Axiom's Sean Rafter connects with Hiro Oshima, Managing Director and Deputy General Counsel at SMBC, to explore the pressing challenges legal departments face as they balance pressure to adopt AI with their responsibility to manage risk. Fresh from hosting 35 in-house counsel at an AI roundtable in New York City, Hiro discusses what true generative AI means for lawyers, why training future legal talent matters more than short-term efficiency gains, and what are the right questions to ask law firms and legal services partners about their AI use on client matters.

SHOW PANELISTS

· Host: Sean Rafter, VP and head of Axiom's financial services business.

· Hiro Oshima, Managing Director and Deputy General Counsel at SMBC, overseeing approximately 50 attorneys and covering commercial banking, emerging issues including ESG, cyber, AI, and financial crime compliance. Hiro has been with SMBC for over 23 years.

Today's show is packed with practical insights for legal leaders navigating AI adoption in heavily regulated industries. Hiro shares candid perspectives on measuring ROI, evaluating legal tech vendors, partnering with alternative legal service providers, and ensuring AI amplifies rather than replaces human judgment. The discussion tackles everything from law firm billing practices to law school curriculum changes in an AI-enabled world.

Here's what they discussed.

• Why legal departments aren't seeing AI-driven reductions in law firm billingExploring the disconnect between law firm AI adoption and client cost savings. Are efficiency gains being passed along to clients?
• The difference between true generative AI and automation toolsDetermining whether most legal AI applications are really using generative AI or simply extending existing automation technology with new branding.
• How to prevent AI from undermining the training of future lawyersThe shortsightedness of prioritizing efficiency over professional development, and how to ensure judgment and skills are gained by doing the actual work.
• When in-house teams should require client consent before their law firms use AI How and why SMBC requires law firms to seek approval and validate their AI configurations, policies, and use cases before deploying AI tools on client work.
• How legal departments can measure AI ROI when there's no clear answers yetDespite the lack of clear ROI metrics, legal teams can't afford to sit on the sidelines due to cost pressures and political realities.
• What makes alternative legal service providers a viable third optionHow Axiom helps SMBC bring competent, AI-skilled lawyers in-house to hit the ground running for project-based and capacity needs without involving high costs, long pilots, or long-term hiring commitments.
• Why kindness is the most important career advice for legal leadersReflections on making tough decisions with kindness, and being mindful of lawyers' job security concerns during the GenAI revolution.
• How lawyers should view their job security in an AI-enabled futureLawyers losing jobs to AI is less likely than lawyers losing opportunities to colleagues who master AI tools—and why lawyers are more necessary now than ever.

Episode Resources

1. SMBC Group Corporate Information
2. Explore Axiom's Financial Services Practice
3. Learn more about Axiom's Legal AI Solutions
4. Subscribe to the Axiom Insights Podcast

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