Can Your Traditional Legal Framework Keep Up with Rapid AI Evolution? Why Agile Legal Operations Are Essential

Are you feeling that conventional legal frameworks can’t keep pace with AI’s rapid evolution? Cases are increasing where rule-making lags behind, either impeding business velocity or, conversely, leaving risks unaddressed. However, hesitating to adopt AI only leads to declining corporate competitiveness.

Reading this article will help you understand the essential concept of “AI Legal Operations” for the AI era and the agile approach that enables business growth while responding swiftly to risks.

Why AI Legal Operations Thinking Is Essential

Why is this new approach called “AI Legal Operations” necessary now? The background lies in technological evolution and the accompanying transformation of the legal function’s role.

①Exponential Technological Evolution and Lagging Legal Frameworks

AI technology is no longer something that takes 30 years to reach practical application. All technologies are developing exponentially, and international consensus-building and legal frameworks (hard law) cannot keep up. Therefore, rather than waiting for government guidelines, companies need to agilely construct their own self-regulation and rules to adapt to change.

②User-Side Responsibilities in AI Utilization

AI liability issues aren’t just about developers. When companies incorporate AI into their products or services, the company as user is increasingly likely to bear primary responsibility for the outcomes generated by that AI. For example, if there are problems with automobiles or pharmaceuticals incorporating AI, the company providing them will be held accountable.

③Risk Management to Maintain Competitive Advantage

Suspending AI use out of fear of risk is not realistic from a competitiveness perspective. Japan’s labor productivity ranks 29th among OECD member countries, making productivity improvement through AI essential. An organizational framework capable of accepting technology while managing risks responsively to change—that is, “Agile Legal Operations”—is directly connected to corporate survival.

Evaluation Criteria	Traditional Legal Operations	AI Legal Operations (Agile Legal)
Decision-Making	Wait for legal framework before deciding	Rapidly implement with provisional rules
Risk Management	Define prohibited matters (negative list)	Define usage principles and clarify acceptable scope
Role	Legal compliance and monitoring	Balance business promotion and risk management

Comparison of Traditional Legal Operations and AI Legal Operations

Why AI Adoption Is Essential for Young Professionals and Engineers

For young talent and engineers especially, AI adoption is no longer optional. AI utilization could be called a destiny for their careers and the company’s future.

Career Advancement and Productivity Enhancement

For young employees and engineers, mastering cutting-edge technologies like AI is essential for increasing their market value and improving productivity. If companies are passive about AI adoption, these professionals will lose opportunities for career advancement and transfer to companies where they can grow.

Talent Retention Risk and Corporate Competitiveness

The idea that “rules can simply prohibit it” no longer works. Strict rules lead to the outflow of excellent talent who can master AI (for example, the 10% who already constantly use ChatGPT in their work). As a result, only personnel unable to adapt to change remain within the company, risking a significant decline in corporate competitiveness.

[Expert Comment] Unilaterally prohibiting AI tool use only encourages shadow IT. Rather, when companies establish secure environments and actively promote usage, this leads to both employee skill development and operational efficiency improvements.

AI-Era Organizations and Agile Legal Operations in Practice

What kind of organizational structure and rules are needed to utilize AI company-wide and enhance competitiveness? Let me explain specific implementation methods.

Three Steps to Implement Agile Legal Operations

1. Establish Usage Principles Management clearly defines action guidelines (usage principles) premised on “promotion” rather than “prohibition.” This creates a foundation where the field can utilize AI with confidence.
2. Create Department-Specific Rules Rather than forcing uniform rules across all departments, flexibly set usage scope and procedures according to each department’s needs and risks.
3. Establish Monitoring Environment Set up a monitoring environment to visualize usage and detect risks early. This is not a mechanism for surveilling employees but for supporting safe usage.

Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A)

Q. If there’s a problem with implemented AI, who bears responsibility?

A. While it depends on the case, fundamentally, the company that incorporated AI into its services and provided them is considered to bear primary responsibility to users. Subsequently, responsibility would be pursued based on contracts with the AI developer. This is precisely why pre-implementation risk assessment and contract scrutiny are extremely important.

To incorporate agile methods and build an AI legal operations framework suited to your company’s situation, please consult with us.

Author Information

Akasaka International Law, Patent & Accounting Office
Attorney Shinji SUMIDA