I think we can all agree that AI is driving change. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s creating transformation. There’s an important difference.
Recently during a special Virtual Lunch with Leaders, we gathered to celebrate my friend Melissa “Rogo” Rogozinski and the release of her new book, Becoming Phoenix: A Fiery Memoir, which debuted at No. 1 on Amazon.
I call her Rogo, as do many of the people who know and care about her. But even those of us who know her may not have understood everything happening behind the confident, accomplished legal technology professional we saw.
Becoming Phoenix recounts a five-year period in which Rogo faced her mother’s Parkinson’s disease, her own breast cancer, family estrangement, financial collapse, betrayal, and homelessness. It is the story of a life that did not merely change. Parts of it burned down, leaving her to find her truth in the ashes and discover who she would become.
I asked her about change. Her answer made me pause.
“I never changed. I’m still who I was,” she said. “But I became a better version of myself by evolving.”
That distinction stayed with her, too. As Rogo later reflected, “That’s what led to transformation in how I live my life now.”
We often use change, evolution, and transformation as though they mean the same thing. They do not.
Rogo’s words captured the distinction beautifully. Change is not necessarily evolution, and evolution can ultimately lead to something much bigger: transformation.
That distinction matters in our personal lives. It also matters when we talk about artificial intelligence, legal technology, and the skills professionals will need in the years ahead.
Adding AI to a workflow creates change. Transforming how people and organizations work is something much deeper.
Change Happens When Something Becomes Different
We adopt a new tool. We modify a workflow. We automate a task that previously needed manual effort. We learn how to use a new platform or develop a new technical skill.
AI is already creating this type of change throughout legal practice and eDiscovery. Professionals can use AI to summarize documents, organize information, accelerate review, draft communications, find patterns, and aid with increasingly complex analytical tasks.
Those changes can be significant. But change is often reactive. It responds to what is immediately in front of us.
Evolution Happens Over Time
Evolution occurs as individuals intentionally develop and refine capabilities that stay valuable even as technology changes.
These are durable skills: judgment, critical thinking, communication, curiosity, adaptability, collaboration, and emotional intelligence.
AI may help someone analyze information more quickly, but the professional still has to decide whether the analysis makes sense.
AI may generate a persuasive response, but someone must evaluate whether it is correct, appropriate, complete, and aligned with the situation.
AI may show patterns across thousands or millions of documents, but people still need to determine which patterns matter, what questions should be asked next, and whether the results are sufficiently reliable and defensible.
The technology can accelerate the work. Durable skills help determine the quality of the outcome.
One way to think about the distinction is this:
- Change is adopting the tool.
- Evolution is becoming better at working with the tool.
- Transformation is redesigning the work because the tool now exists.
Transformation Redesigns the Work
Transformation goes beyond adopting technology or improving individual capabilities. It represents a fundamental shift in how work is performed, how problems are approached, how teams collaborate, and how organizations create value.
In eDiscovery, transformation does not occur simply because a team adds generative AI to an existing workflow.
A process that was inefficient before AI can remain fundamentally inefficient after AI if the organization simply inserts a new technology into the same process.
Meaningful transformation requires broader questions.
- Should this workflow exist in its current form at all?
- Can AI eliminate unnecessary steps rather than merely accelerate them?
- Which decisions require human judgment?
- Where can technology enhance review strategy, investigations, privilege analysis, or quality control without compromising defensibility?
- How should teams communicate when AI contributes to the analysis?
Those are not simply technology questions. They are questions of judgment, leadership, communication, process design, and professional responsibility.
Technology Alone Does Not Create Transformation
Organizations also need people who can ask better questions, challenge assumptions, recognize limitations, communicate clearly, and adapt when circumstances change.
Technical skills can become outdated quickly, and today’s AI platforms will inevitably evolve. Durable skills travel with us. Professionals who can think critically, exercise judgment, communicate effectively, and learn continuously are better equipped to succeed across multiple generations of technology.
For legal organizations and eDiscovery teams, then, the conversation should not stop at AI driven change.
The greater opportunity is transformation through the intentional integration of AI and durable human skills.
The Better Question
The real question is not simply whether individuals and organizations can keep up with technology.
It is whether they are developing the human capabilities needed to use increasingly powerful technology with judgment, adaptability, and purpose.
So, the better question is:
Are we merely changing how we work, or are we creating meaningful transformation?
Image created using ChatGPT, using the term “phoenix rising from the ashes”.
Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by my employer, my partners or my clients. eDiscovery Today is made available solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Today should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.