On February 2, 2026, three Link community clubs - Risk, Digitalization and Partner - met on the topic: “AI in outsourcing: where is the red line between efficiency and risk?”. The discussion gathered representatives of legal departments of large companies and partners of leading law firms.
Anna Maksimenko, Partner at KKMP, was the speaker of the event; Elena Polevaya, Senior Associate at KKMP, and Sergey Polyanin, IT Director, also participated in the discussion.
The participants discussed how AI is changing the approach to lawyers' work and how inhouse lawyers feel about consultants' use of AI tools. The main goal was to find a balance between increasing efficiency and managing associated risks. Clients trust advisers to choose the tools, what matters most is the outcome and trust in the specialist, which is achieved by transparency of processes and security when using AI.
AI is still seen by most participants as a way to optimize individual processes. However, some companies are already thinking about deep transformation of their business and rebuilding key processes around AI.
From the question of “to use or not to use” the discussion has shifted to the question, and how the lawyer himself can create convenient tools for his work and solving business problems. More and more lawyers are not only effectively integrating technology into their work, but also creating new tools on their own with the help of AI. Clearly, the role of the lawyer is already changing with technology. Participants suggested that lawyers, following a product approach, will soon be responsible for the entire development cycle of IT products to solve the challenges of their field.
Anna Maximenko, Partner at KKMP: "For the last few years, there has been a demand to optimize the processes of legal advisors to provide high quality services in the shortest possible time and in a financially efficient manner. AI solutions can help with this. In our experience, so far the most useful tools are for summarizing information, preparing drafts according to clear instructions, translating and structuring text, but not for preparing legal opinions. External consultants are usually engaged for important and non-standard projects. In such cases, lawyers are expected to be fully involved in the “generation” of documents and legal analysis, so we at the firm focus more on the development of AI products aimed at technical assistance in work, leaving the ‘substantive’ issues for lawyers".
Sergey Polyanin, IT director at KKMP: "We also see a trend that lawyers are increasingly moving away from using technology to creating their own IT solutions. “Web coding” no longer just sounds understandable, but is also used in practice: in our firm, for example, a lawyer developed a program to quickly compare individual paragraphs of text, and we in IT refined and securely implemented it. It is important to remember that the code generated by the AI model may contain vulnerabilities or hidden “poisoning”. Our position as an IT function is unambiguous: we support initiatives to develop IT solutions by lawyers, but they need to be tested to ensure that efficiency gains do not turn into risks to data and systems."
Elena Polevaya, Senior Associate at KKMP: "Our discussion confirmed that today's AI-related transformation means productivity growth for most companies, and so far only for a few - a rethinking of the business model itself, roles and functions of lawyers. Deloitte's State of AI in Business (January, 2026) study shows the same data: only 34% of companies are starting to use AI for deep business transformation, 30% are redesigning key processes around AI, and the remaining 37% are using AI only at a superficial level, with little or no change to core business processes. While all participants are reaping the benefits in the form of productivity and efficiency gains, only the first group is truly rethinking their business for strategic growth and competitive advantage, rather than optimizing their existing business".
