Extract from Stephanie Wilkins’s article “The First 100 Days: Relativity CEO Phil Saunders on New Role, AI, Legalweek & More”
In November 2022, e-discovery giant Relativity announced that CEO Make Gamson would be stepping down, to be replaced by new CEO Phil Saunders. At the time, Saunders told Legaltech News that a top priority was to make the transition as smooth as possible, maintaining and accelerating the momentum of the company.
Before Saunders officially took the reins on Dec. 12, 2022, Relativity saw additional upheavel, as it announced earlier that month that it was conducting layoffs and phasing out surveillance product Relativity Trace.
Now settled into the job, Saunders recently sat down with Legaltech News to discuss his first 100 days as the company’s CEO, including how the transition went, the role of AI, where the company is headed and more.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Legaltech News: Congratulations on hitting your 100 day mark. How has it been so far?
Phil Saunders: You learn a lot in 100 days, right? The honeymoon is sort of over for the board, my team and for me, which is okay… I will say in complete candor that I accept the fact that, while I consider myself a fast learner, this [e-discovery] space is nuanced, is different, and I don’t want to be flippant about that. I pride myself on the technology bedrock that I bring and the customer centricity that I bring, but to say that because I have a data background makes this easy … that would be just insincere.
