Why 2026 Will Be a Turning Point for AI in Legal Technology

IR Global’s A.J. Bashorun reports that the legal industry crossed a threshold last year with regard to AI in legal technology. According to the 2026 Legal Tech Trends Report, AI adoption has accelerated rapidly, forcing legal organizations to confront not only what AI can do but how it can fundamentally reshape daily work.

AI is increasingly embedded directly into legal workflows. It is elevating data from a static asset to a strategic foundation, with document management systems linking workflows and intelligence across the legal function.

With the recognition that sustainable AI value depends on the quality and accessibility of underlying information, governance, structured data, and system design are now taking center stage. The emphasis is no longer on speed alone, but on reliability, context, and trust in how insights are generated and used.

Indeed, intelligent assistants are becoming proactive collaborators rather than reactive tools, helping legal ops professionals gain insights and reduce cognitive load. Automation is becoming more adaptive, planning and responding to nuance rather than executing fixed tasks. In addition, legal teams are focusing on collaborative work using cross-platform co-authoring. The result is greater continuity across matters and stakeholders, laying the foundation for future human-to-machine collaboration. 

At the same time, systems are becoming increasingly interconnected, enabling intelligence to flow securely across platforms. Moreover, knowledge management is being transformed as AI automatically increases findability and control. 

The year 2026 will be a turning point for AI in legal technology. As AI becomes more widespread, adoption more tactical, and workflows more intelligent, legal ops professionals are increasing their capacity for judgment and strategic focus.