AI for Law Firms Gets Real: Six Takeaways from ILTACON 2026

At ILTACON 2026, the conversation around artificial intelligence felt noticeably different. Law firms have spent the past few years learning what generative AI can do, evaluating new products and running controlled pilots. This year, attention shifted toward implementation.

Law firm leaders are now asking more practical questions. Which use cases are worth pursuing? How should AI connect to firm data? What controls need to be in place? How can firms encourage adoption without disrupting established workflows? And how will they measure whether an investment is delivering value?

These questions reflect a broader shift in AI for law firms. The technology continues to develop, but successful adoption increasingly depends on the environment around it. Data, security, governance, infrastructure and change management all influence whether an AI initiative produces meaningful results.

From Helient’s perspective, this is an important distinction. Technology decisions within a law firm rarely exist in isolation. AI planning must account for the systems, information, security controls and people that support legal work every day.

Here are six of the most important themes we heard at ILTACON 2026 and what they mean for law firms.

1. How Is AI for Law Firms Moving from Experimentation to Execution?

Law firms are becoming more deliberate about where and how they use AI.

Early experimentation often focused on testing the capabilities of individual tools. Firms are now looking more closely at specific legal and administrative workflows where AI can improve productivity, consistency, or access to information.

This means beginning with a clearly defined problem. A firm might want to make it easier for attorneys to find relevant experience, reduce the administrative work involved in time entry or accelerate the first stage of document review. Each objective requires different technology, information, and measures of success.

Firms also need to evaluate AI using realistic working conditions. A demonstration based on sample content offers limited insight into how a product will perform with actual firm data, permissions, and workflows. A useful pilot should help the firm understand whether the technology fits the way its attorneys work and whether people will continue using it after the initial launch.

The focus is moving from product capabilities to operational outcomes:

• Does the tool address a defined business or practice need?
• Can it work within the firm’s existing technology environment?
• Will attorneys use it consistently?
• Can the firm evaluate its accuracy and effectiveness?
• What support will be needed to expand its use?

These questions help firms direct resources toward initiatives that can move beyond the pilot stage.

In our work with law firms, we have found that the strongest initiatives connect the technology decision to a practical operational outcome from the beginning. That might mean giving attorneys faster access to relevant knowledge, reducing repetitive administrative work or making a critical workflow more consistent. Defining that outcome helps leadership make informed decisions about where AI deserves further investment.

2. What Is Agentic AI, and Why Are Law Firms Paying Attention?

Agentic AI was one of the most discussed topics at ILTACON.

Most familiar generative AI tools respond to an individual request. Agentic systems can carry out a series of connected actions toward a defined goal. Depending on the use case, an agent might collect information from approved sources, apply business rules, complete part of a workflow, and route the result to the appropriate person for review.

Potential applications within law firms include client intake, matter opening, timekeeping, collections, document workflows, and knowledge retrieval. These systems could reduce manual coordination across several steps of a process.

Context determines how useful they can be.

A general-purpose legal AI tool may know how to summarize a document. A context-aware system can potentially understand how that document relates to a client, matter, jurisdiction, practice group or firm policy. This is why many of the AI announcements at ILTACON focused on matter-centric information, organizational knowledge, and connections between legal systems.

Agentic AI also raises important management questions. Firms need to determine what information an agent may access, what actions it may take and where human approval is required. Every agent or automated workflow should have a clear owner, defined permissions, and a review process.

For law firm leadership, the immediate priority is understanding where agents could support a controlled workflow. Broad autonomy should not be the starting point.

Helient recommends evaluating agentic AI within the context of the firm’s wider technology environment. Identity, permissions, application integrations and support processes will all affect how safely an agent can operate and whether it reduces administrative friction in practice.

3. What Is Preventing Wider Adoption of AI for Law Firms?

Security, governance, compliance and change management remain the primary gating factors.

In our conversations with law firms, we have found that governance and data readiness often become bigger adoption barriers than the AI tools themselves. Addressing them early helps firms move ahead with greater clarity and reduces the risk of introducing technology that cannot be supported over the long term.

Law firms manage privileged, confidential, and commercially sensitive information. Any AI initiative must account for client requirements, professional obligations, privacy rules, and the firm’s own information-governance policies.

Before expanding the use of AI, firms should be able to answer several questions:

• Which AI tools are approved?
• What information can users enter into them?
• How is firm and client data retained or used?
• How are access permissions applied?
• When is human review required?
• How will the firm monitor compliance?
• Can AI access be restricted for a specific client or matter?

Clear governance gives attorneys practical boundaries for using AI responsibly. Policies also need to be supported by technical controls. Written guidance has limited value when access permissions, data practices or system configurations do not reinforce it.

Change management presents a different challenge. Attorneys are being asked to evaluate new tools while continuing to manage client work and billable responsibilities. Adoption plans must respect those constraints.

