For Brian Kuhn, the name of the game is "personalization." Last week it was announced that Kuhn, the co-founder and former global leader of IBM Watson's legal consulting practice would join alternative legal service provider Elevate as its vice president of its new Digital Strategies and Solutions unit. In his new role, Kuhn will be focused on addressing the needs of legal departments and law firms undergoing digital transformations.

But how exactly does one go about such a task? For Kuhn, it's a lot like customizing a car. While the body might remain the same, individual components like the seat colors and steering wheels can be swapped out as needed—and the same general approach may be necessary in the future of legal software.

Below, Kuhn talks about creating an "internal GitHub" at Elevate and the missing link that may still be hindering legal departments' digitization. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.