The Legal Tech Budget Is About To Double—Here's How To Approach It
Legal tech budgets are projected to double by 2028, but success depends on investing in compounding infrastructure rather than consumable tools.Summary
The article discusses a Gartner prediction that legal tech budgets will double by 2028, driven largely by AI investment. It argues that the real challenge is not the budget increase itself, but how to allocate it wisely. The author distinguishes between consumable technology purchases—tools that deliver value only while used and leave no lasting asset—and compounding investments, such as multi-agent legal applications, which build structured institutional knowledge over time and enhance the value of other tools in the stack. Two common pitfalls are highlighted: deploying AI tools without adequate context infrastructure, and treating governance as a configurable setting rather than an architectural necessity. The article emphasizes that firms investing in foundational, compounding infrastructure now will be best positioned to realize ROI from AI, especially as measurement and accountability become critical. Ultimately, the most important decision is not which AI tool to buy, but what environment and infrastructure those tools will operate within.
(Source：Forbes)