Our conference coverage continues from our previous ILTACON highlights blog #1 & #2, we invite you to come aboard:
What We Learned at ILTACON 2025: Part 3
Dan Paquette, Kraft Kennedy Practice Group Leader – Modern Work Group
7th time attending ILTACON
Area of Expertise: Microsoft Technologies – Copilot, Copilot Studio, Purview, Intune
The theme of ILTACON* 2025 was vendors continuing to throw AI at every possible component of the practice – and business – of law. Kraft Kennedy clients – many ILTA member firms – are bombarded by AI. And while all firms are at different phases of their journey, there is a shared and profound struggle: managing this onslaught of new ‘must have’ technology, with select few knowing what to do with it, let alone set and achieve AI goals.
Taking a step back, I found two major planes upon which all these platforms differed:
Knowledge
Similar to the model of seeking to hire a professional with seniority based on the expectation that they come to a new role with experience and the knowledge, vendors solutions are differentiated by knowledge base. Where generalist tools – Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, etc. sell a very broad, diverse knowledge base, there is an ecosystem of specialist tools that is growing at an exponential rate. Each purport to be an authority in an arbitrary, but narrowly defined, space. And each has been specifically trained in a very narrow (relative to the generalist tools) corpus of content that has been hand selected and peer reviewed. Like craft beer or small-batch soaps with the most intricately combined fragrances, we find ourselves immersed in the world of Artisanal AI.
Unlike hiring humans, where there is at least some transparency of the candidate’s experience – previous work history, the rigor of their educational program – there is next to no transparency as to the source, breadth or depth of an AI agent’s knowledge base. More than one vendor representative opined upon the unique care with which the source data for their AI was hand-selected. None would share their methods with any specificity because doing so would effectively invalidate much of their product.
Processing
There exists an inherent conflict between the cost of delivering an AI-generated response and the price a firm will pay for a particular piece of AI-powered work. As the cost directly correlates with the complexity of a response, each vendor must compromise between the quality of responses possible and the selling price that the market will bear. Particularly with specialist tools limited to the legal marketplace, this is very much an “ask for what you want but take what you can get” space.
The above has now created two separate fronts upon which firms must consider in their alignment of AI-powered technologies to their law firms. Working at the top and coming down are the Generalist tools. With a bit of change management and training, generalist tools allow all users to process data at a higher quality and faster rate than was previously possible. Some training and basic experience is required; we must reconsider our relationships with data now that we have a highly capable intermediary to process it. But as people learn to use this tool, each person will be able to do more work and produce work of higher quality.
Conversely, from the bottom and working their way up are the specialist tools. These may present as full solutions (e.g., Benchly) but can also present as AI agents within a larger tool that integrates with data sources and augment existing business services (e.g. Copilot Studio). These all require integration with existing business practices to be successful. And while initial efforts will provide incremental benefits, the establishment of the idea of “digital labor” that can augment business processes and triage some percentage of requests away from humans will only serve to develop the practice of using AI to get leverage on human efforts wherever possible.
Pictured above, Dan Paquette presents FOCUSING COPILOT’S ABILITIES: INTRODUCTION TO COPILOT STUDIO FOR CHATBOTS to a standing room only crowd of knowledge seekers at ILTACON 2025.
Find Dan and more of our Subject Matter Experts at Kraft Kennedy University: MS365 for Legal, NYC, an insider’s track to the latest in legal technology education.
*What is ILTACON?
ILTACON is a leading annual conference focused on legal technology, hosted by the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA). It brings together legal professionals to explore the intersection of technology and the law, featuring educational sessions, networking opportunities, and an exhibition hall with vendors showcasing legal tech solutions. The event provides a platform for attendees to learn about industry trends, solve challenges, and connect with peers and experts in the legal technology community.