Standing in front of about 50 Bryan Cave associates at a training retreat in May, the firm's chief innovation officer, Katie DeBord, tried a joke about the progress—or lack thereof—artificial intelligence has made in the legal profession.

“We have not had a robot apocalypse,” DeBord told the group assembled from around the globe. “You guys are not being replaced by robots. Now.” She laughed. They stared back.

It's DeBord's job to think about how technology will reshape the Big Law business model. How smart will machines get? And how quickly? If AI is reliably drafting contracts or writing briefs, it's hard to imagine there won't be an impact on how firms are staffed and run. This group of associates knows that.