Rocky Road to AI: Why Data Governance is the Step Everyone Skips
Before any law firm rolls out AI or legal tech, there's a less glamorous layer of work that determines whether the investment actually delivers: data governance. The mapping, the taxonomies, the decision rights, the ownership questions. It's the operational foundation almost every firm wants to skip, and almost every firm regrets skipping it later.
In this hands-on session, you'll guide attendees through the practical questions that need to be answered before a firm adopts AI or legal tech. Working in small groups across the room, participants will map the foundations relevant to their own firm, weigh the trade-offs between data governance (inputs) and AI governance (outputs), and leave with a personalised checklist they can put to use straight away.
Because no two firms scoop the same flavours, this isn't a one-size-fits-all framework. It's a structured space to determine which decisions matter most to your firm and what you need in place before you build.
Key Takeaways:
A personalised checklist covering process mapping, data ownership, taxonomy, and change management. These are the practical foundations needed before any AI or legal tech rollout.
A clearer view of how data governance (the inputs) and AI governance (the outputs) interact, and how to balance the two ethically and operationally.A working framework for identifying which decisions matter most for your firm, recognising that there's no single right answer across the legal market.
Audience: Technology leaders and business-side tech champions in medium-to-large law firms who have decided to invest in AI or legal tech and now need to put the data and governance foundations in place.
This session is part of LegalTechTalk 2026, Europe’s Event for Legal Transformation. A dynamic, annual in-person festival bringing together 5,500+ attendees from 75+ countries and over 400 industry-leading speakers across two days, on 17-18 June 2026 at InterContinental London - The O2.