From Pilot to Proof: How Legal Teams are Driving Real Results With AI
From early evaluation to real results, see how in-house legal teams are scaling AI adoption — and what separates successful pilots from those that stall.
Nov 11, 2025
In-house legal teams are under pressure to do more — with fewer resources, tighter timelines, and increasing complexity. Generative AI (GenAI) offers a path forward, helping legal teams reduce repetitive work, consolidate tools, and focus on higher-impact tasks. But figuring out how to begin — and how to prove it’s working — can feel like one more burden on an already overstretched team.
And that challenge isn’t unique to legal. MIT reports that 95% of GenAI pilots fail to deliver meaningful impact. It’s not due to lack of interest — it’s because many teams aren’t set up for success from the start.
At Harvey, we’ve seen that the difference between success and failure isn’t just the technology — it’s the process, the support, and the people behind it.
A High-Impact Approach to Legal AI Adoption
Our approach starts with strong executive alignment, defined use cases, and a clear plan to measure impact. As Kelly Kriegshauser, a legal technology expert who works closely with in-house teams, explains, “We don’t proceed to a pilot until we have strong alignment with executives.” That alignment — combined with deep legal expertise, structured enablement, and hands-on support — is what helps our customers turn AI interest into department-wide impact.
Through more than 700 deployments, we’ve learned that buying an AI tool isn’t enough. Successful adoption depends on expert guidance and concierge support, delivered by our team of former practicing lawyers who help align AI use cases with business goals, and Legal Product Specialists who tailor onboarding and training by practice area. When you’re under pressure — whether it’s end-of-quarter, middle of litigation, or reviewing contracts over a weekend — you need support that understands the stakes and speaks your language.
Harvey’s in-house customers aren’t just adopting the platform; they’re expanding its use across teams and geographies as they see measurable results. And adoption isn’t just happening, it’s accelerating. Engagement continues to grow year over year, with customers using Harvey more deeply and more frequently as it becomes part of their day-to-day legal workflows.
In this post, we share how five in-house legal teams made the leap from experimentation to measurable, team-wide results — and how thoughtful pilots, stakeholder alignment, and real support helped them get there.
HubSpot: Building Support Through Cross-Functional Evaluation
To support its diverse legal practice areas, HubSpot’s Legal Operations team sought a GenAI solution that could improve efficiency across key workflows: including drafting, redlining, matter management, and legal research.
A cross-functional team of legal and operational testers evaluated multiple tools, and HubSpot quickly identified Harvey as the best fit to increase productivity across the team’s day-to-day tasks.
With strong early adoption and clear value, the team built a compelling case for expanding Harvey’s use across legal.
“Harvey’s functionality, ease of use, and outstanding user feedback made it our clear choice. We chose Harvey because it saves time, enhances productivity, and provides high-quality, cited results for legal tasks.”
Sarah Flint
Director, Legal Operations & Technology
The Adecco Group: Building the Legal Department of the Future
The Adecco Group’s Legal & Compliance team supports over 300,000 contracts and operations across 45 countries — a vast, high-volume environment where speed, precision, and consistency are essential. Facing constant cost pressure and growing regulatory complexity, the team set out to create the legal department of the future: one that combines operational excellence with human-centered lawyering.
After testing multiple generative AI platforms in 2024, The Adecco Group selected Harvey for its legal precision, multilingual capability, and intuitive user experience. The team began rolling out Harvey midyear, starting with 100 lawyers and scaling adoption rapidly through a structured program of AI champions, training, and prompt engineering support.
The results have been transformative:
- Up to 8 hours saved per lawyer per week on routine work
- 5–10% reduction in outside counsel reliance, freeing budget for innovation and upskilling
- Widespread adoption and engagement, with “a waiting list of people who want access”
Harvey is now deeply embedded in the department’s workflows — from contract review and policy drafting to cross-border research and litigation strategy modeling.
For The Adecco Group, AI is more than a productivity lever — it’s a catalyst for redefining what legal work can be.
“Harvey helps us create space for what makes us human — empathy, creativity, and connection. It enables our lawyers to focus on what truly matters.”
Stefan Sulzer
Group General Counsel
Bridgewater: Proving Strategic Value Through Speed
Recognizing the need for a scalable solution, Bridgewater’s legal team launched an AI working group to identify high-impact use cases where Harvey could make an immediate impact.
In one instance, Harvey reduced the time needed to review a large batch of sophisticated bespoke trading agreements by over 95%. In another case, it shortened a vendor agreement review from two days to just two hours, improving both speed and quality.
Bridgewater’s success was built on early alignment, a clear business case, and a commitment to proving impact through real use cases.
“Harvey empowers our legal team to engage more effectively with functional units, delivering faster, more reliable support while prioritizing high-value issues.”
Tracey Yurko
Chief Legal Officer
Repsol: Scaling Fast, Saving Time, and Shaping the Narrative
Repsol’s legal department began evaluating AI tools in late 2023 through a rigorous blind test. Harvey consistently delivered the highest-quality output, excelling at complex legal tasks such as clause comparison, multilingual drafting, and litigation prep.
The pilot launched in January 2024 with 50 lawyers across 12 jurisdictions. After just eight weeks, the results were decisive: Harvey outperformed alternatives in both accuracy and time savings. By April 2024, Repsol signed on for a full rollout.
Two years later, the results speak for themselves:
- 96% adoption across the legal department
- 4–6 hours saved per lawyer per week, up from three hours during the early pilot phase
- Harvey fully embedded in daily workflows, from contract analysis and translations to knowledge management and litigation preparation
Repsol’s success shows what’s possible when legal innovation is paired with executive support and strong internal engagement.
“[The implementation of Harvey] positions Repsol’s lawyers at the forefront of the legal profession’s digital transformation.”
Pablo Blanco Pérez
General Counsel
National Grid: A Glimpse of What’s Possible
National Grid’s early adoption shows what’s possible when legal AI is rolled out at scale — with the right support and clear goals.
Nearly 100 team members in the UK and US are using Harvey, and their feedback suggests the majority are saving three to five hours per week. They expect that total to reach one day a week per user.
Their recognition by the Financial Times as Europe’s “Most Innovative In-House Team” 2025 underscores the momentum we’re seeing across the industry: real results, real change — not just experimentation.
Final Thought: What Makes a Pilot Work?
These teams didn’t just “try AI” — they launched with intention. They identified the right use cases, secured stakeholder buy-in, tracked what mattered, and built internal momentum from real results.They didn’t wait for perfection. They planned well and scaled what worked.
Ready to do the same? Download Building the Business Case for Legal AI to explore the full framework for making adoption happen — from idea to impact.