Bottom line: This session shares a practical, unvarnished account of how we moved from trialling multiple AI tools to selecting and embedding one solution within an in-house legal function.

The legal technology landscape is evolving rapidly, with no shortage of compelling AI solutions. However, the real challenge for in-house teams is not awareness, but disciplined selection and sustainable adoption. In this session, I will share our end-to-end journey at Nando’s: from early experimentation across several tools, through structured evaluation, to the decision-making process that led to our current platform.

The session will focus less on the technology itself and more on the realities behind the process, including:

• How we defined meaningful use cases rather than being led by vendor capabilities

• The criteria we used to assess tools (legal risk, data privacy, usability, cost, and organisational fit)

• What worked and what did not during pilots and trials

• Internal stakeholder management and governance considerations

• The trade-offs that informed our final selection

I will also reflect on the gap between promise and practice, including where AI tools genuinely add value today and where they still fall short in an in-house environment.

Attendees will leave with a pragmatic framework for approaching AI tool selection in their own organisations, as well as a clearer understanding of the risks, constraints, and opportunities involved.