Insights from Relativity Fest on how AI is redefining information governance and eDiscovery strategy.
At Relativity Fest this year, ACEDS President Michael Quartararo brought together three leading voices in e-discovery and legal innovation for a provocative discussion that challenged traditional thinking.
In the session, “Govern, Don’t Guess: Using AI to Drive Smarter Legal Data Decisions,” panelists Kyra Saley of Relativity, Aaron Crews of Holland & Knight, and Jim Sullivan of eDiscovery AI explored how artificial intelligence can help organizations move from a reactive approach to a proactive approach to data management. Their message was clear: the key to reducing discovery burdens is to start governing data before litigation ever begins.
Moving from Reaction to Readiness
For years, e-discovery has focused on what happens after litigation or an investigation hits; collecting, reviewing, and producing documents under pressure. We invite e-discovery practitioners to imagine a different path – one where AI-powered summarization and classification help organizations understand their data early, limit exposure, and eliminate the noise.
As Aaron Crews put it, information governance often feels like a “unicorn,” something everyone wants but few achieve. Yet, AI is rapidly turning that dream into a viable strategy. Rather than drowning in unstructured information, organizations can use technology to rationalize their data, identify sensitive content, and make smarter retention choices.
When applied early, AI can:
- Classify data as it is created, reducing later review burdens.
- Identify sensitive or privileged content before it is exposed.
- Help eliminate redundant, obsolete, or trivial data (“ROT”).
- Maintain consistency across multiple matters.
- Build defensibility into governance frameworks.
This shift doesn’t just save money. It transforms how legal teams think about their role in risk management and compliance.
Taming the Chaos: The Realities of Information Governance
Each panelist had seen firsthand how chaotic corporate data environments can be. Data is often siloed across systems, including email, document management systems, messaging platforms, cloud, and mobile devices.
In that context, proactive governance can feel impossible. Jim Sullivan shared how AI can provide structure without overwhelming teams:
“We’ll never put human reviewers on a data lake,” he said. “But we can use AI to identify, categorize, and flag sensitive content before litigation arises. When that day comes, you already know what you have and where it lives.”
Crews agreed but noted that organizations need a clear business case to sustain the effort. Legal departments rarely generate revenue, and governance initiatives compete for limited resources. The opportunity, he explained, lies in aligning IG with broader business goals, using AI not just for compliance, but to support enterprise analytics, security, and even model training.
Start Small, Scale Smart
The panel encouraged professionals to take small, achievable steps rather than waiting for the perfect strategy.
Crews advised, “Get a seat at your company’s AI table. Legal must be part of those conversations. Your perspective on risk and retention is essential.”
Sullivan reinforced the value of simply knowing your data landscape: what you have, where it resides, and what can safely be deleted. “Understanding the problem is the first win,” he said.
Kyra Saley from Relativity emphasized the human side of adoption. “AI can make people nervous,” she said. “But the scariest thing isn’t the technology. It’s the pile of ungoverned data we already have.” She suggested establishing guiding principles and communicating clearly how new workflows will simplify, not complicate, daily tasks.
Some practical ways to start include:
- Partnering with IT teams already deploying AI tools.
- Creating data maps to locate high-risk repositories.
- Piloting small-scale classification projects.
- Establishing clear retention rules for ephemeral data like chat.
- Educating teams on why governance supports, not hinders, the business.
Legal Data Intelligence: The Next Frontier
We attempted to draw an analogy to business intelligence systems. “If finance teams analyze every number to predict performance,” Quartararo said, “why shouldn’t legal teams analyze their documents to predict risk?”
The panel called this emerging concept legal data intelligence, an evolution of information governance that transforms static data into actionable insight. With AI’s help, legal teams could one day monitor risk indicators across communication systems, detect compliance red flags, and make strategic decisions based on real-time information.
As Sullivan noted, “Imagine getting a weekly update of your greatest risks. That’s where this is going.”
The Path Forward
In closing, all three panelists agreed that the real change is not just technological; it is cultural. It is about shifting from “we have to find it” to “we already know what it is.”
Crews summarized the opportunity best:
“Even if AI stopped evolving today, it would take most organizations five years to fully leverage what we already have. The tools are here—the question is whether we’ll use them.”
The call to action was simple: Govern, don’t guess. Start small, think strategically, and use AI to turn information chaos into intelligence.
Continue the Learning Journey
For professionals looking to strengthen their information governance expertise, ACEDS offers practical courses that bridge the gap between theory and real-world application:
- Information Governance: Identification and Preservation of ESI (Micro Course)
- Information Governance Foundations Certificate
- Essentials of Information Governance (IG) Certificate Course
Each program equips legal and e-discovery professionals to take proactive control of their data before discovery begins.
Relativity Fest 2025 reminded us that the smartest legal teams are not waiting for the next case to govern their data. They are using AI now to make every decision a little more informed, and every discovery a little less burdensome.
