Digital Transformation in Legal: Lessons from Ashurst's AI Rollout
In the latest episode of The Change and Transformation Podcast, our host Nicola Spooner sat down with Sarah Chambers, Director of Digital Experience at Ashurst, to discuss her journey from lawyer to digital transformation leader and the ambitious rollout of generative AI across the global law firm.
Sarah's career path exemplifies the changing landscape of the legal profession. Beginning as a financial services regulatory lawyer at Simmons and Simmons, she initially got involved with their regulatory digital product Navigator through content creation. Gradually, she found herself drawn to the business and digital delivery aspects.
Three Key Factors for Successful Transformation
When asked about the critical elements of any transformation initiative, Sarah highlighted three essential factors:
Clear purpose and objectives: "Always being tethered back to your objectives... having that very clear understanding of the pain points that you're trying to solve."
People-centred approach: "Being really mindful of the people that transformation is going to be impacting and working with them so that they become part of the process rather than something that is done to them."
Realistic expectations: "Taking it in bite-sizeable chunks... being mindful about how much people can manage and absorb at any given point in time" and "not over-promising something that can't be delivered."
These principles formed the foundation of Ashurst's approach to implementing Harvey, their generative AI tool.
The Harvey Rollout: Bold Moves in Legal Tech
In June 2023, Ashurst made the decisive move to roll out Harvey, a legal generative AI tool, to its entire workforce of 4,500 people across 31 offices globally—and they did it simultaneously. This bold approach to change in Big Law was partly pragmatic; with a small rollout team, having everyone at the same stage of the journey made the process more manageable.
The implementation was underpinned by extensive user journey mapping to understand "what people in our organisations are going to feel and see and experience as they go through this process."
The biggest challenges included addressing the scale and diversity of roles across the organisation, creating content that felt relevant for people across all geographies and positions, and managing the extremely tight timeframe. Sarah emphasised that the rollout required "a whole firm effort" to tackle significant questions around client confidence, security, and governance "at warp speed."
Tackling AI Fears Head-On
Initial analysis revealed low confidence in using AI and considerable fear around its implications for jobs and skills development, particularly among junior lawyers. The rollout team focused on providing confidence and facilitating discussions around these big, as-yet-unanswered questions.
One of the most surprising outcomes was the enthusiasm with which staff engaged with the new technology. "We've been blown away just how many people have not just shared their successes, but also shared their failures," Sarah notes, adding that this has created a culture where people feel comfortable sharing both wins and losses.
The team conducted "blind studies" where experts couldn't distinguish between human-generated and AI-generated content in half the cases examined. However, no human content was misidentified as AI-produced, revealing interesting insights about what makes work distinctly "human"—both in terms of strengths (broader context, better application) and weaknesses (inconsistencies, energy depletion).
Looking Forward: The Impact of AI on Legal Practice
Sarah predicts numerous exciting applications for AI in legal practice, from personalised uses that support neurodiversity to enabling work that would have been impossible due to time constraints. She personally values using generative AI to test her thinking and identify questions she hadn't considered.
Her advice to firms embarking on their AI journey? Learn from what other people have done and keep your people as close to this process. She views the introduction of AI not just as a new tool but as a new capability that can catalyse broader digital transformation.
“One of the hardest parts of any transformation is creating the time and space for people to feel psychologically safe - to try new things, to experiment, to make mistakes, and to learn from them. We’ve been blown away by how many people have not only shared their successes, but also openly shared their failures.”
Building Teams for Transformation
So, how do we build the teams to implement change successfully? In Sarah’s case, she looks for individuals who
People-centric deep listeners who ask insightful questions
Both thinkers and doers who can "roll their sleeves up and get stuck in"
Able to engage and inspire others, creating enthusiasm and energy around transformation initiatives
Interestingly, as Nicola pointed out, none of these qualities are easily discernible from a CV. This led to a discussion about recruitment practices. We both agreed that understanding how candidates approach situations and their motivations is far more valuable than matching qualifications to job descriptions.
The Search Project Perspective
At The Search Project, we specialise in identifying these elusive qualities in change and transformation professionals. As this conversation highlights, truly effective change leaders combine technical expertise with essential human skills—the ability to listen deeply, inspire confidence, and navigate complexity with both pragmatism and vision.
Like Sarah's approach to digital transformation, our recruitment philosophy focuses on understanding not just what candidates have done, but how they did it and whether their motivations match your opportunity and values. We believe this depth of insight is what makes the difference between filling a position and finding a transformative leader who will drive meaningful change.
For more insights on change and transformation in professional services, follow The Search Project's podcast series and get in touch to discuss how we can help you build teams equipped for digital transformation.