AI Governance and Strategic Operations are Powering the Modern Legal Engine—Economist Enterprise

As technology rapidly transforms the legal landscape, corporate legal departments are undergoing a fundamental internal evolution. General counsel and legal operations leaders are moving beyond basic cost-cutting to build cross-functional governance models, demonstrate business enablement return on investment (ROI), and operate as strategic partners to executive leadership.

Legal leaders discussed the dynamic at the Economist Enterprise’s 5^th annual General Counsel Summit US in New York on September 15.

Key takeaways from the discussion:

• AI governance as a “team sport”: Effective, compliant AI adoption cannot happen in legal isolation. It requires continuous, lockstep collaboration between the general counsel, chief information security officer, chief technology officer, and human resources (HR) to balance enterprise risk with operational innovation.
• Crucial role of HR in AI oversight: Internal human resources applications—such as recruitment, hiring algorithms, and employee performance tracking—represent some of the highest-risk regulatory areas for AI deployment. Integrating senior HR leadership into AI governance is critical.
• Cross-functional AI steering committees: Organizations are establishing dedicated AI steering committees (comprising legal, security, technology, business units, and HR) as active decision-making bodies. Rather than acting as project “killers,” these committees weigh business value against tangible enterprise risks.
• Leveraging voluntary AI frameworks: To benchmark maturity and prepare for fragmented state and international regulations, legal teams are aligning with established voluntary standards such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) AI Risk Management Framework (AIRMF) or International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 42001.
• Redefining ROI beyond cost savings: Demonstrating the ROI for AI and automation has shifted from measuring flat billable-hour reductions to evaluating business speed and enablement—such as faster sales cycle execution, automated vendor intake, and proactive risk management.
• Legal operations as the “COO of legal”: Legal operations has evolved from a back-office administrative function into a vital strategic partner similar to a chief operating officer (COO). Legal ops professionals serve as department architects, managing technology implementations, optimizing vendor spend, and freeing attorneys to focus on high-level legal strategy.
• Rethinking external counsel relationships: In-house teams are increasingly using internal AI tools to benchmark outside counsel performance, manage fee predictability, and handle routine legal tasks. Outside counsel are now retained primarily for specialized domain expertise, complex litigation, and high-stakes strategic judgment.

Today’s General Counsel is proud to be a media partner of the Economist Enterprise. If you are interested in registering for the Economist Enterprise 23th annual General Counsel Summit in London on Nov. 12, 2026, you can do so here.