Icertis Sponsored Study Reveals Overwhelming Consensus: 85% of Legal Teams will Utilize Generative AI by 2026

BELLEVUE, Wash.– Dec. 12, 2023 – Icertis, the contract intelligence company that pushes the boundaries of what's possible with contract lifecycle management (CLM), has published the 2023 Law Department Operations (LDO) Survey titled The Evolving Legal Service Delivery Model: Generative AI is Already Changing Expectations. The 2023 report is based on research undertaken by Blickstein Group in collaboration with Icertis and fellow sponsors.

For 16 years, the annual LDO Survey has taken the pulse of legal operations leaders across North America. This year’s report uncovers the pivotal role of generative AI in the legal landscape to address financial challenges, business process improvements, long-term strategies, and technology adoption. 

Survey respondents included legal professionals and c-suite decision-makers who play a fundamental part in contract management in industry sectors across businesses spanning manufacturing, retail, public sector, financial services, healthcare, and more.  

Key findings from the 2023 LDO Survey include: 

• Legal teams are confident in the promise of generative AI. More than 85 percent of legal operations professionals believe that most law departments and law firms will be using generative AI substantially in the next three years.
• Generative AI is shifting the bottom line for legal. 36 percent of legal operations professionals have already experienced the impact of generative AI on their department’s budgets and resource allocation. 67 percent believe that generative AI will enable them to bring more work in-house, and 70 percent agree that wider generative AI adoption will lead to cost savings.
• Contract management is prime for AI transformation. Only 19 percent of the legal operations workforce sometimes or always relies on generative AI for pre-execution contract management such as contract generation and review. Less than 8 percent use generative AI for post-execution contract management, representing a significant opportunity to impact strategic outcomes by expanding the role of AI in the end-to-end contract lifecycle.
• Successful AI adoption requires more upskilling. Nearly 40 percent of legal operations professionals express discomfort or unease with generative AI tools, while an additional 33 percent feel they lack access to the appropriate technology required for their roles – an increase from 21 percent last year. This underscores the need to address both skill and technology gaps within the department.

“Legal professionals have an opportunity not only to establish policies for AI use but also to assert their leadership by embracing generative AI to address financial challenges, improve efficiency, and create greater value while upholding compliance standards,” said Bernadette Bulacan, Chief Evangelist, Icertis. “The opportunities stemming from generative AI are apparent, particularly in contract management, which is ripe for enabling enterprise-wide transformation. Icertis provides a significant advancement in contract-driven operations through AI by tapping into contract data to create more revenue, bigger savings, and less risk.”

Download the full report to learn more: The Evolving Legal Service Delivery Model: Generative AI is Already Changing Expectations 

About Icertis 

With unmatched technology and category-defining innovation, Icertis pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with contract lifecycle management (CLM). The AI-powered, analyst-validated Contract Intelligence (ICI) platform turns contracts from static documents into strategic advantage by structuring and connecting the critical contract information that defines how an organization runs. Today, the world’s most iconic brands and disruptive innovators trust Icertis to govern the rights and commitments in their ten million+ contracts worth more than $1 trillion in 40+ languages and 90+ countries. 

Media Contacts
Michelle Rodriguez
Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
corpcomm@icertis.com