Survey: Legal Teams Cite Major Roadblocks to Scaling AI Adoption
A new survey finds most in-house legal teams face significant challenges scaling AI despite high adoption.
Why it matters: AI promises major efficiency gains, but persistent operational hurdles undermine its impact. Legal tech vendors and inhouse leaders must address integration, data, and security issues to unlock AI’s full value.
- Only 27% of organizations store contracts exclusively in CLM systems, per Sirion and WorldCC.
- 54% report no automated data flow between legal systems; just 9% have synchronization across platforms.
- 96% of in-house legal teams have adopted AI in some form, but just 31% use it at scale.
- Top barriers: a confusing marketplace (49%) and data security concerns (44%).
Corporate legal departments worldwide are moving from AI pilots to broader deployments, but new survey data reveals persistent infrastructure and organizational roadblocks are slowing the journey.
- According to a Sirion and World Commerce & Contracting (WorldCC) report, just 27% of organizations store contracts only in dedicated Contract Lifecycle Management systems, hampering a reliable data foundation for AI tools.
- Most enterprises (54%) lack automated data flow between systems, and only 9% achieve consistent, bidirectional synchronization—limiting the effectiveness of advanced analytics and automation.
The appetite for AI is clear. Recent findings from LegalOn show 52% of in-house legal teams are using or actively evaluating AI for contract review, and 96% of teams overall have adopted AI for at least some workflows according to the Axiom 2026 GC Report.
- But the transition from pilots to scaled operations lags: only 31% of teams have implemented AI broadly, while two-thirds remain in trial phases.
- A crowded vendor landscape slows progress—49% of respondents call the current number of providers 'bewildering.'
- Data security also looms large, cited as a concern by 44% of teams.
Daniel Lewis, Global CEO of LegalOn Technologies, notes, “Legal AI has become common in-house, and the ROI is clear. Now, teams are deciding how to expand it across even more work.” Nonetheless, per Sirion co-founder Ajay Agrawal, "AI is only as reliable as the underlying data foundation."
More teams have set a formalized technology roadmap (53%) and 70% plan new tech investments within a year, suggesting the drive to widespread AI adoption remains strong but dependent on addressing key data and operational challenges.
By the numbers:
- 27% — Organizations storing contracts exclusively in CLM systems
- 54% — Reported lacking automated data flow between legal platforms
- 31% — In-house teams have implemented AI at scale
Yes, but: Many legal teams remain limited by fragmented technology stacks and unsettled concerns about provider trust and data security.
What's next: With 70% of legal departments planning new technology investments in the next 12 months, watch for further progress on integration and scaling of AI.