Extract from Celia Stevenson’s article, “Slow and Steady Doesn’t Win the Case: Speed, Defensibility, and Getting AI Right.”
AI has rewritten the expectations for nearly every legal operation today. The pressure to move faster is real, but so is the obligation to document, explain, and stand behind every decision that matters. The teams navigating this well aren’t compromising on speed or rigor.
Ankur Malik and CJ Mahoney, two of Relativity’s 2026 AI Visionaries, have thought carefully about what responsible AI adoption looks like in practice. Ankur, global head of forensic technology & e-discovery at Clifford Chance, and CJ, partner and global head of e-discovery and litigation technology at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, both bring years of experience in legal data and technology – and they’re sharing what they’ve learned for the teams navigating AI adoption when the pressure is real, the deadlines are firm, and someone’s itching to ask you to show your work.
