Global uncertainty has more than doubled since the mid-90s. That kind of pressure does strange things—it accelerates everything. Tech, AI, geopolitics, and regulation. It’s constant motion. But here’s the thing: the best companies aren’t waiting for stability—they’re using this chaos intentionally. They’re leaning into disruption, turning shake-ups into strategy. McKinsey lays out five high-impact moves that help future-proof organizations. It comes down to rethinking your business model, allocating capital with purpose, and building a habit of programmatic M&A. Adobe is a great case study; it transitioned, transformed, and now it’s ten times stronger than before.

• Since the mid-1990s, global uncertainty has nearly doubled. What’s fueling this? Accelerating tech cycles, AI’s arrival at scale, geopolitical tensions, and next-level regulatory pressure.
• We’ve seen a 40% increase in top-company turnover in the tech sector between 2000 and 2023. Lots of churn. Translation: volatility isn’t a phase—it’s a feature.
• 92% of companies are planning to scale up their AI investments over the next three years—not just to adapt, but to lead through disruption.
• Adobe is a living blueprint of what’s possible. After radically shifting its business model, it saw a 10x surge in market cap and gained 300 basis points in gross margin. That’s not luck—that’s execution.

So where does that leave us? In a time that demands strategic flexibility and informed optimism. The question isn’t whether disruption will hit—it already has. The real question is: do you have the team, the mindset, and the playbook to move from “now” to “next”? Are you ready to use AI smartly, pivot your business model wisely, and double down on capital allocation to fuel resilience and earn leadership in your space? Let’s not just watch what happens; let’s shape it, together.

AI is no longer theory; it’s reshaping how legal teams work with purpose, speed, and precision. Discovery-heavy matters that once drained time and budgets? That model is fading fast. Epiq reports AI can cut investigation costs by 80% and deliver up to 45x productivity gains in data-centric workflows. That’s not just efficiency. It’s leverage, giving lean teams strategic insight they couldn’t access before. And when Harvard highlights AI’s potential to dissolve silos and sharpen decision-making, it's a sign we're moving from reaction mode to intelligent, proactive operations.

• AI isn't replacing fact-finding; it’s accelerating it, trimming up to 80% of time and cost while helping teams take on more complex, high-volume workloads with clarity and confidence.
• Well-built AI workflows can boost document review productivity 45x. This isn't just incremental improvement. It’s operational lift that frees teams to focus on higher-order thinking.
• Harvard Business School research validates what we’ve been tracking in the field: AI aligns fragmented teams, improves visibility, and opens space for more thoughtful innovation work.
• Firms that embed AI early are positioning themselves for long-term strength, moving from reactive clean-up crews to predictive engines for legal operations and insight.

This wave is bigger than automation. It’s about redefining how work gets done, how talent is activated, and where value lives inside the business of law. Are we ready to trust our systems, and our teams, enough to let AI augment us as collaborators? What happens to the role of the human lawyer when expertise becomes scalable? The opportunity lives in the questions. Let’s think out loud together.

What happens when you gather 200 of the brightest legal minds in one room and give them permission to be honest? You get something rare: a day where people stop performing and start thinking out loud together.

At SOLID New York, the conversation was less about tools and more about transformation. Senior legal, operations, and technology leaders shared how they’re tackling real-world change — quietly, strategically, and often without a playbook. The theme that emerged was clear: the profession isn’t just adapting to disruption; it’s rewriting what it means to lead.

The morning sessions traced a story arc that mirrored the industry itself. Leaders spoke about the widening gap between those experimenting with AI and those still waiting for certainty. They described how the modern General Counsel has evolved — no longer defined by risk management alone, but by the ability to translate data, technology, and strategy into measurable business value.

In one discussion, a law firm leader described how embedding R&D into daily operations is transforming innovation from a side project into a growth engine. Another conversation surfaced the growing concern around data integrity and AI-generated evidence — reminding everyone that technology moves fast, but trust must move faster.

By afternoon, the mood had shifted from reflection to action. Conversations around talent, visibility, and leadership made it clear that productivity is no longer the destination — it’s just the starting point. True transformation begins when teams step beyond efficiency and start reimagining how legal actually powers the business.

The closing takeaway? Innovation doesn’t require permission — it requires participation. Those who lean into curiosity, collaboration, and community will define the next chapter of legal. And that’s exactly what happened in New York: a room full of innovators, sharing hard truths and bold experiments, building the business of law together.

Next stop: SOLID Atlanta, November 6. A new city, new stories, and another chance to shape what’s next.

As we step into 2025, legal teams are navigating sharp corners. AI is speeding up discovery work, no question about that, but we’re also seeing lawyers sanctioned for unknowingly submitting AI-generated caselaw that’s flat-out wrong. Fines, client alerts, reputational hits. It's not theoretical anymore; it's happening. And it’s forcing the entire profession to think harder about how we build systems of trust inside rapidly evolving workflows.

• Yes, AI makes discovery faster and more scalable. But speed without oversight opens you up to mistakes, missteps, and ethical gray zones.
• We’ve already seen it play out: cases like Johnson v. Dunn show the real-world fallout when teams rely on unvalidated, AI-generated citations.
• The guidance is clear. ABA Model Rule 1.1 demands technocompetence—know the tools, know the risks. And Rule 5.3 puts the onus on lawyers to supervise third-party tech like it’s part of their own team.
• Human intelligence has to stay in the loop. Transparency, review, and accountability? Those are your friction points to keep discovery defensible and the client relationship strong.

AI is transforming how teams tackle legal discovery, but this isn’t plug-and-play. It’s about building a new type of workflow culture, one that harnesses the future without compromising trust, confidentiality, or professional ethics.

We need to create adoption patterns that are fast, smart, and responsible. Can we design systems where lawyers lead—not follow—the AI? And what does this moment demand from the rising talent who are living in the future right now?