Nov 12, 2026

When Employees Aren’t Excited About AI, What Can You Do?

By Alan Freeman, Vice President, Strategic Solutions & Business Development at Williams Lea, Williams Lea

One of the more revealing moments at this year’s Thomson Reuters Law Firm COO & CFO Forum came during a panelist’s recounting of a recent employee town hall. When asked what excited them about AI, the word “nothing” became increasingly prominent in the responses. Their chief concern? Job security. The exchange highlighted an uncomfortable reality: firm leaders may be eager to embrace artificial intelligence, but their employees may be far from convinced.

This raises a critical question: what happens when law firm leaders are enthusiastic about artificial intelligence, but their employees are not?

The example captures a challenge firms cannot afford to overlook. While leadership focuses on AI investments, new workflows, and efficiency gains, employees may be having an entirely different conversation about what these changes mean for their jobs and their careers.

The gap between those perspectives matters. Firms cannot expect people to embrace changes they do not understand, especially when that change could affect the work they have spent years learning to do.

Understand the concern before prescribing the solution

It’s tempting to interpret limited enthusiasm around AI as simple resistance to change, but the reality is more nuanced. Some employees may be concerned about losing the core responsibilities that define their roles. Others may question whether they have the skills to use new technology effectively, or whether they will be expected to juggle existing workloads while adapting to unfamiliar systems.

Discussions at the Forum underscored the importance of recognizing these different starting points. Employees do not necessarily need another presentation on the potential of AI. They need a clear understanding of what is changing, why it matters, and how they will be supported.

That requires leaders to listen before rolling out an adoption strategy. Conversations with employees can reveal whether the primary obstacle is uncertainty about job security, limited training, unclear expectations, or a lack of confidence in the technology itself. Each calls for a different response, and treating them as the same issue risks undermining trust.

Leaders should also avoid promising that AI will eliminate repetitive work while leaving everything else unchanged. Responsibilities will evolve, and acknowledging that reality creates a more credible foundation for discussing the opportunities ahead.

Give employees a problem worth solving

One practical approach explored at the Forum is to involve employees directly in identifying the everyday frustrations that technology could help resolve.

Instead of introducing AI through a broad directive to increase usage, firms can begin with specific activities that consume time without delivering corresponding value. Repetitive data entry, document retrieval, and routine administrative tasks offer opportunities to examine how work could be improved.

The important distinction is who helps determine the solution. Employees who perform these activities understand where delays occur, which steps require judgment, and what a successful improvement would look like. Involving them early makes it possible to design changes around actual working practices.

Several discussions also emphasized the value of peer champions and hands-on learning. A colleague demonstrating how a familiar task has become easier makes the benefits more tangible than a general training session. Just as important, employees need opportunities to test tools themselves, ask questions, and identify limitations before new processes become standard practice.

This approach does not eliminate uncertainty, but it gives employees a meaningful role in shaping the changes affecting their work.

Make professional development part of the conversation

The longer-term implications deserve equal attention. As AI takes on activities traditionally performed by junior lawyers and business support professionals, firms will need to reconsider how employees gain the experience needed for more complex responsibilities.

Routine tasks have often served as an introduction to professional judgment, quality control, and the operational details of legal service delivery. As those tasks evolve, firms cannot assume that the same development pathways will remain effective.

Leaders should identify which skills employees will need as workflows shift, then create opportunities to develop them through practical experience. That may involve greater emphasis on interpreting information, reviewing AI-generated work, managing exceptions, or understanding how individual tasks contribute to broader client outcomes.

For employees, these conversations provide something more useful than a general assurance about the future: a clear understanding of how they can continue developing professionally.

Change begins with participation

The town hall example illustrates why AI adoption cannot be measured by usage metrics alone. Employees may have access to sophisticated tools without feeling confident about their place in the firm as those tools become more capable.

For law firm leaders, the immediate priority should be to understand what employees are experiencing, involve them in identifying meaningful improvements, and connect new ways of working to credible development opportunities.

The objective is not to make everyone enthusiastic about AI. It is to create an environment where people understand the changes underway, have the support needed to participate, and can clearly see how their contribution remains valuable.

That is a more practical foundation for lasting change.