In-house experts say artificial intelligence will change the way in-house lawyers work, but GCs do not need to become AI experts. However, having basic AI knowledge and an AI expert on the team will become crucial.

Developing that basic expertise could become a challenge for many legal departments, in part because legal chiefs already have their plates full with other issues, and some are starting out with a low base of tech knowledge. A study of top in-house lawyers from FTI Consulting and software company Relativity last year found that only 33% of the respondents believed lawyers have adequate knowledge about technology.