:Harvey: Power Users: Building the Culture

I'd say I work alongside power users and help enable them. I spend a lot of time with the technology myself, but I'm also running the overall program. We started early with Harvey and have seen very strong adoption.

We took a very hands-on approach to change, establishing a baseline, educating people on what the technology can do, setting expectations, and being clear about limitations. That was surprisingly successful compared to other transformation efforts in law firms. We had a very strong baseline on early adoption and we always built on that, training and implementing the latest features. We got early feedback from our power users and constantly contributed to shaping the product and delivering feedback to Harvey.

At the beginning, it was fairly simple: we looked at usage and identified people running double or triple the number of prompts. Lawyers don't spend time on something unless it delivers value. They're naturally skeptical. So when you see consistent engagement, that's the first signal they're getting something out of it.

But it's not just about usage volume. Power users are the ones using new, more complex features, delivering feedback, and constantly pushing our tools to their limits. They're creative and share best practice within the firm. Those usage patterns were clearly tied to value — people weren't just running everything through Harvey without purpose. We saw more advanced behaviour, like users exploring features more deeply and leaning into new capabilities.

The bigger picture is a framework we call Evolve, built on three pillars: a strategically layered technology stack, a future-ready upskilling programme, and deep collaboration with technology partners and clients. Strong adoption was the foundation we needed. Evolve is what we build on top of it — moving from “are people using the tools” to genuinely reshaping how we work, how we develop our people, and how we collaborate with clients on what AI makes possible.

The Legal Tech Club is one recent example — a group of around 50 ambassadors who get early access to features and work with us on special projects. In return, we expect a high level of feedback on the solutions. It's not just the legal tech team telling people what's possible; it's about bringing in the right people to showcase their own success stories. That creates a healthy sense of competition between practice groups, where teams start to think, "If they're doing this, we should be taking a closer look too."

We were also one of the earliest firms to push hard on Vault and tabular review features. While some firms waited, we saw the potential immediately and prioritised adoption. We ran dedicated sessions and actively encouraged teams to start using them right away.

People who are naturally tech-savvy or interested in technology had an easier starting point. We already had legal tech power users before AI, in areas like document automation and transaction management, and those individuals weren't intimidated by new tools or interfaces.

But AI is different. It's the first technology where the system itself helps teach you how to use it. How do I write a prompt? It shows you. Why isn't something working? It helps you understand. Once people grasp that, the shift can be significant.

The biggest limitation isn't skepticism, it's time. We saw a clear correlation between people investing time and becoming power users. Training sessions help with the fundamentals, but real progress comes from hands-on use. The most effective way to learn is simply to engage with the tool.

This matters more than ever as the technology evolves. As we move into an agentic framework — where AI doesn't just respond to prompts but executes multi-step workflows autonomously — the power users who invested the time to understand how AI thinks will be the ones designing and building those agents.

The gap between someone who engaged deeply and someone who didn't is only going to widen. We haven't seen anyone we couldn't bring along, as long as they're willing to invest the time.