Training should be tied to familiar tasks rather than generic product features. Peer champions can help identify appropriate use cases, test tools under realistic conditions, and demonstrate how the technology fits into existing work. ILTACON discussions also emphasized involving users early and planning for change before a technology decision has been finalized.

For Helient, effective governance should support attorney productivity while protecting the firm. Practical policies, appropriate technical controls, and role-specific training give people a clearer path to using approved tools in their daily work.

4. Why Does AI for Law Firms Depend on Data and Knowledge Management?

AI cannot provide reliable, firm-specific answers if it cannot find or interpret the right information.

Many firms still manage information across document management systems, shared drives, email, practice applications, and individual repositories. Inconsistent naming, incomplete metadata, duplicate content, and outdated permissions make that information harder for people to use. The same issues affect AI.

Preparing firm data for AI requires more than consolidating content. Firms need to understand:

• Where important information is stored
• Who owns and maintains it
• Whether permissions remain accurate
• How matters, clients and documents are classified
• Which information is authoritative
• How content relates across different systems
• What information should be retained, archived or removed

Knowledge management is therefore becoming a central part of AI planning. A well-organized knowledge environment allows AI systems to retrieve more relevant information and apply the context needed to support legal work.

We see data and knowledge management as operational priorities as much as technology priorities. When firm knowledge is easier to find and trust, attorneys spend less time searching across disconnected sources and can apply the firm’s experience more consistently. Those benefits matter whether or not AI is involved.

This does not require firms to clean up every piece of data before starting an AI initiative. It does require them to assess the information needed for the selected use case and address the issues that could affect security or accuracy.

Starting with a focused workflow makes the data challenge more manageable. It also gives firms a clearer way to determine whether improved information practices are producing better results.

5. How Do Cloud and Managed Services Support AI Adoption?

AI may have dominated the conference agenda, but firms continue to invest in the technology foundations that support it.

Cloud infrastructure, identity management, endpoint security, Microsoft 365, Azure and resilient network services all affect how safely and effectively firms can introduce new capabilities. If the underlying environment is fragmented or difficult to manage, each new AI integration can add further complexity.

A well-planned cloud environment gives firms greater flexibility to connect systems, apply consistent security controls and scale services as requirements change. For Microsoft-centric firms, Azure and Microsoft 365 can provide a common foundation for identity, information protection, collaboration, and AI services.

That foundation still requires active management.

Internal law firm IT teams already support demanding users, specialized applications, complex integrations and strict availability requirements. AI adds another set of platforms, risks and support needs. Managed services can provide ongoing monitoring, maintenance, and specialist expertise while internal teams concentrate on firm priorities.

The objective is a stable, secure environment that can support new technology without compromising day-to-day operations.

Helient approaches cloud transformation and managed services with this operational continuity in mind. The goal is to help firms manage complexity, maintain reliable access to critical systems, and introduce new capabilities within an environment that remains secure and supportable.

6. Why Are Law Firms Looking for Strategic Technology Advisors?

The range of technology choices available to law firms continues to grow. Choosing among them has become harder.

A product may perform well on its own and still create problems if it does not fit the firm’s security model, data environment, workflows or long-term technology roadmap. Firm leaders need to understand the dependencies surrounding an investment before committing.

That requires advice grounded in both technology and law firm operations.

A strategic advisor should help the firm:

• Identify practical use cases and priorities
• Assess infrastructure, security and data readiness
• Evaluate how new tools fit with existing systems
• Establish governance and implementation requirements
• Plan for adoption and organizational change
• Coordinate vendors and technology partners
• Support and optimize the environment after launch

Law firms are looking for partners who can connect individual projects to broader operational goals. They also expect those partners to understand attorney workflows, client expectations, and the importance of reliability within a legal environment.

Helient has built its business around that combination of technology knowledge and law firm technology knowledge. Our team applies practical expertise across Microsoft 365, Azure, modern infrastructure, security and managed services. We help firms understand how each decision affects the wider environment, manage complexity across vendors and systems, and carry initiatives from planning through ongoing operation.

What Should Law Firms Do Next?

The move toward execution does not mean every firm needs to expand its AI program immediately. It means leadership should establish the conditions for responsible progress.

A practical next step is to assess five areas:

1. The business and practice needs AI could address
2. The quality, accessibility and governance of the required data
3. The firm’s security, compliance and oversight requirements
4. The readiness of its cloud and technology infrastructure
5. The people, training and support required for adoption

ILTACON 2026 made clear that interest in AI for law firms remains strong. The firms most likely to make effective use of it will approach AI as part of their wider technology strategy, with clear priorities, appropriate controls and a firm understanding of how the technology will support the people doing the work.

Helient helps law firms evaluate that full picture. From AI readiness and governance to Microsoft cloud transformation, security and managed services, we provide the legal technology experience firms need to plan and execute with confidence.

Want to continue the conversation?

Join Helient’s upcoming webinar for further insights from ILTACON 2026 and practical guidance on preparing your firm for its next phase of operational readiness.