5 Things We Heard at ILTACON 2026
ILTACON consistently delivers a great overview of where legal technology is headed.
For us, the conference provides an opportunity to connect in-person with clients, practitioners and other legal professionals and candidly discuss what they're seeing and what they're struggling with as AI and legal technology continue to evolve at an extraordinary pace.
From questions about which tools are worth investing in to concerns about navigating an increasingly crowded market, a few themes came up again and again.
Here are five things we heard at ILTACON 2026.
1. Broad AI platforms are becoming commonplace, but specialization still matters
Broad, general-purpose AI platforms have become a significant part of the legal technology landscape. Many of the people we spoke with are already using them, evaluating them or figuring out how to incorporate them more deeply into their organizations.
But that doesn't mean one platform can or should do everything.
We heard repeatedly that specialized tools play a critical role, particularly when it comes to high-volume, repeatable workflows. A general AI platform may be capable of helping with a broad range of tasks. But when a team is dealing with a specific process every day and at scale, purpose-built technology can offer the structure, consistency and functionality that workflow demands.
The question, increasingly, isn't: Which AI platform should we use?
It's: Which tool is best suited to this particular job?
That distinction has informed eBrevia's approach for years. Our contract workflows haven't been developed in a vacuum. They have been built and refined alongside clients dealing with the day-to-day realities of contract review, analysis and management at scale.
The future of legal AI may not be about finding one tool to do everything. It may be about building the right combination of broad capabilities and specialized technology, and knowing where each delivers the most value.
2. In a crowded market, buyers are thinking about the company behind the technology
Innovation was everywhere at ILTACON. So were new companies.
The pace at which the legal technology market has expanded is remarkable, and that competition has brought genuine innovation. It has also created a new consideration for buyers: Who will still be here to support this technology in the years ahead?
When organizations make significant technology decisions, they're not just buying a product. They're entering into a relationship with the company behind it.
That makes questions about longevity, financial stability and customer commitment increasingly important, particularly in a market with so many new entrants.
eBrevia has been building AI technology for contract work since 2011. We're privately owned, revenue-generating and cash-positive. That means we've built our business around serving customers and developing sustainable technology, not around the pressure to meet outside investors' expectations.
Innovation and stability aren't mutually exclusive. Customers should be able to embrace new technology without wondering whether the company supporting it will be around for the long haul.
3. Keeping up with legal technology is becoming a job in itself
If there was one sentiment we heard repeatedly, it was this: It's hard to keep up.
New products launch constantly and existing products evolve rapidly. New models and capabilities emerge before many legal teams have had time to fully understand or implement the previous generation of technology.
And, to be fair, we're part of that acceleration.
This year, eBrevia launched DraftPro, our AI-powered drafting and negotiation solution, and we're continuing to develop new capabilities around contract management. We're excited about what's possible. We also recognize that every new development creates another decision for legal teams already managing demanding day jobs.
That's part of the thinking behind eBrevia Legal Advisory.
Sometimes the answer isn't simply another product demonstration. Sometimes organizations need help stepping back, understanding the market and determining which technology actually makes sense for their particular needs.
Because we build technology ourselves, we understand how AI works beyond the headlines and marketing language. Our engineers and product teams are constantly evaluating what's changing and what may be coming next. At the same time, we work closely with clients and have experienced legal professionals on our team who understand the practical concerns behind technology decisions.
That combination of technical and legal expertise is important because the newest technology isn't automatically the right technology.
4. AI adoption is becoming a workflow question
For a while, much of the conversation around legal AI focused on what the technology could do.
Increasingly, the conversation is shifting to a more practical question: How does it fit into the way people actually work?
Legal professionals don't necessarily need another destination to visit or another disconnected application to learn. They need technology that can support the workflows they already have, or help them improve the ones that aren't working.
That means adoption is about much more than the quality of an AI model.
It involves usability, integration, training, and change management. And perhaps most importantly, a clear understanding of the problem the technology is meant to solve.
This was reflected in many of the broader conversations at ILTACON as well: successful AI adoption depends on meeting lawyers where they work and tying technology to a clear purpose rather than simply adding features.
For us, it's a useful reminder that technology should serve the workflow, not the other way around.
5. The conversation is moving from “What can AI do?” to “What is it actually worth?”
Increasingly, the people we spoke with were asking harder and more practical questions.
What problem does this solve?
Will people actually use it?
How much time will it save?
Where does human review still need to happen?
And how do we know whether we're getting value from the technology we're buying?
Those questions point to a broader shift in the market. AI experimentation is giving way to a greater focus on implementation and operational value.
The goal shouldn't be to adopt AI for the sake of adopting AI. It should be to make legal professionals and their organizations more effective.
That may mean using a broad platform. It may mean investing in a specialized tool for a particular workflow. It may mean improving the underlying process before introducing new technology at all.
The important thing is starting with the problem, and being clear about what success looks like.
About eBrevia
Established in 2011 and trusted by some of the world’s most prestigious companies, eBrevia is a leader in AI contract analysis, review, negotiation and management with clients in the US, EMEA, and APAC. For more than a decade, eBrevia has served law firms, corporations, audit/consulting companies, and financial institutions, such as Baker McKenzie, Norton Rose Fulbright, Kroll, SAP, Intel, PwC, EY, and MUFG.
