from scratch, junior lawyers can now use AI-generated drafts as a starting point, with senior lawyers reviewing and refining the output. This not only speeds up delivery but also creates a valuable learning tool for junior staff while freeing up time across the team.
 

The Legal Market Is Far from Saturated, Technology Unlocks the 92 Percent
Today, only about 8% of civil legal demands are being served. The vast majority of people who need legal services simply aren’t able to access or afford them. Technology offers a path to fundamentally change this, enabling firms to reduce costs, serve more clients, and ultimately grow by reaching untapped markets. 

Darth was a big advocate of this, stating that he believed law firms could change their current model from pro bono work to a “low bono model”. By leveraging AI and technology to lower the cost of delivering legal services, firms can make legal support more accessible to those who have typically been priced out. In doing so, firms not only help close the access to justice gap, but also create entirely new revenue streams through higher volumes of work at scale, killing two birds with one stone!
 

We Hold AI to a Different Standard, But Should We?
Much of the fear around AI adoption centres on the risk of mistakes or hallucinations. Yet, as Darth pointed out, human errors in legal practice happen just as regularly, and are far more easily forgiven. In many cases, the perceived risk of AI may be significantly higher than the actual risk.

1. Pilot, experiment, and measure.
   Bridget emphasised the importance of being willing to experiment. Some AI implementations will fail. However, the learning curve is invaluable. She emphasised the importance of transparency and a focus on collating as much quantifiable data as possible to measure real impact, separating meaningful innovation from hype.
2. Client expectations have already shifted.
   Jim captured perhaps the most important change: client mindsets have evolved rapidly. Where many were sceptical only 6–8 months ago, many clients are now actively asking why firms aren’t leveraging AI already. That shift in expectations will only continue to grow.

The message is clear: AI adoption in legal isn’t about replacement, it's about enablement. The firms that learn fastest, iterate early, and embrace this shift thoughtfully will be the ones leading the industry in the years to come - just as we’ve seen in every other industry disrupted by technology. In this case, ignorance is not bliss: it's just a risk.